the gadabursi somali script

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The Gadabuursi Somali Script Author(s): I. M. Lewis Source: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 21, No. 1/3 (1958), pp. 134-156 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of School of Oriental and African Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/610496 Accessed: 28/01/2009 21:30 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with the scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. School of Oriental and African Studies and Cambridge University Press are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. http://www.jstor.org

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Page 1: The Gadabursi Somali Script

The Gadabuursi Somali ScriptAuthor(s): I. M. LewisSource: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 21,No. 1/3 (1958), pp. 134-156Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of School of Oriental and African StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/610496Accessed: 28/01/2009 21:30

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available athttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unlessyou have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and youmay use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.

Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained athttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup.

Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printedpage of such transmission.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with thescholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform thatpromotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

School of Oriental and African Studies and Cambridge University Press are collaborating with JSTOR todigitize, preserve and extend access to Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University ofLondon.

http://www.jstor.org

Page 2: The Gadabursi Somali Script

THE GADABUURSI SOMALI SCRIPT

By I. M. LEWIS

T the moment, both in the British Protectorate and in Somalia, the adoption of a standard orthography for the Somali language is fiercely debated.1

In discussion of the merits of the various scripts proposed, technical problems of orthography have to some extent been lost sight of. Nationalistic arguments have favoured 'Somali writing' ('Ismaaniya) while religious or Pan-Islamic arguments have supported an Arabic script. This article 9 discusses an ortho- graphy invented some 20 years ago by a well-known Gadabuursi sheikh, Sheikh 'Abduratmaan Sh. Nuur, the present Government Q -ti of Borama District 8 in the west of the British Protectorate. The script has not, as far as I am aware, been previously described in the literature on Somaliland.4 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. Sh. 'Abdurahmaan's script is of considerable linguistic and ethnological interest, since it seems, after 'Ismaaniya, to be the second non-Arabic Somali ortho- graphy to be invented in Somaliland.6 The problems involved in devising a script for Somali and the Sheikh's achievement can best be appreciated if we review briefly the history of attempts to write Somali, in Somaliland. We are not concerned with studies made by professional European philologists.

1 The dispute over the adoption of an orthography may be studied from the numerous articles on the subject which have appeared over the past few years in British Somaliland in the periodical War Somali Sidihi, and in Somalia in II Corriere dela Somalia and more recently in Somalia d'Oggi. A brave, if unwise, attempt to solve the problem was made in March 1957 by the Government of Somalia which launched Wargeyska Somaliyed, a newspaper printed entirely in a phonetically accurate but simple transcription of Somali in roman characters. The publication of this journal, using roman characters as a medium for Somali, raised such a storm of popular protest- especially from the advocates of 'Ismaaniya-that it had to be withdrawn from publication after a few numbers had appeared.

2 I spent a little under two years, during 1955-7, mainly in the British Protectorate, as Fellow in Social Anthropology of the Colonial Social Science Research Council, London, to whose generosity I am greatly indebted for financing my research.

3 Place-names in this article are normally spelt according to general Administrative usage in the Protectorate. In writing other Somali words Andrzejewski's transcription as used in Bell, 1953, and Andrzejewski and Galaal, 1956, is followed. Proper names of persons although of Arabic origin in many cases are represented in this orthography with their Somali pronuncia- tion. The Somali pronunciation of other Arabic expressions used is also indicated.

4 The expression ' Somaliland ' is used here to denote all the Somali countries, and not simply the British Protectorate.

5 Several attempts appear to have been made by Somalis, with in many cases European encouragement-governmental or missionary-to write Somali in roman characters. Such scripts-other than the conventional systems used by officials for writing personal and place- names in roman characters-have acquired little or no general currency. Adaptations of roman characters to represent Somali sounds are, of course, not inventions in the sense that the Gada- buursi and cIsmaaniya scripts are.

Page 3: The Gadabursi Somali Script

THE GADABUURSI SOMALI SCRIPT

I. Arabic Scripts The introduction of Arabic into northern Somaliland is generally attributed

to Sheikh Yuusuf bin Ahmad al-Kawneyn (or Aw Barkhadle, as he is popularly known) of ashrdf descent, said to have come to Somaliland as a proselytizer of Islam in the thirteenth century.l The Sharif advanced the teaching of Arabic to Somalis by devising a Somali nomenclature for the Arabic vowels, fatha, kasra, and damma, as shown. Alif with fatha is called in Somali alif la kordabey (-) 2; alif with kasra is in Somali alif la hoosdabey (1) 3; and alif with damma is in Somali alif la godey (t).4 This Somali nomenclature for the vocalization of the Arabic consonants is taught to this day in private Qur'anic schools throughout the country. The system attributed to Sharif Yuusuf enabled his Somali pupils to learn to read and write Arabic. There is no early record, however, as far as is known, of any Arab having adapted Arabic script as a vehicle for writing Somali. But it is not unreasonable to suppose that Somalis with a knowledge of Arabic have for many centuries written a some- times ungrammatical Arabic containing many Somali words as they still do to-day.

