Gadabuursi Somali Script Explained

Borama
Sample:	Borama Alphabet Chart.jpg
Languages:	Somali language
Type:	Alphabet

The Gadabuursi script, also known as the Borama script (Borama:),^[1] is an alphabetic script for the Somali language. It was devised around 1933 by Sheikh Abdurahman Sheikh Nuur of the Gadabuursi clan.^[2]

History

Though not as widely known as Osmanya, the other major orthography for transcribing Somali, Borama has produced a notable body of literature mainly consisting of qasidas.^[3]

The Borama or Gadabuursi Script was devised in 1933 by Sheikh Abdurahman Sheikh Nuur, a Qur'anic teacher and son of Borama's qadi (judge), who devised the new orthography for transcribing the Afro-Asiatic Cushitic Somali language. A quite accurate phonetic writing system, it was principally used by Sheikh Nuur, his circle of associates in the city and some of the merchants in control of trade in Zeila and Borama. Students of Sheikh Nuur were also trained in the use of this alphabet.^[2]

See also

• Kaddare
• Osmanya
• Somali orthography

External links

• 'Borama/Gadabuursi alphabet' in Somali, at Omniglot
• Web site: Mauro (University of Turin) . Tosco . 2010 . Somali Writings . Afrikanistik-Aegyptologie-Online. . 2023-04-07 . en . Covers Wadaad's writing, Osmanya, Gadabuursi, and Kaddare..
• Somali reconstruction and Local Initiative: Amoud University. Published in World Development (2001).
• The Gadabuursi Somali Script - qasidas in Gadabuursi/Borama
• The report of the Somali Language Committee

Notes and References

1. http://www.omniglot.com/writing/somali.htm Somali alphabets, pronunciation and language
2. Book: Laitin, David D. . David D. Laitin . Politics, Language, and Thought: The Somali Experience . 2 July 2012. 1 May 1977. . 978-0-226-46791-7. 98–.
3. I.M. . Lewis . Ioan Lewis . 1958 . The Gadabuursi Somali Script . Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies . . 21 . 134–156. 10.1017/S0041977X00063278 . 161856327 .