pioneer of she deyelomment of Somalia's national orthosranhy snd collsetion of it's oral litergmre. By: Ahmed F, 413 "Ideajea" During the past hundred years, the Land of Funt witnessed some historical and cultural events which attracted greatly the ayes end the interests of various writers. These events had im- ‘a gets on the life end structure of the somali society. Foreigners, particularly the Europeans, took greater interest to lecrn about ‘the lend and the people in th Horn of Africa. The explorers wae, nee the beginning of the mié@le of the 19th written esowt souslia did not only learn avout the e climate, the heritages and wae o out sey also learned end rote in : education ané erte - sveciaily poetry - which eppezls to the interest of the popular. ned in no ves e writers expl: terms the rele of poetry in the som: society and the importance of the nost “mong nis people! Long before the Colonial orcupation, some of the somali posts felt the need to conserve their own poems, so that these treasures can 3e seved for and pzesed town to future generasio: somali wag not an easy. task for sil the poets, since th e then lected an orthography. Under the circunstances, on the treditione] system of sreser— nests re! literature: jor exem to memord: 3 pearl good imowls feobiec lencuaze found t jelly ungatisfectory.-26 Indeed, the noes of mest of the religious ma vere con cerned with the promotion of Islamic teachings anorg the eonali people, Bub many Arabic - speak: ng poets tried to adapt - in one way or the other - arebic letters for the somali phonetics, but not without difficults. To do this, they also used diacri- tics end signs to supplement the existing Arabic alphabets? These Arabic systems were in use for a time, however, the poets soon faced the problem of finding arabic consonants and vowls unadaptable to some of the somali sounds? This problem turned to be an unsurmountable obstacle for the somali arabic-speaking poets. At times, some poets had to forget the key to their system, and this efter a time rendered parts of their poens unreadable to them, too, While the Arabic-syeeking Somelis were trying hard to adapt Arabic alphabets for writing their language, it is true that some west Zuropear scholars were endeavouring to have the Somali languaze written in the Latin script, the commmications vetween these foreigers and the Somalis were very poor indeed; hence the use of these latin script remained unimcwn to the Somalis for a lone time, and when they came to Imow of it, they looked at it with suspicion and dismissed it as the orth of infidels "Far-gaclaad", which, if taken at the expense of Arabic, could be sinful, at eny rate, the efforts made by these foreign scholars did not bear fruits among the somelis, veceuse from the pegin- a! Somelis 2 these endeavours were net reduce their language to 2 written form, Prom th: orthogranhte point of view, the works of these foreign scholers had no anyile sontions; theirs were works achieved by inGividuel efforts, However, the works of these foreim researchers - just lize the works of the individual Arsbic-spesking Somalis - lacked univer— sality and thus were readable only to their respective inventors. jihether trying to adept the arebic alphabets or the Latin for writing the Somali Lenguage, the obstacle remained to be as to how all somali phonetics be represented to appropriate foreign letters. Host of the aforesaid foreim scholars were not interes- ted to take deep linguistic research in the lenguage, rather, they had been interested only in the grammer, the folktales, the poetry and the traditional life of the Somali geople, with a view to pass them so their peoples. this explains why, despite efforts by mony foreiom echolers, she Somali neople did not inherit any seientifically sound linguistic research works that could ulti mately help them write their language. In 1920 a new effort was made in the direction of securing an orthography for thé Somali. This new efYort was different from those underteken by foreign scholers because: (1) it was undertaker by a Somali poet whe had a very good Imowledge of Is~ lemic studies ani Arabic, and (2) it was not based o: sation of a foreign script et all, This Somali Scholar, Csmen nediid, caxe from whe fesily which reimed the Sulta- Yusuf nate of Hobyo along the Southern Coast of Somelia from 1684 ~ 4925. snow as Osmonia, this seript first ry deepite ve! thorities who were (Sensitive to of a Someli nationalist move: ont))4 gj sas cee eE ee-4- at omy rete, in esriy 1940s, Osmania gained croundz in the cepitel city ee well as in the central regions, after the coun teyts Yiret political. varty, n