Why did aabe Siyaad chose Latin over Arabic?

[udun]

^^Yes, it was a Somali work. My point was to point out correctly who wrote the manuscript. I have met one of the men who were tasked doing the evaluation in Columbus, Ohio and it is he who told us how it was evaluated.

I personally prefer the Arabic letters than latin nor any other home grown manuscript due to Somalia being a Muslim a country and majority of Muslim countries use the Arabic manuscript more than any thing else. Just look at Pakistan, Iran, and Pashtu speaking populations. They have all adopted Arabic manuscripts to their languages.

[Walaashiis]

I qoute from this source that since lost the link. I was searching for something else when I came across the topic. The only name I saw was that Jama Shire. But it does not matter who but the Somalis tried very hard to adapt the Arabic script but that was not possible'

''All that, it may be argued, was in any case inherent in the model. But
the transplant, as it came about, suffered from another peculiarity which
did much t o make matters worse. There was no Somali script. Somali
scholars had made several attempts at producing one. Most of these had
tried t o use an Arabic script, true t o Somali's powerful Islamic loyalty.
They had failed because Somali's Cushitic vowels could not be made t o fit.
Another script had used invented signs, something after the manner of
the script of Amharic, but this was never widely adopted''


I believe those Somalis were more loyal to Islam than we are

[udun]

We should have adopted the Arabic script like other Islamic countries. Somali can be written in Arabic and according to the gentelman that I have spoken to, there were other factors that influenced the decision to write it in Latin including how can we adopt our language written in Arabic with modern technology. Most of the Somalis that were doing the evaluation were people who were educated during the colonial period and had their education completed in the west.

It is very simple in my view if Pakistan or Iran can write their languages with the Arabic script and actually suited it to their preferences, it should be easy for Somalis to do it. After all, Somali is very much closer to Arabic than let us say Urdu that has its originals in Farsi and Hindi.

Keep in mind the military government was a nationalistic government and they were trying to do the best they could when they chose the Latin alphabet but as we have all seen we are not nationalists and clan loyalty runs deep in our society and writing the Somali language in Arabic script is long over due coupled it with massive Islamic education.

[XimanJaale]

How dumb can Somalis get? Damn Latin script for Somali language was created by Shire Jamac, and was enforced as it was the most suitable script for the Somali language all other scripts failed as it didnt work with the Somali language!!! Learn ur history.

[military-mind]

this topic is uselss
you might as well create a topic saying " Whats was purpose of a Condom when you can pull it out"

[union]

Latin script is simply more convenient. Until quite recently,you couldn't even use Arabic language computer domains. And Arabic is simply harder to learn.

[LiquidHYDROGEN]

this topic is uselss
you might as well create a topic saying " Whats was purpose of a Condom when you can pull it out"

[Bamaarn]

So far, no one has presented an example of how long phonetics in Somali is easy with the Latin, difficult with the Arabic. No one has presented a few or even one example of how the Latin suits the Somali language. All we got is how the cousin of aabihii kacaanka, both of whom were educated/trained by the isticmaar, said Latin is the natural choice, and voila, it was rubber stamped. With regard to long phonetics, I present an example:

kacaan كعان
ceeb عيب
liibaan ليبان
koob كوب
luubaan لوبان

I don't see how Latin is more suitable in the above example. The c in kacaan or ceeb is sometimes pronounced in Latin as s, other times k, never as the actual c in Somali or Arabic.

The Arabic script has been used by Somalis since Islam reached Somalia. It has been used by the various Islamic dynasties, sultanates, etc throughout Somalia's history. It was used for deeds, records, poems, history, letters, etc. Mogadishu and other Somali cities and towns were strong Islamic centers. So were Zaylac, Harrar and other locations in the NorthWest and Ethiopia. They all communicated and wrote in Arabic.

The early government didn't adopt the latin script though, it was Siad Barre who adopted the Latin script in 1972, 3 years after he seized power.

In the end it came down to Qabiil. Majerteen favored Osmanya, Gadabursi favored the Gadabursi script, and Marehan favored the Latin script, because their clan invented it.

You aren't even Somali, so you can't be qabiilist and your comment cannot be considered to be anti-Marehan.

Latin script is simply more convenient. Until quite recently,you couldn't even use Arabic language computer domains. And Arabic is simply harder to learn.

In the other topic, you claimed the primitive, 7th century-stuck al-Shabaab, who manufacture no arms/weapons, who possess no tanks, warplanes, spy satellites, submarines, drones, etc-- are a threat to the advanced, civilized, nano-tech, plutonium and nuclear-strength Free World. What could be the link between the simplicity of Latin and computer domains? Next time, try to take a pause and screen your comments from non-senses.

