Should Somalis go back to using Far Wadaad?

[Khaem]

Wadaad's writing, also known as wadaad's Arabic (Somali: Far Wadaad, lit. 'clergyman's handwriting'), is the traditional Somali adaptation of written Arabic as well as the Arabic script as historically used to transcribe the Somali language. Originally, it referred to an ungrammatical Arabic featuring some words in Somali, with the proportion of Somali vocabulary terms varying depending on the context. Alongside standard Arabic, wadaad's writing was used by Somali religious men (wadaado) to record xeer (customary law) petitions and to write qasidas. It was also used by merchants for business and letter writing. Over the years, various Somali scholars improved and altered the use of the Arabic script for conveying Somali. This culminated in the 1950s with the Galal alphabet, which substantially modified letter values and introduced new letters for vowels.

The Arabic script was introduced to Somalia in the 13th century by Sheikh Yusuf bin Ahmad al-Kawneyn (colloquially referred to as Aw Barkhadle or the "Blessed Father", a man described as "the most outstanding saint in Somalia." Of Somali descent, he sought to advance the teaching of the Qur'an. Al-Kawneyn devised a Somali nomenclature for the Arabic vowels, which enabled his pupils to read and write in Arabic. Sheikh Abi-Bakr Al Alawi, a Harari historian, states in his book that Yusuf bin Ahmad al-Kawneyn was of native and local Dir (clan) extraction.

 

[JackieBurkhart]

No, it's a hassle and Somalis have already adjusted.

 

[hinters]

Every few months there's a thread on wadaad and osmanya bruh let it go

 

[Khaem]

No, it's a hassle and Somalis have already adjusted.

Much of Somalia is still illiterate. And i'd say people back home are much more adjusted to the arabic script due to learning the quran than latin.

 

[Khaem]

Every few months there's a thread on wadaad and osmanya bruh let it go

I can't, somali in latin script haunts my dreams. I need to destroy that shit when i become the next general of somalia.

 

[xiin-finiin]

Wadaad's writing, also known as wadaad's Arabic (Somali: Far Wadaad, lit. 'clergyman's handwriting'), is the traditional Somali adaptation of written Arabic as well as the Arabic script as historically used to transcribe the Somali language. Originally, it referred to an ungrammatical Arabic featuring some words in Somali, with the proportion of Somali vocabulary terms varying depending on the context. Alongside standard Arabic, wadaad's writing was used by Somali religious men (wadaado) to record xeer (customary law) petitions and to write qasidas. It was also used by merchants for business and letter writing. Over the years, various Somali scholars improved and altered the use of the Arabic script for conveying Somali. This culminated in the 1950s with the Galal alphabet, which substantially modified letter values and introduced new letters for vowels.
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The Arabic script was introduced to Somalia in the 13th century by Sheikh Yusuf bin Ahmad al-Kawneyn (colloquially referred to as Aw Barkhadle or the "Blessed Father", a man described as "the most outstanding saint in Somalia." Of Somali descent, he sought to advance the teaching of the Qur'an. Al-Kawneyn devised a Somali nomenclature for the Arabic vowels, which enabled his pupils to read and write in Arabic. Sheikh Abi-Bakr Al Alawi, a Harari historian, states in his book that Yusuf bin Ahmad al-Kawneyn was of native and local Dir (clan) extraction.

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if it was adapted, i bet our literacy rate would jump to the high 90s.

 

[Khaem]

if it was adapted, i bet our literacy rate would jump to the high 90s.

We would become the most literate country in sub saharan africa within a couple years of this being rolled out.

 

[Som]

No. Far wadaad is interesting but it was never properly codified. Galaal modifications never became widespread. The latin alphabet is ok, i would have introduced some accents on letters and stuff like Ä,Ö,Ü to distinguish words that sound different but are written the same. Also Ā,Ē,Ī,Ō.Ū is more practical than double vowels. Other than this we should keep our current alphabet there's no need to change it, we have more pressing issues

 

[Som]

We would become the most literate country in sub saharan africa within a couple years of this being rolled out.

Nah, most Somalis back home can read Arabic script, the transition would be painless but people are used to the latin alphabet. Even if far wadaad was adopted regular somalis would still use latin alphabet. Even actual Arabs use latin letters with numbers (7 is X, 3 is C) etc in messages and social media. It makes zero sense to go back to an alphabet that wasn't that widespread after 50 years of Latin alphabet