sely the Somali Yous 1 yue (founded on 15.5.1943) decided to find the best ways of intro- ducing Csmanin as the official Soseli Serips? It hos to be noted that subsecnently, Osmania was to be used for nost of the nartyts correspondence, specially the secret commnications. Not only this policy was continued for sometime, but also Csmania schools were opened in the party headquarters. Soon this policy was also dutroduced to all party branches in al the parts of the country, onl it went beyond the borders into the British Somaliland, Sthio- pis, the Arebien Peninsula (particularly Aden) where the SYL and established influential srerches. sespite obtheare initial score of this significant politi- col success, Osmania failed to retain the support of the majori- ty of the Party Leadership in the early 1950s when the new clen politics begen to overshadow the original nationalist sentiments. Osmenia was once agein assessed et the Party Headquarters in the Capitel end it was now classified - though covertly - not as a netionel orthography but a family one, whose rame it vefe® Anynow, from the yoint of view of orthography ana of natio- nalism both, Csmania deserved praise and esteem, ind thissfoct ated by the is apparent from the resort of the Coumittee appo: Someli Yovernzant in 1961 to aiviee her on the issue of finding a suitable national orthography. Though the Cocmittee did not recommend that Osmania be opted for, yet it haa te exuress its admiration, It wrote: "... Jertainly 2 creat step formerd in the exvlovetion for 4 satisfzctory fmmm form of script for Soma’Blsewhere, th: here like to record a unerimous vote of resnect to Cs for his initiative end zee] in the history of this problem of written somali. It is not surprising that in subsequent years many more Somalis should have followed his footsteps end evol~ ved 2 cluster of over 20 scripts for their om language, all pased on the seme principles... 6 Both this 1961 Committee of Someli Scholars amd the subse- quent 1966 UNESCO Committee praised Osmania highly and its in- Bese Comenthees Aid Hot ventor, However, Woxs=BiaiEeM recommended it as e notional or- ny, mainly due to technical reasons. 4s I will explein a this paper, both committees had recommended to take the Latin script develoned by Shire Jama ahmed. Very few young Somalis Imow thet, well before addressing the issue of edopting a national orthography for the Somali Lan- guage, the debate centered as to which languaze will be chosen as the official language once the country achieves its indepen- dence: The lenguaze of public administration and of medium of instrection in schools, Will it be Somali? srabi? or Italian? Im the learned quarters, there were Somalis who hed serious @oubt as whether the somali lenguage could actually be capable of being a tool for a modem piblic edministration and schooling. Dr, Yessin Osman feneaid, one of the sons of the Cemamia inventor, who tried herd to pub it in use and ohe members of the society for Somali Langu: and Literature (Shown as the 9 Soosanka 2fka iyo Suugeanta Soomselids)~ pioneered not only tothe netic 1 0: hy but aise to have the a8 the official lenguage. These efforts were opposed by some somalis who wanted the arabic lancuage to be official lansuaze, their argument was based not on national ““4 i wean S “unt mainly on religious fonobicsm. Similerly, others saw no reason thet the Italian Language could not be taken, In this, they saw as the key to embark unon the road to quicker develop- ment and civilization, Although it is true that some of those who proposed to take the arabic or the Italian lenguszes as the official language had zeted on good faith, it is equally true thet foreign countries token active interest and influence benind the scgnes. Both the Italien colonial adminictravion end the Seyption Governnont siaieh had been popular anong the someli masses had enjoyed a substantial role with regerd te that hot issue, The Zeyytians had taken interest in the Somali politics in 1950s and 1960s. They were very eager to see the Arabic as the officiel lenguare of Souslia. The debates of which language to choose as the offi- cial language continued for a long time et wany forums: at pub- licy, gatherings, at conferences end in ths officiel pepers such es the ‘Corriere Delle Somalic) ond the'Somalia a'Oges’, Ib was : orted the araoic Lenmiage and those mainly between those who 3w: who favored the somali; the supporters of the Italien lenvuage supper were few end their arcuments could draw ne rensonshle qustisiers ounds. WUE, secause of the lack of religious or br. Yessin and Shire who Inter joined him, spared no cial lonzusse. or, Yessin argued te to have go.cli as the of ity of lencunce - which absent @: thet since there is nome! a: where in lock Africa - among the somelis, there is no need to fom. Also he saw no difficult: heve an lien lenguage immosed onmotions 3: in having > one bend ond in leerning the Arabic Language as the benrer sligious teschings. He used to cite other muslim countries such ss Pekisten and Tren as exemples, He insisted that if children were tought foreim Jenguages as early as at the beginning of schooling, they are vound to develop an vanseessarily strong affection so such an alien language, to its evlture end to its peoples, to their heroes and to their history"!