Apart from the small proportion of the population who have learnt Arabic in Government schools, ability to write in Arabic is generally limited to wadaads,5 sheikhs, and businessmen or merchants, who have learnt in private Qur'anic schools. Most children have at one time or another spent some time, if only a few months, learning by heart under a sheikh or teacher (macallin) some chapters from the Qur'an. But although the standard of Islamic instruction, including Arabic, is often quite high amongst those who have spent years at such schools, the proportion of the population who can write as well as read Arabic is relatively small. This can be appreciated from the fact that a man can enjoy the title of sheikh without being able to write much Arabic and with only a very limited ability to read the language. Anyone who devotes his life to religion is a wadaad, however slight his acquaintance with Arabic. Many men who practise as wadaads, presiding over local religious ceremonies (all sacrifices, Rabbibari,6 the Friday Prayers-if the congregation in a district is sufficiently large to warrant their observance, dhikrs (in Somali pronunciation dikri-ga), siyaaros, and the mawliids of saints, and all other religious occasions) and acting as unofficial local qad.s, know only sufficient Arabic to read from

1 The Sharff's tomb which is the scene of an annual pilgrimage (siyaaro-da) mainly for the clans of the Ishaaq clan-family is situated some 20 miles to the north-east of Hargeisa. See Webber, 1956. For an indication of the Sharif's role in Somali tradition, see Lewis, 1956, 153. I hope to discuss the Sharlf more fully elsewhere.

2 Lit.' alif (which) is surmounted'. 3 Lit. alif (which) is undercut '. 4 Lit.' alif (which) is hollowed-out '. 5 Wadaad is a Somali synonym for the Ar. sheikh, but in Somaliland the word sheikh often

denotes a slightly higher status in religion than does wadaad. 6 Literally, ' begging, or beseeching, God'. Other expressions are also used, as e.g. AUaah-

bari, and in Hawiye dialect the probably pre-Islamic compounds Waaq da:il and Waaq dacin, from Waaq, one of the pre-Islamic Cushitic names of God.

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Page 4: The Gadabursi Somali Script

the religious books 1 which they have learnt by heart. Of course everyone, whether he be a wadaad or sheikh, or ordinary member of the public,2 prays in Arabic. But although only a small fraction of the total Somali population can write Arabic a considerable religious literature which must comprise several thousand poems (qasidas) in praise of the Prophet and the saints has been produced in Arabic, or a mixture of Arabic and Somali,3 by Somali sheikhs and wadaads. Some of these qasidas (in Somali pronounced qasiida) have been written in good Arabic by Somali sheikhs with an excellent knowledge of the

language acquired locally from especially learned teachers or studied in travel abroad in Arabia, Egypt, and the Sudan. Indeed there is a much richer litera- ture in Arabic, mainly of Sufistic works, than is generally realized outside Somaliland. It is hoped to indicate something of the range and quality of this Somali literature at a later date.4

With respect to knowledge of Arabic the population may be divided into three classes, those who know a little,6 those who can read and write a little, and those who are expert in both reading and writing. The last are a small but increasing minority. The middle group have given rise in religion and trade to a type of writing which is known, not inappropriately, as ' wadaad's writing '

(or 'wadaad's Arabic '). This is an ungrammatical Arabic containing some Somali words, the proportion of Somali naturally varying with the context. The calligraphy is usually also inexpert and often obscure. ' Wadaad's writing' is used by merchants, in business, in letter-writing, in the writing of petitions,6

1 The most commonly studied religious works are standard authorities on the Sharica, mainly of the Shafi'ite school to which the majority of Somali adhere, with, of course, the Qur'an and various compilations of badiths. The Sufi Dervish Orders (Qaadiriya, Ahmadiya-Rahmaaniya, Ahmadiya-Saalihiya, and Ahmadiya-Dandaraawiya, to name the principal tariqas) provide in their literature, hagiologies (manaaqibs), poetry (qasiidas), etc., a rich source of reading material for the student of religion. Outside the tariqas, strictly, but associated with them are the hagio- logies and poems composed in honour of Somali clan and lineage ancestors, transmuted in Somali Islam into Siufi saints. For Somali Sufism see Cerulli, 1923, and Lewis, 1956. It is hoped shortly to publish a more up-to-date appraisal of Sufism in Somaliland.

2 Men are traditionally divided by profession into those who are warriors (waranlek) and those who devote their lives primarily, whatever subsidiary occupation they may pursue, to religion (wadaad).

3 Text I, below, p. 144, is a good example of a Somali qasiida. 4 Few works by Somali writers have been published but there are many original manuscripts,

some of which one hopes may some day be printed in Mogadishu. Sayyid Mahammad Abdilleh Hassan (b. 1864, d. 1920, the celebrated 'Mad Mullah '), for example, has left a considerable number of MSS. Some of the better known published works are the majmuCat al-mubdraka of Sh. CAbdallah ibn Yuusuf al-Qalanqooli (of the Qaadiriya), Cairo, 1918-19 (see Cerulli, 1923, 22-5); the majmiuat al-qasd'id collected by the same author, Cairo, 1949, very popular amongst members of the Qaadariya Order in Somaliland; and Sh. 'Abdurahmaan az-Zeilaci's Arabic grammar, fath al-latif, Cairo, 1938. An interesting secular work is mentioned below.

5 This group comprises, of course, the majority of the population since everyone knows the Muslim prayers in Arabic (the daily prayers) and a few Arabic words.

6 Broken English is also frequently used in petition writing. Both it and obscure wadaad's writing have the great merit, where the writer wishes (and no doubt frequently involuntarily) of enabling the petition to be couched in legal ambiguity so that the meaning of finer points of detail is seldom clear. This provides the writer with talking points should dispute arise con-

cerning the meaning of the petition.

