Wadaad's writing
Arabic-based orthography for Somali / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Wadaad's writing, also known as Wadaad's Arabic (Somali: Far Wadaad, lit. 'scholar's handwriting'), is the traditional Somali adaptation of written Arabic[1][2] as well as the Arabic script as historically used to transcribe the Somali language.[3] Originally, it referred to a non-grammatical Arabic featuring some words from the Somali language, with the proportion of Somali vocabulary varying depending on the context.[4] Alongside standard Arabic, Wadaad's writing was used by Somali religious men (Wadaado) to record xeer (customary law) petitions and to write qasidas.[2][5] It was also used by merchants for business purposes and letter writing.[5]
Over the years, various Somali scholars improved and altered the use of the Arabic script for conveying Somali. This culminated in the 1930s with the work of Mahammad 'Abdi Makaahiil, standardizing vowel diacritics and orthographic conventions, and in 1950s with the controversial proposal of Musa Haji Ismail Galal which substantially modified letter values and introduced new letters for vowels.[6][3]
With the official adoption of Latin Alphabet in 1972, the process of standardization of orthography of Somali Arabic script came to a halt. Makaahiil's orthographic convention remains the most notable final iteration today.[7]