[udun]

We should be thankful to the last fanctioning Somali goverment for its excellent work that it has done to write the Somali language. Their intentions were good that today we can write our language in one of the existing manuscripts. It was 1st time in Africa that an African government wrote its language and actually it set an example to all of the African revolutionaries that they should write their mother tongue instead of relying on foreign languages. That government has done its work on the Somali language. However, we, the present generation, should improve upon it and see what lessons have we learned from the nationalistic manuscripts. It is my view that this generation should adopt the Arabic script since it properly suits our Islamic faith.

[ArcadeFire]

We should be thankful to the last fanctioning Somali goverment for its excellent work that it has done to write the Somali language. Their intentions were good that today we can write our language in one of the existing manuscripts. It was 1st time in Africa that an African government wrote its language and actually it set an example to all of the African revolutionaries that they should write their mother tongue instead of relying on foreign languages. That government has done its work on the Somali language. However, we, the present generation, should improve upon it and see what lessons have we learned from the nationalistic manuscripts. It is my view that this generation should adopt the Arabic script since it properly suits our Islamic faith.

Kan Carabtaa maskaxda ka waseen, war kuwaa af carabi ku qoraan iyo ku hadlaan baa dinacga diinta uga xun.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12006875

[Walaashiis]

[quote="Bamaar wrote to James Dehl: '' You aren't even Somali, so you can't be qabiilist and your comment cannot be considered to be anti-Marehan''



Of course, his comment is not anti-marehan or anti- any other Somali clan for that matter.It is a mockery for us all.
I hope he takes it back

[udun]

We should be thankful to the last fanctioning Somali goverment for its excellent work that it has done to write the Somali language. Their intentions were good that today we can write our language in one of the existing manuscripts. It was 1st time in Africa that an African government wrote its language and actually it set an example to all of the African revolutionaries that they should write their mother tongue instead of relying on foreign languages. That government has done its work on the Somali language. However, we, the present generation, should improve upon it and see what lessons have we learned from the nationalistic manuscripts. It is my view that this generation should adopt the Arabic script since it properly suits our Islamic faith.

Kan Carabtaa maskaxda ka waseen, war kuwaa af carabi ku qoraan iyo ku hadlaan baa dinacga diinta uga xun.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12006875

Ok dee marka adigana gaalada cadcad baa maskaxda kaa wastay This nigga thinks that Latin scripts belongs to us. At least try to understand my point and see where I am heading with it. I could care less how others who speak Arabic behave.

[James Dahl]

I'm not mocking anyone, all were perfectly acceptable ways of transcribing the Somali language. All you have to do is look at the debate that was going on at the time, and who was pushing for which alphabet.

There were more scripts actually:

Wadaad Script (based on Arabic with new letters) favored by traditionalists,
Osmanya Script (entirely new alphabet) favored by Harti
Latin Script (adaptation of Latin alphabet) favored by Sade but also pro-western people
Kaddare Script (based on Wadaad Script) favored by Hawiye and people of Benadir, considered by the UN commission to be the best script proposed
Borama Script (entirely new alphabet) favored by Gadabursi and Isaaq

This was in the 1960s and nationalism was running high, a lot of people wanted Somalia to have a distinct alphabet. Also the Majerteen sultanates had been using the Osmanya script for official correspondence when they were conquered by the Italians, and the Gadabursi royalty had been encouraging use of the Borama script in ex-British Somaliland for 30 years by the time the debate over a national script began. Traditionalists all wanted to keep the Wadaad's writing, and Westernophiles all wanted to adopt a Latin alphabet. Kaddare created arguably the best script for the Somali language but he did it in the 1950s, and politics had already so poisoned the debate that it didn't matter that it was the best script.

Borama:


Osmanya:

[Walaashiis]

[quote="James Dahl"]I'm not mocking anyone, all were perfectly acceptable ways of transcribing the Somali language. All you have to do is look at the debate that was going on at the time, and who was pushing for which alphabet.

There were more scripts actually:

Wadaad Script (based on Arabic with new letters) favored by traditionalists,
Osmanya Script (entirely new alphabet) favored by Harti
Latin Script (adaptation of Latin alphabet) favored by Sade but also pro-western people
Kaddare Script (based on Wadaad Script) favored by Hawiye and people of Benadir, considered by the UN commission to be the best script proposed
Borama Script (entirely new alphabet) favored by Gadabursi and Isaaq

[Bamaarn]

Borama:


Osmanya:

Both look Amharic.

It's understandable why Somalia adopted Latin; the kacaan leader was educated/trained by Somalia's former colonial master. Colonial printing and typing machines were available plentiful. Italy blessed the kacaan coup d'etat, and might even had a hand.