136 I. M. LEWIS

Page 5: The Gadabursi Somali Script

THE GADABUURSI SOMALI SCRIPT

and in the writing of qasidas by wadaads whence its name is derived. The principal obscurities in this writing are due to the lack of a standard convention for representing Somali words and failure to mark the Arabic short vowels. These are difficulties inherent in the differences between the Arabic and Somali alphabets, quite apart from the additional errors in grammar. Those of the younger generation who have learnt correct Arabic in Government schools usually find 'wadaad's writing' difficult if not impossible to read.

Somali contains 22 consonants: ',1 b, t,2 j, 4,8 g, a, kh, h, d,4 r, s,6 sh, ',

f, q, k, , m, n, w, y6; the eight Arabic consonants j, i, ,, ^,I, ~, 7

do not occur in pure northern Somali.8 In Somali there are ten vowels: five short and five long; a, i, u, o, e, and aa, ii, uu, oo, ee.9 From the point of view of writing Somali in Arabic characters the first requirement is for two symbols to represent Somali ( and g, the latter being a separate sound from j. There is no standard convention in' wadaad's writing' and Somali d is variously written, , J, and J1. Somali g is usually written ,. The voiced dental plosive d is usually written z, and the Somali s which corresponds to the Arabic 'y,

and should be written thus is sometimes in ' wadad's writing' written ,p, as e.g. in Soomaali written sometimes, Jl^,. Arabic lacks symbols for the Somali vowels e, ee, and o, oo, although these can be represented approximately by other combinations in Arabic. Since, however, ' wadaad's writing' usually omits the short vowels it is extremely difficult to read unless the meaning is clear from the context which is by no means always the case. When in addition to this the writing contains both Somali and Arabic words and is ungrammatical the difficulty of reading it can easily be appreciated. The following letter 10 may serve as an illustration:

1 The glottal stop. 2 The Arabic ;. 3 The voiced post-alveolar plosive. 4 The voiced dental plosive, corresponding to the Arabic .. Moreno, 1955, 8, includes also

a, a Somalization of the Arabic i. But this sound seems very rare in northern Somali.

s Correctly the Arabic ,.

Andrzejewski introduces an additional consonant y, which he describes as 'acoustically similar to y but less tense and darker ', Andrzejewski and Galaal, 1956, 2.

7 The q is sometimes in eastern Somaliland pronounced as the Arabic . a There are slight dialectal differences in the speech of the cIise clan in the west, the central

Ishaaq, and the Daarood in the east, and again between the Daarood and the Hawiye (all of whom are collectively ' Samaale', see Lewis, 1955, 15) but these are slight compared with the differences between these as a whole and the Banaadir and Rahanweyn dialects of southern Somalia; cf. Andrzejewski and Galaal, loc. cit., 1. See also Moreno, loc. cit., passim.

9 Both Armstrong, 1934, and Andrzejewski, 1955, 568, distinguish two values for each of the ten vowels according as the vowel is articulated with or without 'fronting'.

o1 The original, written in pencil, could not be reproduced and the block has accordingly been made from a carefully traced copy.

137

Page 6: The Gadabursi Somali Script

I. M. LEWIS

o' CJp 0 6 J,

5,: jp, Lq_ 4S '

uc csW>> - J -

(^^- cA\

_s^LJl -6-

. cjS ^)1 >i;u6 L 4; ^ 1 ^l,

1 ^jL ^ v 1 >cr

1 cAinabo, a small town in the east of the Protectorate. 2 Buraco, a large town in the east of the Protectorate.

Habar Jaclo, a large Ishaaq clan in the east and centre of the Protectorate. 4 Somalifariin-ta' message '.

English' rations ', Somalized to raahin-ka. Somali reer-ka 'nomadic family, household, family, people'.

7 Somalimaa-ka ' family'.

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Page 7: The Gadabursi Somali Script

THE GADABUUR8I 80MALI SCRIPT

An advance in the application of the Arabic script to represent Somali was made by the famous Qaadiriya saint, Sh. Uwais ibn Mahammad al-Baraawi, of the Tunni Golgaal clan, who died at Biyoley in southern Somalia in 1919.1 Sh. Uwais is the founder of the Uwaisiiya branch of the Qaadiriya .tarqa to which the majority of those who follow this Order in southern Somalia belong.' The Sheikh has written many well-known works some of which are published in the two collections compiled by Sh. 'Abdallah ibn Yuusuf al-Qalanqooli mentioned above. Sh. Uwais applied to the Digil 8 dialect of southern Somalia the Arabic transcription adopted by the Swahili-speaking Amarani of Brava 4

in writing their dialect, Bravanese. In this orthography the Somali d is written

J,, and the g 4, as in Persian. The hamza is written internally as otherwise

as in Arabic. The vowel points are always inserted. The Somali vowels e and o are written ay and aw. One of the Sheikh's best known qasidas is published by Professor M. M. Moreno with a phonetic transcription and translation, and it is not necessary to illustrate the script here.5

