Yasin Osman Kenadid ( so, Yaasiin Cismaan Keenadiid, ar, ياسين عثمان كينايديض) (1919–27 November 1988) was a Somali intellectual, writer and linguist. He was an influential literary scholar, having written a seminal dictionary of the

Somali language Somali (Latin script: ; Wadaad writing, Wadaad: ; Osmanya: 𐒖𐒍 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘 ) is an Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language belonging to the Cushitic languages, Cushitic branch. It is spoken as a mother tongue by Somalis in ...

Family and name

Yasin was a member of the Kenadid family. He is related to Ali Yusuf Kenadid, the second

Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

of the Sultanate of Hobyo. His father, Osman Yusuf Kenadid, was the brother of Ali Yusuf and the creator of the Osmanya script.

Biography

Kenadid was born in Hobyo (Obbia), Somalia during 1919. He attended a

Quranic school Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

until he was fifteen. He then move to Mogadishu, attending both Italian and Arabic schools where he learned English. Kenadid helped found the Society for Somali Language and Literature. He is also one of the thirteen founders of the

Somali Youth League The Somali Youth League (SYL) ( so, Ururka Dhalinyarada Soomaaliyeed رابطة الشباب الصومالي, it, Lega dei Giovani Somali or ''Lega Somala della Gioventù''), initially known as the Somali Youth Club (SYC), was the first politi ...

(SYL) and was member of the National Somali Language Committee that decided on the standard spelling of modern Somali.

Works

Kenadid's best-known book is the dictionary that was the only standard Somali dictionary for decades: *Qaamuuska Af-Soomaaliga, 1976 Mogadishu/Firenze, Wasaradda Hiddaha iyo Taclinta Sare, Akademyaha Dhaqanqa. He is also known as an influential literary scholar: *1984 Ina Abdille Hassan and his literary activity, Naples, Istituto Universitario Orientale

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenadid, Yasin Osman 1919 births 1988 deaths Ethnic Somali people Somalian lexicographers Somalian scholars Somalian writers 20th-century lexicographers