° Although they supported different script, yet Dr. Yassin end Shire shared one common objective ~ the struggle to heve the Someli Lenguage written ani make it official, They oth @ ed g foreim lenguoges. hike Dr. Yassin, Shire wac of the opinion that the somali people can not embark on the road to rapid development and civilization while using a foreigm lance age 25 a tool, Shire strongly apposed those who surported fo- reign lenguages and wanted the Somali Language to remain the spoken len suage alone. whe leader of one political party (205 or Partita Democra- tica Somzia) who susported the Arabic lancuege was confronted ‘by Shire in en article published in Corriere della Somalia. © hic rebuttal, Shire demonstrated the dire neod to have the So- mei lenguece ae the notional official len» if we ere to & hove to Bawe achieve # broad-hased education which provides ane equal osyortunity to all ewgr people”, He told both th cien aud the readers that the 5 conte he guege anc need not the Italien er Arabic Lenguagesy so bs immo- sed on them, Ee seid thet wnoever suggests that the guage renain wi written an un effieicl, is ins: u By crucial provlem of high illiteracy rate among his people. Hewrote: not to be conesrned with the rights of the Somali nomadic sen i women to have their share of the country's educationel @: rtunities. Ke seeus, too, to neve failed to realize that these nomads will nave gecess to educational epportunities only if their ow mother-tongue is used as the medium of instruction", Shire argued that if we want to have ¢ united somalia, we should have their langueze written and official, for without a written language no people can aspire to achieve progress, Gulturally, economically or socially. He concluded that the lenguage is the bond that bends the people together’. earktey, AS wes said/\soth men struggled hard to see the mali Lene gueze writton; nevertheless, they had serious differences. smile Dr. Yesein had a naturel end strong affection for Csmania, the prain-child of his father, Shire supported the Latin script ma: ly on technical grounds for its practical spplication, Shire J. ahmed wax born in Yerdher (a town in the Jectern Somslia) in 1936. Fe moved to “iogadishu vhere he hed learned the Arabic Language, Then he attended the British idlitary sdminis- sration's Schcol of Teachers in 1985-1951. In the early 195¢s, when the Itelien Administration returned, Shire resume@ his stu- dies in grabic; this helped him to receive a scholersh at the Aleagher University(Geiro) in 1955, It is believed that Shire had dedoted much time to study linguisties, and was convpmaed the: no seript other than the Latin « i11 ve viable for the Somsii in ectical terms. However, he darejnot argue this in public in gzypt then, Im 1957, when Shire returned home, he joined in the current of the somali & debates recaraing the writin: engue ge. Soon ne=o wes Imo for his asring support for the Letin Serint; as a result, he nad to anzer cf the religious leaders who pelieved thet no script other then th to the 1007 muslim somsiis. 2 srabic was acceptable The debates were sensitive and heated at times, Tt was nationglistic to sueszort that the somali language is written and made official, but it was,,bit naré for one to find a plau- sable arguuent to suyport the Latin script in place of Osmania - @ FaSH pure Somali invention - or of the Arabic language which was regerded ce a divine lmguage, imtge-peepieskammd-ste hatin Sea. on tha one hend, Letin was interpreted as “laa diin",Tite+ rally meaning in Arabic "without religion", and it was cat rized both 2s an importation and as an imposition of colonialism It was considered as a colonial“Legacy; As such, this earned ma morits ny enemies for Shire end others who supported it. Its mygbe or demeMits were hardly discussed. It was hated as 2 piece of colo-~ YeMaAnen + nisl Penaqeesnericd! Although the Latin seript was apposed so strongly, it had @ considerable nusver of sympethiads who darednot