Sheikh Abdurahman Sh. Nur ( so, Sheekh Cabdiraxmaan Sheekh Nuur, ar, شيخ عبد الرحمن شيخ نور) was a Somali Sheikh (religious leader), qādi (judge) of the government at that time and the inventor of the
Borama script
The Gadabuursi script also known as the Borama alphabet (Borama: ), is a writing script for the Somali language. It was devised around 1933 by Sheikh Abdurahman Sh. Nur of the Gadabuursi clan.
History
Though not as widely known as Osmanya, ...
for the Somali language.Somali alphabets, pronunciation and language /ref>
Biography
Sheikh Abdurahman Sh. Nur was born in
Gabiley
Gabiley ( so, Gabiley, ar, غابيلي), also known as Gebiley, is a city in the Maroodi Jeex region of Somaliland.
Gabiley is located 58 km west of Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland. It is in the center of the Gabiley district, bounded ...
and grew up in Borama and was of the royal lineage, the Reer Ugaas subclan of the
Makayl-Dheere
The Makayl-Dheere (English: Makail Dera, Somali: Makayldheere, Amharic: ሚካኤል ዳራ, Arabic:مكائيل ديري) also known as ''Makaahiil-Dheere (Makayldheere)'', is a northern Somali clan, a sub-division of the Makahiil sub-clan of the ...
branch of the GadabuursiDir clan.David D. Laitin, ''Politics, Language, and Thought: The Somali Experience'', (University Of Chicago Press: 1977), pp.86-87. Growing up he was a
Qur'an
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
protectorate
A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over most of its int ...
. His father Sheikh Nur was a well-known and notable figure and was a qādi for many years. He was a learned or knowledgeable man, in particular when it came to the history of his own clan, the Gadabuursi.Sheikh 'Abdurahman would later follow in his father's footsteps by also becoming a qādi, albeit of the entire northern British Somaliland region.
In 1833, Nuur devised a quite phonetically accurate new
orthography
An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation.
Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and ...
for transcribing the Somali language. While the script enjoyed considerable currency in his hometown, the Sheikh harbored no illusions as to its widespread adoption, writing in a publication of his wherein he employed the script itself that "I publish it here with no intention of attempting to contribute to the already abundant confusion in the choice of a standard orthography for Somali".
See also
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Gadabuursi script
The Gadabuursi alphabet, also known as the Borama alphabet (Borama: ), at
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Osmanya script
The Osmanya script ( so, Farta Cismaanya 𐒍𐒖𐒇𐒂𐒖 𐒋𐒘𐒈𐒑𐒛𐒒𐒕𐒖), also known as Far Soomaali (𐒍𐒖𐒇 𐒘𐒝𐒈𐒑𐒛𐒘, "Somali writing") and, in Arabic, as ''al-kitābah al-ʿuthmānīyah'' (الكتا ...
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Kaddare script
The Kaddare alphabet is a writing script created to transcribe Somali, a Cushitic language in the Afroasiatic language family.
History
The orthography was invented in 1952 by a Sufi Sheikh, named Hussein Sheikh Ahmed Kaddare.
A phonetically ...
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Somali alphabet
A number of writing systems have been used to transcribe the Somali language. Of these, the Somali Latin alphabet is the most widely used. It has been the official writing script in Somalia since the Supreme Revolutionary Council formally intro ...
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Wadaad's writing
''Wadaad'' writing, also known as ''Wadaad'' Arabic ( so, Far Wadaad), is the traditional Somali adaptation of written Arabic, as well as the Arabic script as historically used to transcribe the Somali language.Lewis, p.139-140 Originally, it r ...
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Osman Yusuf Kenadid
Osman Yusuf Kenadid ( so, Cusmaan Yuusuf Keenadiid; ar, عثمان يوسف كيناديد; 1889 – 14 August 1972) was a Somali poet, writer, teacher and ruler. Born in Ceel Huur in 1889, he went on to create the Osmanya alphabet for writing ...
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Shire Jama Ahmed
; 1936-1999) was a Somali linguist and a scholar. He is notable for his contribution to the creation of the modern Latin script for transcribing the Somali language.
Early years
Shire was born in the Dusamareeb region of Somalia to a Marehan famil ...
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Hussein Sheikh Ahmed Kaddare
Hussein Sheikh Ahmed Kaddare ( so, Xuseen Sheekh Axmed Kaddare, ar, حسين الشيخ أحمد كاداري; March 2 1934 – February 2015) was a Somali inventor, linguist, and researcher in Somali traditions and folklore. Kaddare contribute ...
Notes
References
*David D. Laitin, ''Politics, language, and thought: the Somali experience'', (University of Chicago Press: 1977)
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