Some 20 years ago in the British Protectorate, Sheikh Mahammad 'Abdi Makaahiil,6 following his predecessor, Sh. Ibraahim 'Abdallah Mayal in his

attempts to standardize ' wadaad's writing' published a most interesting little book, ' The institution of modern correspondence in the Somali language '. This comparatively unknown work consists of an introduction in which the

suitability of the Arabic script for writing Somali is urged and a standard

orthography proposed. The author then illustrates his script with examples of Somali letters, sentences, and proverbs. Sh. Mahammad represents the Somali Q by l, and the g by a barred kaf ~. The Sheikh recognizes the difficulty in representing the Somali vowels e and o. He states that in Somali a and i cannot always be distinguished and represents vowel sounds intermediate between a and i by the joint use offatha and kasra. Thus he writes Eebbahay ' my God9 'l eJ and erer ' height' j5. The problem of writing the vowel o

is attacked, somewhat picturesquely, by using the symbol o- for damma when

it is' awkward to pronounce '. Thus talo' advice' is written J:. Recently Muuse Haaji Ismaa'iil Galaal (Habar Ja'lo, Ishaaq), following

in the wake of his predecessors in the Protectorate, has proposed a more radical alteration of Arabic to represent Somali.8 Here the q and g are represented by

1 For the Tunni of southern Somalia, see Lewis, 1955, 32 and passim. For further informa- tion concerning the Sheikh see the majmuaat al-mubdraka mentioned above and Cerulli, 1923, 12, 22.

In northern Somaliland, on the other hand, most of the Qaadiriya follow the teaching of Sh. 'Abdurahmaan az-Zeilaci.

8 For the Digil see Lewis, 1955, 31 if., and for their dialect, Moreno, 1955, 327 ff. ? See Lewis, op. cit., 42 ff. 6 Moreno, loc. cit., 364-7. e Of the Ishaaq, Habar Awal clan. 7 Published in Bombay, A.H. 1345, as 4.JLWJI WI il J aluJI zL;SI l?;3l. 8 Galaal, 1954. In his original article, Muuse Galaal used , to represent Somali j, but

has since decided, more logically, to use this letter for Somali g.

1 1

139

Page 8: The Gadabursi Somali Script

and y respectively, and an entirely original set of symbols for the Somali

vowels are introduced. The new vowel signs are a J, i 9 , u J, e 3, o ., and the long vowels ee X and oo f. The long vowels aa and ii are repre- sented by the Arabic I and 5. The glottal stop is written as in Arabic. The sign v' is added to any final new symbol. Examples of the use of the script are given in Muuse Galaal's article. This development by a Somali trained in phonetics may be considered as the most accurate Arabic script yet devised for Somali.

II. Non-Arabic Scripts

1. 'Ismaaniya The well-known 'Ismaaniya (Osmaniya) or 'Somali writing' was invented

about 1920 by 'Ismaan Yuusuf Kenadiid, brother of 'Ali Yuusuf (Daarood, Majeerteen),1 Sultan of Obbia in Somalia. The script was noticed by Marcello Orano, and later by Dr. Cerulli.2 It has been widely publicized, by Dr. M. Maino who has given the fullest descriptions,3 and by 'Ismaan Yuusuf's son, Yaasiin (the well-known authority on Somali language and literature) in Somalia. The orthography is little known and virtually never used in the British Protectorate 4 although it is widely known and quite often used in Somalia. Even in Somalia, however, its currency falls short of that of the different varieties of 'wadaad's Arabic' writing. Phonetically 'Ismaaniya is highly accurate.s There are new symbols for each of the 22 Somali consonants except the glottal stop, which can be represented by hamza. In practice it is

usually omitted. The ten vowels, five long and five short, are represented by eight new symbols and the consonants for y (ii) and w (uu). There are also ten numerals.6

The most striking feature of the script is, of course, that in contrast to Arabic it is written from left to right. With the exception of the glottal stop (if used) the symbols bear little or no resemblance to any Arabic characters. In contrast to the strict phonetic character of the letters, 'Ismaaniya has certain definite etymological or quasi-etymological features.7 Thus the article is usually written separately from the noun which it qualifies, as in geed ka 'the tree', aqal kiisa 'his house', etc. Vowel mutations which occur in speech on the addition of certain suffixes 8 are not always phonetically repre-

1 For the Somali Daarood clan-family, see Lewis, 1955, 18 ff. 2 E. Cerulli, ' Tentativo indigeno di formare un alfabeto somalo ', Oriente Moderno, xir, 4,

1932,212-13. 3 Maino, 1951,1953. 4 Some emphasis has been given to 'Ismaaniya, regarded as a national Somali script by the

Somali Youth League political party. The script is sometimes used, symbolically, as much as practically, in S.Y.L. proceedings in the Protectorate.

5 See Maino, 1953, 26 ff., and Moreno, 1955, 290 ff. 6 For alphabet see n. 3 on next page. 7 cf. Maino, loc. cit., 26 ff. 8 See Bell, 1953, 7 ff.

140 I. M. LEWIS

Page 9: The Gadabursi Somali Script

THE GADABUUJRSI SOMALI SCRIPT

sented. Some writers of 'Ismaaniya write etymologically, aabbe hii for aabbihii 'the father ', magaalo da for magaalada ' the town '. Similarly an apostrophe is inserted in cIsmaaniya to denote an absent consonant in a suffix mutation as e.g. maga"a for maga'a 'the name', where the masculine article has been changed to ain in agreement with the final ain of the unqualified noun.' Similarly 'Ismaaniya writes geel'a for geela 'the camels'. The modification of the feminine article ta when attached to a final I to sha is written etymologically, as in (uiul sha for the pronunciation (utusha ' the charcoal'; ul sha for usha 'the stick', etc.2 The mutations which occur with the final consonants of verb stems in the third person feminine and second person

1 See Bell, loc. cit., 12. 2 See Bell, loc. cit., 8. 3 The alphabet is:

b t j c g t1i Kh

- 0o 7 b v 4

h d r s sbh f

q k I m z X y q k I TO n GD y

Q i u

h I 0 e QQ Ui

Ih7nU

W.t 00 ee

The numerals are:

5 & 6 5 4 5 2

6 7 C &

U 9 0 O

141

Page 10: The Gadabursi Somali Script

of the reflexive conjugation are written etymologically, e.g. (aladtay for alattay 'you are/she is born', etc.