suprort it openly 2s the case wes in the Arabic elphabet; These were men who held hich public offices. appart from Shire, a number of top politicians, it is true to say, supported the Latin openly, too. Er. 4bdullani Issa uchaxad, th: Richest political nersona~ lity of the time, did support the Lb n sevipt, In nis earacity 2s in the first Vermont, he escoura~ ged the deily news seper, "Gorriere della Sorelia" in 1957 to introduce one page of Somali Tans 1 aze in Letin seript. this page was entitled “wergeysxa Soomzaliyeed" (Tae Sonali Sewsnaper) it-10- spits administration was soon eriti- cized this end the »: ger, thoug » reinforced Shire's hatin script. From 4! Latin Serigt. dey on, Few days after the cublication of that somali vege, Shire wrote = long letter to the Corriere delle Somalia. In his letter Shire argued that the sonalis must be very careful not to direct sheir strong hesred for colonialism te western education and civilization “far they are not @Vil things et all. He commared the iatin script with the electricity, arguing that everyone likes and uses the light thou: it is imom thet it is an inven tion invented vy the ‘estern colonialists. Asm arcued by Dr. Yassin earlier, Shire aiso argued in nie article that other moslem countries adopted the Latin script to write their om languages and he cited Turkey ani Indonesia as good exawples. He repeatedly argued that orthography was not a divine present from the Heavens but, rather, was a man-asde invention. "For that reason} he said "to use the Latin script as a tool to have our language written will not be inconsistant with the teachings of Islam" From 1957 to 1960 whe! Somelia became independent, eu ate Gevoted much of his tine to saigme a system 2 latin a adaptable for the Somali shoneticel sounds, always trying not to use diacritical sarks and si. Ab ebout the same tine, he began collecting oral Liter 2 venture in which Sr. Yass. mere erested in protectorate, this i I, Gelal,a@? B. /, Andrezewski,during 194Cs and 19508. So Shire ? and chen Joey Over Tosa=e had joined in the renks of th € men who were to devote suc- cessfully the ret of their lives to promote the Somali rts and oral litereture. These men believed, Mightly, that with- out written language, it will be impossible to salvage the somali rich treasure. They began meeting aged men to record the thousands of somali poems, songs, stories, riddles, pro- verbs and sayings in their minds before they die with these heritages ena treasures, This venture which continues to this date, is worth of the efforts invested by them and the subse- quent generations. Admittedly, not all was saved but a lot has been collected and conserved since then. Between the lete fifties and the early sixties, Shire made a large collection of oral literature in the central re- gions and western somalia "Ogadenia", He collected and publi- shed in his periodical publication many poems and stories re- lated to famous somali personalities. During 1965-68, he con- tinued these publication in jiogadishu, using of course, the Latin seript. One must always bear in mind the intense political climate under which Shire nad to work; if it were not for bis strong character, he would have easily abendoned this hard and hectic struggle to support the latin script. He is imown to be a man with determi ty the majority of the leading politicians ani businessmen, nation, endurance end persistence, He was opposed who had 4 considerable infleence in the Fre-independence seif- wermment. Perhaps, it would not be wrong to eay thet shire's pivgest appehent was Haji Schemed Hussein, one of the founders of the Somala Youth League, an orater who was well conversantwith the leas ce of the masses, Hagi achamed, who elected es the SY General Seerstery, while studying in Crirc, supsorted not the arabic script but strongly adored the arabic as the only official language of independent sonalie.In his capacity HR the SYL General Secretary, Bagi tichamed wrote to the Italien Adsuinis~ tration Sign. Porneri, suggesting thet the srabie language be “the intemational lanmuege of Somulia". The memorandum claimed (1) that the SYL Secretary had traveled through the comtry, and could get no agreement concerning a standard somali dialect, and found no objection to a "Uniform" arabic which would be understood throughout the Islamic Yorld; (2) that the arabic Language is rich in vocabulary, whereas "it is extremely difficult to express oneself sufficiently well in the Somali Language"; (3) thet the Arabic Language is vital and growing, whereas "it is difficult, if not impossible for the Somalis to make their languege better at this