Kaddare_script

Kaddare alphabet

Kaddare alphabet

Writing system for Somali created in 1952


The Kaddare alphabet is an alphabetic script created to transcribe Somali, a Cushitic language in the Afroasiatic language family.

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History

The orthography was invented in 1952 by a Sufi Sheikh, named Hussein Sheikh Ahmed Kaddare.

A phonetically robust writing system, the technical commissions that appraised the Kaddare alphabet concurred that it was the most accurate indigenous script and orthography for transcribing the Somali language.[1]

Form

Cursive writing of Kaddare

Kaddare uses both upper and lower case letters, with the lower case represented in cursive. Many characters are transcribed without having to lift the pen.[2]

Several of Kaddare's letters are similar to those in the Osmanya alphabet, while others bear a resemblance to Brahmi.[2]

As there are no dedicated characters for long vowels, a vowel is made long by simply writing it twice.[2]

See also


References

  1. Laitin, David D. (1977). Politics, Language, and Thought: The Somali Experience. University of Chicago Press. p. 87. ISBN 0226467910.

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