These features are generally absent in the Gadabuursi script as written

by its inventor, Sheikh 'Abdurahmaan, although he sometimes writes the article suffix separately from the noun which it qualifies.1

2. The Gadabuursi Orthography This script was devised in about 1933 by Sheikh 'Abdurahmaan Sheikh

Nuur of the chiefly lineage (Reer Ugaas) of the Gadabuursi clan.2 Sh. 'Abdurah- maan's father, Sh. Nuur, is a well-known figure and was for many years Govern- ment Q-aI of Borama District in the west of the Protectorate. After some years as a teacher of religion in the Education Department, Sh. 'Abdurahmaan succeeded-his father as Qd-i at Borama and holds this post at present. He is a learned man with a wide knowledge of the history of his clan.3 The script is known and used only by a small circle of the Sheikh's associates in Borama and outside the Gadabuursi country very few people have heard of it. Unlike

'Ismaaniya the script has not been taken up seriouslybyany protagonist of written Somali. Nor does Sh. 'Abdurahmaan himself regard his invention as a contribu- tion to the problem of finding a national orthography for Somali. For these reasons the script has languished in obscurity and the few modifications which would make it phonetically as accurate as 'Ismaaniya have failed to be introduced.4

The script has no character for the glottal stop (although hamrza could be employed as in 'Ismaaniya) and there are 21 consonants:

b t j 4 $ h

t1 T 53 6 kh h d r s sh

7 i 7 I r n ' f K t m

n 1, y 1 See the examples below. a The Gadabuursi clan inhabit the west of the British Protectorate and the northern part

of the Harar province of Ethiopia. See Lewis, 1955, 25. 8 He has written in Arabic some MSS on Gadabuursi history. 4 My attention was first drawn to the script by my friend Mr. J. Gethin, H.M. Consul,

Mogadishu. I studied the script with its inventor, Sh. cAbdurahmaan, while on a visit to the Gadabuursi of Borama District.

142 I. M. LEWIS

Page 11: The Gadabursi Somali Script

THE GADABUURBI SOMALI SCRIPT

The seven vowels are:

T H I I C Cc a e i ii u tuu

00 oo

In contrast to 'Ismaaniya the consonants y and w are not used as vowels

except in diphthongs. Short o is normally written as u (C) and there is no

differentiation between a and aa, and e and ee. These failings could very easily be remedied with only slight modifications in the script. As with

'Ismaaniya the script is written from left to right and the article suffixes are sometimes separated from their nouns. But the other etymological features of 'Ismaaniya are lacking and in this respect the script is potentially phonetically more accurate than 'Ismaaniya. None of these Somali orthographies take account of tone (which is not always important) 1 but they could easily be written with tone marks where necessary. Six texts written by Sh. 'Abdurah- maan are published here with transliterations (in italics) and phonetically more accurate transcriptions (in roman type). Fairly literal English translations accompany the texts.2

1 For the problem of tone in Somali, see Andrzejewski, 1956. 2 Mr. Muuse Galaal and Mr. Yuusuf Maygaag have very kindly advised me in the writing of

this article and in the transcription and translation of the texts. I wish to thank also Mr. F. J. Raine of the Education Department, British Somaliland, for his expert help in the preparation of scripts and texts for the printers.

1 1 *

143

Page 12: The Gadabursi Somali Script

I. M. LEWIS

TEXT I

A Qasiida in praise of the Prophet

JT UTf tJI 3TfTJC QT 3TTflC 7THIT.

JT31TTU 1CSTJTY STJ3Q T 15T JTrD71n

XCfC-TI UTJliHUI ST ]1J31 ITSTJT.

GCIOT-TI JII'LL3T OIJT F3iC JIJT3TJ.

K]Cf TTT TfTiJHU JCC )TJIICC IT

7TTTTTJ ,

"iTTCC IT71ID) IT ITlJnT ICC 'TOIUTJJ.

CfI -5CC 7CJTU6TUT ICYTU-JCC UCICUTYT).

IU 'TTTY 13 iTJJTUT 7DICU ICC JOTUTTU.)

TUIM -I-31IC IFJTT 7C611 JT FTiT nIUOTY.

ITT T-T13T UIU D))T ITJ1'iCCIT TIT TYI .