time"; (4) that Arabic would enable the Somalis to speak 2 world language, and thus enable them to “embark on an oceen of culture which has no Limits"; (5) that the Arabic language ie already « lingua Tranca in Somalia; end (6) that the srabic Lenguage will facilitate the cultural and political alliance of Somalia with our brother Suslim who all believe "IN ALLAH, IN 47S SACRED PRCPHEP, MCHAMNED, and in vae SacRaD quatanel? Obviously, % uokemed't opinion represented the wisbes of the rel. 20 from whom the SYL igicus elders and top business: drew its vital svritual and material suspert. At thet time, the We debate centred not as to wi sorint to choose for the Somali nto be effie lenguege but as to what lex eisl Lenguege.-B- In addition to these serious chellen ges, Shire and other latin sevipt supporters, had to face snother front - though less serious. 4 sigeable number of Semali scholars suggested thet the drabic alphabet be adapted instead of Osmania or the Latin, Their erguments were based on religious srounds, belie- ving that adopting any script other than the arebic will he a step to depart from the Islam, They always apnealed to the sen- sitive nerve of the 100% moslim Somali masses. Shire and his followers were dismissed as "infidels", Playing on words, they said that Latin was "Lea diin" elias: "Latin is without religion". So in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Shire was the Larset of public rage and popular opposition. Hye -witnesses still remem~ 1Se— berg the long processipy of anti-latin demoastrations end m roilies which approached his hause after Friday Prayers. This campaign went on for sometime, and his life wes threatened seve~ rel instances, Despite these intimidation, Shire had no intention to abendon his ideas easily. He decided to figit back, engaging ste woth in public addresses and in writings. Hefried to deme vate thet not only was he 2 moslem man but that also he studied een be termed by many as 2m @bstinacy if not a stubbormness. He earned many enemies that could have succeeded to risk his life and weeer his boat - Poe Use unvoiced opleted hic latin script before 1960, He used all consonants (except P eri ¥ ond 4) and Yowels, edapbing then to the Senli nhonetic sounds. He successfully avoided introdu ° We . aint signs or new dizcriticel marks, Gaize used levter "" for the arebic ayn (voiced sharyngeel frietive) “Gnd letter nan (Zor the uvudelr plosive}, 411 five latin vowels were used, doubl “Comer \ eye Used the Boren C9 /.-1a- each of them to use for the long sounds. Jor example: ~ 4b (Ancestors) pronouneed es g like in an - Aabve (fcther) pronounced as aa like in fgther. - edeg (baby goats' coral) pron. as ¢ like in enemy, - eeg (look!) pronounced as se like in Leg. - il (eye) pronounced as i like in will. - iil (grave) pronounced as ii like in in, - or (Noise) pronounced as 9 like in on. - cori (wife) pronounced as 00 like in No. - ur (smell) pronounced as u 1 like in put. = uur (pregnancy) pronounced as uu like in pull. ‘When the former British Somaliland and the Itelien Somali~ lend became independent on 26 June and ist July 1960 and joined to form the Somali Republic on 1st July 1960, neither the issue of which official language to choose nor thet of which seript to choose to write the somali language was resolved. Thus, the new post independence séministration had no option other then to use not only both coloniel languages - Italian and English - vut alse the Arabic lanzuage which was not unimown in the two former colonies - The North and the South. Soon people began to learn how @ifficult it was to use several alien lenguases in one single administration. Soon the need to heve the Somali Lan- cuaze written was felt and the educational officials began to realize that the country's hish illiteracy was herd, if not im— 14 possible, to combdf unless the somali. language was written Then the Jinister of Séucaticn H., Ali Gerad Jama nominated a Q-man Commission of Sczali ccholars headed by “use ‘le. Iewail Galal, Thegscholars who were selected *or their imowledge of linguistics and orthography, represented the various somali diglects as well as the several proposed nesranhies. h terns of etudy the various vroposed orthogre- phies onc - by Hereh 1961- meke their recommendations as to tne most suitable orth given @ serious consideration to thetechnicel aspect, wigeion examined 13 orthographies eseinst 17 point criteria set as soon as the committee was formed. liost of these points dealt with teemicel aspects, for example "Is it phone~ tic? Is it simple in its lettering? Heve its letters any diacri- tical marke? Is it economical? Has it « good