lingvo.wikisort.org - Alphabet

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

Kaddare
Script type	Alphabet
Languages	Somali language
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

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 script concurred that it was a very accurate orthography for transcribing Somali.[1]

Form

The Kaddare script 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 script, 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

• Somali orthography
• Borama
• Osmanya

References

Further reading

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

External links

• Somali Language History and Vernaculars^{[permanent dead link]}
• The report of the Somali Language Committee

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