- Osmanya script
Infobox Writing system
name=Osmanya
languages=Somali language
type=Alphabet
iso15924=OsmaThe Osmanya script (Somali: "cismaanya"; Osmanya: ҋҘ҈ґқҒҕҀ), also known as "far soomaali" or Somali writing, is a writing script created to write theSomali language . It was invented between 1920 and 1922 by the Sultan of Hobyo's brother,Osman Yuusuf Keenadiid of theMajeerteen clan.The direction of reading and writing is from left to right. The letter names are based on the names of letters in Arabic, and the long vowels uu and ii are represented by the letters waw and ya respectively.
While Osmanya gained reasonably wide acceptance in Somalia and quickly produced a considerable body of literature, it proved difficult to spread among the population mainly due to stiff competition from the long-established Arabic script as well as the emerging Latin script.
As nationalist sentiments grew, the adoption of a universally recognized writing script for the Somali language became an important point of discussion. After independence, little progress was made on the issue, as opinion was divided over whether the Arabic or Latin scripts should be used instead.
In 1961, the Osmanya script was made official in
Somalia . However, on21 October 1971 , the government of Somali presidentSiad Barre unilaterally decided to only use the Latin script for writing Somali, and launched a massive education program designed to ensure its sole adoption. This led to a sharp decline in use of Osmanya.The Osmanya script is available in the Unicode range 10480-104AF [from U+10480 - U+104AF (66688–66735)] .
ee also
*
Borama script
*Wadaad's writing External links
* [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/somali.htm Osmanya, Borama, Wadaad's writing and the Somali language]
* [http://www.evertype.com/standards/iso10646/pdf/afkeenna-iyo-fartiisa.pdf "Afkeenna iyo fartiisa" - a book in Osmanya]
* [http://gess.files.wordpress.com/2006/10/the-gadabuursi-script.pdf "The Gadabuursi Somali Script" - qasidas in Gadabuursi/Borama]
* [http://www.alanwood.net/unicode/osmanya.html Unicode assignments for Osmanya characters]
* [http://www.wazu.jp/gallery/Fonts_Osmanya.html Osmanya Unicode Fonts]
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