Osmanya

Osmanya is a writing script used to write the Somali language. It was devised in the 1920s by Osman Yusuf Kenadid, the son of a Sultan, and was used by the Somali people until the 1970s when the Latin alphabet was adopted. The Osmanya script is an abjad, which means that it consists of consonants only, with no vowels. The consonants are written in a modified form of the Arabic alphabet, and the script is read from right to left. There are a total of 23 consonants in the Osmanya script, which are divided into three groups: The first group consists of the six consonants that are unique to the Somali language: ʼ (alif), ƴ (baa), ɗ (daad), ƴ (yaa), ŋ (nga), and ʽ (haa). The second group consists of the eight consonants that are also found in the Arabic alphabet: ب (ba), ج (ja), ح (ḥa), د (da), ر (ra), س (sa), ش (sha), and ط (ṭa). The third group consists of the nine consonants that are also found in the Latin alphabet: c (ca), f (fa), g (ga), h (ha), l (la), m (ma), n (na), p (pa), and q (qa). The Osmanya script is written in a cursive style, with most of the letters connected to each other. Words are separated by a space, and there is no punctuation. The script is named after its creator, Osman Yusuf Kenadid.