XC3cFr C inT OTSIIU O)FCCC MYTT iQIu

TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSCRIPTION

Ya nabiyi salatu wa salamu caleka Ya nebiyi salaatu, wa salaamu 'aleyka Qasiidan qorayay Rabow a iga qalocin Qasiidaan qorayaaye, Rabbow hayga qalloo'in Quruh-dii nabigeni ya qiyasi karaya Quruhdii nebigeenii, yaa qiyaasi karaaya Qorja-dii timihiisa jigta logu qiyasay

144

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THE GADABUURSI SOMALI SCRIPT

Qurcadii timihiisa, cegtaa loogu qiyaasay Qurai dad argten buu qariyuu ka 'adaday Qorrahdaad aragteen buu, qariyuu ka 'addaaday Haduu qafilo ra'o qamam kuu haiinayay Hadduu qaafilo raa'o, qamaamkuu ha4inaayay Quri-gii qutanshana quyan buu nuqunayay Qorigii qotonshaana, qoyaan buu noqonaayay Nin haday is qabtana qolthun muu olanayno Nin hadday is qabtaanna, qawlhun muu ocannayno Qalbigigiisiyu labta qushkii ba laga mayiay Qalbigiisiyo laabtana, qushkii baa laga may4ay Qdad kiisa nin joga qalbiguu ka arkayay Qadaadkiisa nin jooga, qalbiguu ka arkaayay Qusul kiisu ma (afin ioluhuu yara qawin Qosolkiisu ma qaafin, 4oolluhuu yara qaawin

TRANSLATION 1

All hail Prophet, may blessing and peace be upon Thee. May the qasida I write flow smoothly, Master. The beauty of our Prophet, who can gauge ? His waving hair, reaches to His ears. He eclipsed the sun, and shines more brightly. The caravan He accompanied, travelled under shade-giving clouds.2 The dead stick which He sets upright, becomes green 3 (with life). If He quarrelled with a man, He would not insult him. His heart and breast, are pure from all evil and uncleanness. The man who stands behind him, He sees in his heart.4 When He laughed He never exposed, more than His canine teeth.5

In these translations I have tried to adhere as closely as possible to the literal meaning within the requirements of reasonably intelligible English. This is probably most difficult in a qasiida although it is difficult also in Somali secular poetry because of the use of imagery and metaphor. This qasiida was written by Sh. Ismaciil Farah (d. c. 1910) of the Habar Awal clan (Reer Ahmad). For the Habar Awal clan, see Lewis, 1955, 23 ff. The qasiida is well-known in the Protectorate.

2 When the Prophet went with a caravan he caused clouds to shade its journey. 3 Qoyaan, lit.' wet' as opposed to qori' dry, dead wood '. The phrase refers to the miraculous

life-giving power of the Prophet. 4 This sentence means simply that through his miraculous power, the Prophet would be aware

of the presence of someone standing behind him. s This sentence refers to Wadit describing the Prophet's demeanour when he smiled which

has set a style of propriety in expressing pleasure or mirth. This religious tradition is probably associated with the common Somali idea that a man who opens his mouth wide when he smiles or laughs is not to be trusted.

The following words have the Arabic correspondences shown: nebi Ar. n-b-y; salaat Ar. s-l--t; salaam Ar. s-l--m; caleyba Ar. C-l-y-k; qasiida Ar. q-s-y-d-t; Rabbi Ar. r-b; qiyaasi Ar. q-y-'-s; qaaflo Ar. q-'-f-l-t; qamaam Ar. g-m-'-m; qawl (in the compound qawl2un) Ar. q-w-l; qalbigii Ar. q-l-b.

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TEXT II

A letter from Borama

3HFT7

QTFTrIl TU PHIFT YC3HU. 3TT-

IfTT. TUTSC T UTJTT. fHf II QC-

YC YTr ODJ3 TQJ ITL QHUT QT-

YT 7CUTY FlfTY 7T-l UTQCC

mlI) T. TFTJJI QTJ UT 33 CTOTY.

U3 30 TIJ 3CJT<q. DYTUT QTY

JIfIT, QTFTF IT qCCrHT QCVC

JT TY TJIH3T..

UCCJ JIFH

JD TnT.

TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSCRIPTION

Sela' Seyla'

Walal kii an je'la, Husen. Salamad. Walaal kii an je'laa, Huseen. Salaamad. Anagu wa nabad. Rer kii wuhu yal Doobo. Annagu waa nabad. Reer kii wutiu yaal Doobo. Awr kii wena waha 'unay libah. 'Ali na wuu yimid. Awr kii weyna waha 'unay libaah. 'Ali na wuu yimid. Alabti way na soo ga4ay. Noo soo dir subag.

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THE GADABUURSI SOMALI SCRIPT

Alaabtii way na soo gaa4ay. Noo soo dir subag. Hooyana way timid. Walal ka Guuled wuhu

Hooyana way timid. Walaal kaa Guuleed wuhu tagay Hargesa. tegay Hargeysa.

Nuur Bile Nuur Bile Boorama Boorama

TRANSLATION

Zeila.1

My beloved brother, Huseen. Peace. I am well,2 the reer 3 is at Doobo.4 The big burden camel has been eaten by a lion. 'Ali has come. The goods have been received by us. Send us (some) ghee. Our mother has come. Your 5 brother Guuleed has gone to Hargeisa.6

Nuur Bile, Borama.7

1 The ancient but now deserted town, at various times capital of the Muslim state of Awdal (ninth/tenth-sixteenth centuries), on the north-west coast of the British Protectorate. Well- known place-names are here spelt as in common administrative usage in the Protectorate.

2 Lit. ' it is peace ', meaning above all spiritual equilibrium, not simply the absence of war. A rather perfunctory greeting, as here, the writer would be somewhat disturbed by the loss of the camel.

3 Here, the nomadic hamlet, comprising a man's hut, sheep and goats, and possibly some milch camels and cattle, with his wife and children (by her) and probably a few families of close kin with their huts and stock. Each wife normally has one hut. The word reer is also used in other more general senses, as e.g. to mean ' people ', but this is its basic meaning. For a general introduction to the structure of nomadic Somali society see my The Somali lineage system and the total genealogy (duplicated), Hargeisa, Somaliland Protectorate, 1957.