cursive value?.."1? The Commission made tie following recommendations: “Accor~ ding to the answers siiown against the queries set in the seven- teen euiding principles, the most adventageous script has made itself crystal clear. It is the form of Latin script... submit- tea by Shire J. Abned end later improved by the Commission... in short, it is the seript that offers tne best proepects to us, as a growing nation, and as a commission of men who not only Imow adout their Lenzu: but whe understand the dirference between their emotion and personal pride and their reel needs, we recommend it for adoption a matter of first choice and the Somali Script devised by Hussein Sheikh ahmed 'Xaddaret as N.2 on the list. This commission could not recommend any other seript!® This final recowendation was siged by six members only follows the withrowal from the Commission of two important members - Dr. Yassin Osmen Xenedid, the supporter of © ana Sr. Ibrahim Heshi Mohemad who swoorted the irabie ser: whey quietly sensed from the 17-point suiding princinles the their orthogravhies had very slim chance if eny. They withdrew fron the works of the Commission ve y y sues Their decision to wi was 20 doubt, 2 victory for Shire Jama, Nevertheless, the iinister end the inistry for vom the recommendations were prepared, ut them on the snelvea to col- 16 - lect the duct for a long time to come, Stren; & i ninistry announced 2 zovernment decision to hav the medium of instruction in the Schocls - both in the North and in the South. If Shire was happy to see his main opponents - Dr. Yassin and ir. Threhim Bashi - defeated at the Commission, he (ana the other members of the commission) felt frustrated at the new policy decision adopted vy the ilinistry of Hducation. heir struggle ~ though - hed but to continueg on. Shire resumed his public debates in favour of writing the Somali Language in Latin end continued collecting coral literature, with particular emphasis on poetry and folktales. The need to have the Somali Ianguage written grew day after day, but the post-independence government led by Premier Abdira— shid Ali Sharmarke was too scared to make the quick decision demanded by the prevailing situation. His successor, Premier Abdirazak Hagi Hussein, wrote to UNESCO in 1966 requesting a team of linguistiets to look into the problem and edviee his goverment. UNESCO then sent a j-nen Commission headed by 3. andrzejewsici to visit Somalia in Merch 1966 only to be greeted with massive demonstrations which led to the arrests of several people. he political situation at the time was tense; supnorters of the arabic end Csmania Script were well aware 4 of the com ion would at the results » assuming that taey would make recom— mendations eolely on tecmmicel criteria!” Phe Commission invited supporters of the different ortnogra— B pies ond received only seven eevlieations, the Comm: to examine of the seven proposed scripts, namely: Two verieties of Sowali inventions, three Latin and two aracie verieties. In y listed the pros and cons of these seven scripts.-17- The Coumission, thauch, successtully avoided to recommend any one of them to be taken. ca scrint to take is a matter for the Somali Government end people to decide. fmounced on 14 ley 1966, the UNESCO Commissicn wrote in the introduction of its report: " ile could not presume to give advice on the political and social aspects of such a choice. In this report we shall endeavour to show the technical advantages end disad— vantages of the systems of writing which can be seriously con- sidered as possible national orthographies..."!° me commissions carefully avoiding to recommend the Latin, and refering to the revort of the 1961 Committee, said: Ii it is decided to adopt latin script for Somalig, we recommend that it should 9 follow the system used by Shire Jama shmeat?® ‘The Governwents of Premier Avéiragak (1964-67) and of Nohe- mea Torahim Zeal (1967-69) just as that of Dr, Abdirasaid (1960- 1964) allowed this report too to BESH take its tole of the dust for f of public anger and uvrising, The politicians were vulne: vole to public opinion, However, this decision was never xigdimer easy for the politicisns to defend in Parliament as well as in public, in the face of a growing demend for a natio- nal orthosrayhy to write the lenzuage. In the 1950s, Shire increased his efforts to collect cral literature. "Iftiinka 3 suceveded to publish monthly magazine entitled onta" (Light of Zaucetion) in vaich ze ry: 2 le s@ collection of someli nostry ani rich felictales, this step made mony somelis - especially the rowing intellitensia - ent success— Taig publicetion served