Back كتابة وداد Arabic Wadaad-Schrift German Γραφή Ουανταάντ Greek Alphabet arabe somali French ตัวหนังสือวาดาอัด Thai Wadaad yozuvi Uzbek

Wadaad's writing

Wadaad's writing, also known as Wadaad's Arabic (Somali: Far Wadaad, lit. 'Scholar's Handwriting'), is the traditional Somali adaptation of written Arabic[1][2] as well as the Arabic script as historically used to transcribe the Somali language.[3][4][5] Originally, it referred to a non-grammatical Arabic featuring some words from the Somali language, with the proportion of Somali vocabulary varying depending on the context.[6] The Somalis were among the first people in Africa to embrace Islam.[7] Alongside standard Arabic, Wadaad's writing was used by Somali religious men (Wadaado) to record xeer (customary law) petitions and to write qasidas.[2][8] It was also used by merchants for business purposes and letter writing.[8]

Stone tablet from the 14th-century in Wadaad's writing

Over the years, various Somali scholars improved and altered the use of the Arabic script for conveying Somali. This culminated in the 1930s with the work of Mahammad 'Abdi Makaahiil, standardizing vowel diacritics and orthographic conventions, and in 1950s with the controversial proposal of Musa Haji Ismail Galal which substantially modified letter values and introduced new letters for vowels.[9][5]

With the official adoption of Latin Alphabet in 1972, the process of standardization of orthography of Somali Arabic script came to a halt. Makaahiil's orthographic convention remains the most notable final iteration today.[10]

  1. ^ Lewis 1958, pp. 135–137 [PDF pp. 2-4]: "[p.135] Anyone who devotes his life to religion is a wadaad, however slight his acquaintance with Arabic. ... [p.136] With respect to knowledge of Arabic the population may be divided into three classes, those who know a little, those who can read and write a little, and those who are expert in both reading and writing. The middle group have given rise in religion and trade to a type of writing which is known, not inappropriately, as 'wadaad's writing' (or 'wadaad's Arabic'). This is an ungrammatical Arabic containing some Somali words, the proportion of Somali naturally varying with the context. The calligraphy is usually also inexpert and often obscure. 'Wadaad's writing' is used by merchants in business, in letter-writing, in the writing of petitions, [p.137] and in the writing of qasidas by wadaads whence its name is derived.".
  2. ^ a b Lewis 1999, p. 175.
  3. ^ Lier, Eva van (2023). The Oxford Handbook of Word Classes. Oxford University Press. p. 495. ISBN 978-0-19-885288-9.
  4. ^ Various (2021-03-11). Routledge Library Editions: International Islam. Routledge. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-351-97245-1.
  5. ^ a b Lewis 1958, p. 139–140.
  6. ^ Lewis 1958, p. 136.
  7. ^ Ylönen, Aleksi (2024-01-25). The Horn Engaging the Gulf: Economic Diplomacy and Statecraft in Regional Relations. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-7556-3515-3.
  8. ^ a b Singh 2002, p. 59.
  9. ^ Sheikh, Ahmed. “Somali with Arabic Script – a Linguistic Historical Study (Somaliska Med Arabisk Skrift – En Språkhistorisk Studie).” Gothenburg University Publications Electronic Archive, Winter 2019. https://gupea.ub.gu.se/bitstream/handle/2077/63249/gupea_2077_63249_1.pdf (Archive)
  10. ^ Tosco, Mauro (2015). "Djibouti: AGA" (PDF). The Intergovernmental Academy of Somali Language: 194–195.

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