Sunday May 4, 2025
Many wonder why it took twelve years of independence, and twenty years of national debate, to take a decision on written Somali.
David D. Laitin correctly observes: “Whenever the matter was raised, foreign elements came at work. The people would split in factions, some supporting Somali script for nationalistic reasons, some supporting Arabic script on religious grounds, and others, advocating Latin for economic and technical reasons”. (David D, Laitin, “Politics, Language and Thoughts, the Somali Experience” p, 113) However, the author does not mention who were the foreign elements that had long frustrated the plan and the reasons behind their blatant action. It should come as no surprise to anybody that the major impediment to make progress in the search of script for the Somali language came from Egypt. In fact, based on solid evidence the author of this piece was able to obtain, early efforts to select a common script met with considerable opposition from Egypt whose strategy was to give Somalia a questionable Arab identity.
On 1 August 1950, the United Nations Advisory Council for Somalia (UNACS) adopted a resolution (Resolution A/AC 33/R9Rev.1. August 1, 1950) according to which the Somali language was to be taught, in addition to the Italian in schools throughout the Trust Territory of Somaliland under Italian Administration. The Council advised the Administering Authority to seek technical assistance and guidance from the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on investigating the possibility of developing Somali as the national language with its own alphabet. However, unlike other members of the Council, the Egyptian delegate, Mr. Ragheb abstained from voting on the Resolution (TNA FO 317/80887 secret report n/s from the British Consulate Mogadiscio to FO. September 14, 1950)
On the same subject, the Trusteeship Council of the United Nations in its session of 1953 stressed the “urgency to make Somali a written language in order to facilitate mass education” At the Trusteeship Council, the Egyptian delegate, Mr. Amal Nachaat, opposed this recommendation, favouring, instead, the adaption of the Arabic as the national language for Somalia. (ASMAE, AP, 1953. Telespresso n 91/07071 from the Italian Foreign Ministry to the Italian Embassy to Cairo, November 26, 1953)
In 1957, the Somali government printed page of the official daily newspaper Il Corriere della Somalia in Somali, with a Roman character transliteration. This bold experiment had generated such a violent reaction, particularly on the party of the conservative clergy that was never repeated. The pro-Arab lobby denounced the use of the Roman script with the derogatory slogan “Laatiin waa Laadiin” (“Latin is irreligious”) thus forcing the government to back down. Kamal El-Din Salah, the Mogadiscio-based Egyptian delegate to the UN Consultative Council, had coined the slogan and likened “using the Roman alphabet to choosing the pagan alphabet of the colonialists”. Salah ignored also the resolution of the Council on the matter; he used his influence so that the mosques would preach against the Somali language, and allegedly threatened the Advisory Council Secretariat staff (TAN 371/118675, telegram n, 1A from British Consulate Mogadiscio to FO. January 6, 1956)
Through the propaganda activities of the Consular agents in Mogadiscio, the Egyptians further escalated their opposition to the Somali language by accusing the Somali Prime Minister of being in the service of the Italians (Letter n, 777/3/81/2, from the African Department of the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Cabinet of the Minister. October 30, 1957)
“No one seems to questioning that Arabic was the language of the Qur’aan, and a foreign language for Somalis, just like any other foreign language”, commented Il Corriere della Somalia (Il Corriere della Somalia, Giugno 20, 1957)
The Egyptians never relented in their efforts to oppose the adoption of Somali as the country’s official language. In fact, once more, when the UNESCO drafted a five-year plan for education in Somalia emphasizing the need for development of Somali as the national language, Dr. EL Zeyyad, the Egyptian member of the United Nations Advisory Council for Somalia, criticized the plan on the grounds that, “however admirable the concept of national language may be, such language should not have priority over the language of wider use” presumably Arabic, (TNA 371/138315. Confidential Report from British Consulate in Mogadiscio to FO, November 4, 1959)
Despite the clear parliamentary mandate, issued in 1959 and urging all necessary measures be taken to introduce a written Somali language, and adapt it as a an official language, “no government took the risk of making a decision because of concerns that a decision would set off widespread social disruption” (J.W. Johson , “Oraliti, Literacy and Somali Poetry. Journal of African Cultural Studies (November 1, 2006) Vol. 18, p,
The first linguistic Commission was established in 1961, but failed to agree on a single alphabet amid discussions dominated by tribal, religious and political considerations. One school of thought advocated the use of the Arabic script with the aim of satisfying the conservative segment of the society, influenced by the Egyptian Cultural Mission in Somalia. Opposing, the more progressive intellectual elements, favouraed the adoption of a modified Roman alphabet. A third school of thought, moved by nationalistic considerations, developed new scripts for the Somali language, known as “Osmania and “Kadaria”, named after their inventors. (Yassin Osman Kenadid and Hussein Sheikh Kadare) The Osmania script, invented in 1920, was used since the end of the Second World War in private correspondence and indeed became the script of the first Somali nationalists.
However unpalatable, the Egyptian policy designed to block all initiatives towards the development of written form of Somali was in many ways understandable, not so the shocking and unexpected position taken on the issue by the SYL, the future government party. In fact, in a surprising move, the leadership of the party, the very party which had previously advocated the adoption of Somali as a national language, reversed this long-held policy and came out, in a long petition addressed to the United Nations, in support of the use of Arabic. (UNOR “T/PET”11/40 May 3, 1951) The petition, dated May 3, 1951, contained some disturbing and inaccurate details depicting the Somali people as “backward” and the Somali language as “underdeveloped”, thus reducing Somali to the level of rustic dialect. The full text of the petition will be made public in separate writing.
A new linguistic Commission
A new linguistic commission of twenty-one members was appointed in January 1971. Unlike the previous one, the new commission was asked only to prepare textbooks for elementary schools. The members were not asked to choose a national script. The military council made clear that the choice of script would be a political decision (David D. Laitin, p 115-116).
On the third anniversary of their coup d’état, in the midst of the celebrations and to the surprise of even the members of the linguistic commission, the decision of the government had been announced. It had been decided to adapt the Latin alphabet as the script of the Somali language. (Legge n, 60, Ottobre 21, 1972 “Alfabeto Ufficiale per la lingua Somala”
M. Trunji
E-mail: [email protected]