ss a "round to experi: fully the viability of Latin Seript. Shire thus yained mo: ventnéence three successive gover characterized for their non-decision end the chences the somali lenguege seemed remote. Tae hope to write language became less gloomy in October 1969 when the took ower the power and the Supreme ililitary Couneil announced its commitment to have the someli lancuage written as quick as possible. Only two years after on Cotover 21, 1972, the Supreme Revolutionary Council headed by Hajor General Kohamed Siad Bar- re adopted Shire's Latin script for the somali language. Looking peck ab two decades of military rule in Somalia, the decisions to write the somali and make it the official language are undis— puteably categorized as No.1, and No.2. two successful and noble achievements. The SRC earned encomium end awards from UNESCC and other world bodies which are concerned with the appalling situation of global illiteracy. ‘11 state employees were made compulsory to learn the serint within three nonths mt immeiiately put it in use in the public administration. Soon after thet, a massive campaign wes launched to teach the masses haw to read end write, It is widely believed thet the masses has supported this decision though no plebisite was never conducted, . oe # {abn bes aPbrorse cnireta borne ‘ yet this fact has never osen aede public to this opted without any changes, dete for no good resgon. Perhapes this explsins know Shire's long etruzzle- 49 - country. owever, there ig no deubt thet Shire's role will be vivid in the eces that will neve to feature the history of writing the gomali lenevaze. Cthers who struggled for the liberation of the mings of the somaii people will not be for- gotten, These included Ceman Yusuf, Yassin Osman Senedid and husse I, Gelal to mention a few. When the historic announcement to write the somali lengu- age in the Latin Seript was meade in 1972; Shire was a member of the 20-man Somali Language Commission avpointed by the SRC in 1971 to prepare text books to vee once the script is decided upon, Then he became the President of the newly founded Somali Academy of Culture. During this time, he wes able to publish some of his workg, These included the Sonali Grammar, thouch ao adopted as an official or standard cramer book. RexerByebers, eas A ee RAW ok mental Reh qe aiven ue eet of ve WES CELLED CSU 82S Dre a eas ou alued Toheed_tie-Blitunt—of the-coined-mew-terminelor-end-tiessi~ fication-invelved-weve. fuli-of meme tities, In addition to She collection of corel literature, srire also published in 1973 some creative works on litergture, these included two short stories relating to culture and sociel traditions. The first story west Rooxaan (The Spirits) and the second was entitled Halgenxii Wolosha (Life strw Ab the time of writing thi ¢ paper, Shire ema ahmed is the Oulturel Attecnd of the Scusli Zubassy in Sweden (Stocicsoin).3) a 5) 6) 10) 11) 42) See Zichard Burton, first Jootetens in Test africa (lew York, Praeger 1966, 2.93). early all Somali poets who harnened to 26 Lit arabic tried to conserve their voetry by using ‘is an example, I saould mention one of the first in this field, namely Fagi Ali hajerten, a Sheikh, 2 poet, ¢ mystic ag well a8 a religious philosovier who, in the early 19th century lived in the Nueal and the eastern part of Somlia and later moved to the Seneair Goast where he died in 1840s. Some Somali Seholars still possess covies of his poetry written in his lifetime wita aAraoie letters. See Mussa X.I. Galali Some notes on the history of written somali, @ paper written right efter the somali language was written in 1972. Ibid, pase 10. I.M. Lewis: The modern Histery of Son to a State, page 123, From a nation The inventor of this orthogrsshy belonged to Cemeni vonamud; a subelan of isjeerteen (one sf Darod's major clans) who had been influential in the = olitics, Hence opponents viewed it as the orthograpl mud, construing, not inadvertently, Cecan @ with Osmen Johemud. In ad- dition, th 82. politics (Deroodiem.V. “on Daarodism) kad ite r cornered From a linmistic re in 1961, page 8. T tts WOGADISHU, SOzALIA. Tota, page t Dr. Yassin founded in for the Somali Tong age and Litereture, bo promote research in the somali language 2 ne nein objective of this society, I believe, written and to have +: Ltoceidel arch 16, 1957+16) 17) 18) 19) 20} 1961 Linguistic report, pa Ibid, yege 72-73. See David D. Teitin, page 106. The writing of Somali, a sti 8, Stredyn end J, Pubir Tbid, page 12. See BW, snarzejewsk a text of lecture miven on 16 4 Institute of Develonment fiogadishu, Somalia. gust, 1975, at the Sowali istration and henegensnt,