4 A village in the west of the Protectorate. 5 The article -kaa indicates that the person spoken of is more directly related to the recipient

of the letter than to the sender. This possibly refers to the recipient and sender being of different mothers (Som. kala hooyo).

6 The capital of the British Protectorate, of recent foundation and with no traditions of any considerable antiquity.

7 The administrative centre of Borama District in the west of the Protectorate, home of Sh. CAbdurahmaan author of our script.

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TEXT III

A Gabay by Ugaas Nuur

QTT .Y10 C iT3 UCCf

HJD UIUI TTfTU ITqTU TJT T YCtH 3HY6TY.

PIOIC UIU CUD T3UTU i7TYTU YTTTf C 31TTYTY.

nT TT5TI HY YTYTTT nlTYTU IT C TCr7TT YH6T.

UIU 1 TTC3TUTYJT nITTU nTFTJ TCfTCCf 31ITY.

3DJIJTU TTQTfIT C 5323 HU 1HITTT C TTT6CQ

TT JIU ITU C 01TY ICrICC TTSTFIT 3 3T)D.

13TO3U TIIU. LU ITIU TITU ITiT TTYTU 31YTY.

TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSCRIPTION

Wada yici Ugas Nuur Waha yi4i Ugaas Nuur

Eboow nin ii daran mahan darta hure se7shay. Eebbow nin ii daran mahaan daarta hore seehshay. Jiilku nin unoo doonan maian hadal u siidayay. Ji4ku nin anu doonayn mahaan hadal u sii daayay. Ma dagdag ey iajada mahan rag u dulqad yeshay. Ma degdeg ey hajada mahaan rag u dulqaad yeeshay. Nin ii daqsanaya maTan malab durduur siiyay. Nin ii daaqsanayaa mahaan malab durduursiiyay. Goortan dawarka u roogoo en kelada u dadshu. Goortaan dawaarka u rogo een heeladda u daadsho. Dabin kan u iigay kulkuu dagalka soo saroo. Dabin kaan u 'igay kolkuu degelka soo saaro. Isagoon dikniin qabin mahan kaga dayan siiyay. Isagaan digniin qabin mahaan kaga dayaan siiyay.

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THE GADABUURSI SOMALI SCRIPT

TRANSLATION

As Ugaas Nuur said,l Oh God! 2 How often have I made a man hostile to me sleep in the

front part of the house.3 How often have I allowed a man against whom my flesh turned to

continue speaking. I am not hasty in dispute,4 how often have I shown forbearance.5 How often have I given a second helping of honey 6 to the man who

only waited to hurt me. When I turn the sewing machine and scatter the seeds of treachery

(or trickery).7 The trap 8 which I have prepared for him (my enemy) when he sets his

chest 9 on top of it. How often have I caught him unawares.10

1 Lit. ' What Ugaas Nuur said'. Ugaas Nuur Ugaas Roobleh, Sultan (Ugaas) of the Gada- buursi clan, is said to have died about 1898.

2 Eebbe is an ancient and still-used Somali name for God. 3 This rhetorical continuative emphasized in the arrangement of the words is continued

throughout the gabay. For information on Somali folk-literature and poetry see Kirk, 1905, 170 ff., Maino, 1953, 44 ff., and Laurence, 1954, 5 ff.

' Lit. ' in the matter '. 5 Lit. 'yielded patiently to people (rag)'. 6 Metaphor for any kind, or sweet, action as rendered here by the speaker to his enemy. 7 The speaker sows a scheme of treachery to catch his enemy. From his brooding will come

the seeds of the plan which will secure his enemy's downfall. Daadi 'to scatter' is used of feeding grain to poultry.

8 A trap for wild animals and game. 9 Degel-ka usually means an old camp-site, deserted, but sometimes returned to; here it has

the less common meaning of chest associated with the idea of bringing near. The whole theme of the poem is that the speaker bides his time waiting only until the time is ripe to strike his enemy. The proud nomad does not forget an insult although he may appear to do so.

10 The construction here is involved. The speaker gave his enemy dayaan (lit. ' the crashing sound of a blow') with some unstated object implied in the use of kaga. The first three words mean 'without him taking warning'.

VOL. XXI. PART 1.

149

11

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I. M. LEWIS

TEXT IV

A Geeraar by 'Ali Bu'ul

GHITS, 7Trl J7Cr QCYC YjI/

CrTTYTJ qCTCJ IHT 113

TrI153 93TIJTTHTT IYC

qCtIT QHU qTJSH3T IC

qTrFI L1 iTfTQT TJCC

qTFT. 13 IC i1TfTIN

fT TTSCCf qCTGCTTDJ

qCFTcC IC ' lOUT UTUT

q.3O HU IT ITJTYJTJ

nT Tf 3D3TU QCTJTJ

q3DTU;3.fU I1TrT

IJCC CHFTF 33 JC IJT

nT qCCt JHID O ITT-)J

nTFTTSTT-IT TC613T I1D

qCCT-Il JCC IT 7TTTTTJ

T nfT ?T.r CJTYFTT3D

150

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THE GADABUURSI SOMALI SCRIPT

TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSCRIPTION

Gerar, 'Ali Bu'ul, wuhu yi1i, Geeraar, 'Ali Bu'ul, wuiu yi4i,

Bulahar gudub ked iyoo Bullahar gudubkeediyo Almis goodyadeeda iyu Almis goodiyadeeda iyo Gubka wen Hargesa iyu Gobka weyne Hargeysa iyo Galihii Haraw ayuu Galihii Haraw ayuu Galab is ku marayh Galabis ku maraayeh Ma daruur gudgudayoo Ma daruur gudgudaayoo Gulahu ku hifna nana Golohuu ku hi4naana Goohwen ba kabahyay Gooh weyn baa ka bahaayaye Ma ar goosan watayoo Ma aar goosan wataayoo Goobangoobin 'idla Gabangoobbi 'idla Iyuu gelal soo tu iya Ayuu geelal soo tu'yaaye Ma gub reroo fdayoo Ma gob reero Qa'daayoo Hal garad ka dushiisa iyoo Hal garaadka dushiisa iyo Guud ka buu ka 'adad' y Guudka buu ka 'adaaday A ma galool ubailayoo E ma galool ubahlaayoo

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TRANSLATION 1

Geeraar, 'Ali Bu'ul, what he said,

Bulhar 2 and beside it, and the country of Almis,3 And Hargeisa with its great gob tree,4 and the valley of Harawa,5 in

an evening he compassed, Is he the speeding rain-cloud ? 6

From the place 7 he was tethered, a great noise came forth, Is he the leader of a pride of lions ? 8

In the lonely camp (of the raiders), he (brings) the (stolen) camels to kneel,9

Is he (like) the noblemen 10 laying waste the camps ? The long hairs of his tail, and mane are pure white,1' Is he the acacia tree in flower ? 12

1In this poem the poet praises his horse. Very many geeraar have such a theme. 2 A small town, formerly more important and prosperous than it is to-day, to the west of

Berbera in the Protectorate. 3 A mountain in the west of the Protectorate. 4 The gob (Zizyphous mauritiana) is one of the largest and most noble of the common trees

in the Protectorate. Its fruit is relished by man and beast and its shade is much sought after. 6 A place in the Gadabuursi country to the west of the Protectorate. G* udgude-ha is a swiftly moving night rain-cloud. The word is related to gud 'to travel by

night '. 7 Gole-ha ' a place where men (and certainly formerly horses) gather'; a meeting-place. s Aar-ka 'the male lion ', gool-sha ' the lioness ' 9 Gabangoobi-da ' a flat area or plain', here deserted, and the retreat of the raiders whose

presence is implied. Lit. 'he kneels (tui) the camels'. The horse is here praised for its part in stock-looting. Its prowess and stamina enable the rider to capture many camels and bring them back to camp to.unload.

10 Gob means 'noble, of aristocratic birth or lineage ', as opposed to gun (lit. 'the bottom') meaning of common, undistinguished, birth. The word gob is applied to anyone, with the general exception of the despised leather-workers, smiths, etc. (the Midgaans, Tumaals, Yibirs, etc.) whose actions conform to the Somali conception of noble conduct. Reer means here ' nomadic hamlet ', as in Text II, p. 147, n. 3, above.

11 Hal 'one (of anything) ', here denotes a single strand of hair. 12 Galool, the acacia tree, Acacia bussei, bursts into a cascade of light feathery yellow flowers

at the beginning of spring with the coming of the rains. The image here is not only of the colour of the flower but contains also the implication that its blooming heralds the long-awaited spring rains. The galool also flowers again later in the year.

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THE GADABUURSI SOMALI SCRIPT

TEXT V

Fragment of a Gabay by Ugaas Nuur

iCJTJTTC In1TIT QTtTJ OISJT

nHr TJDfITIH. 61fl J]CUT TJ13-

ITY 0133C IYTJ CJTT IT FH3TIH

IITI TJT 7ITFT 13 OTI7YH TQJ

IC ITFT5)UH. TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSCRIPTION

Gurayadu ilmaha wahay digta mel arooriyahe Gorayadu ilmaha wahay 4igtaa meel arooryahe Shimbir tuna arooskay (istu iyay ubad ka gesaye Shimbirtuna arooskay qisto ayay ubadka geysaaye lyakaba 'qala is lafiye awr ku kalaroone. Iyakaba 'aqlays 4aafiyaye awr ku kala roone.

TRANSLATION 1

The ostrich puts her child in the unsheltered plain. But the bird 2 builds a large bridal house 3 to put her children in. Their brains are not in keeping with the difference in their sizes.4

1 This fragment comes from a well-known gabay by Ugaas Nuur, see Text III, p. 149, n. 1. 2 The Somali divide the feathered vertebrates into two main classes. Birds of prey are known

collectively as had-ka. Other (non-carnivorous) birds are called shimbir-ta usually translated in English as 'bird'. This is only partly correct as birds of prey are not shimbir. The ostrich belongs to neither class and is not considered as a bird. It is grouped with all game animals (ugaa(-.da) and is hunted, less frequently now than formerly, for its excellent fat used for making ghee. The antithesis is here between the great ostrich which shows less ingenuity in the care of its young than any small nesting bird.

8 Aroos-ka is the house built for the bridal couple by the parents of the girl in return for the bride-price (yarad-ka) paid by the husband and his kin. It also means bridegroom, or marriage. The aroos is in fact the newly constructed, abundantly equipped, especially adorned, house, built for the bride and her husband before the wedding and which they will probably occupy for the rest of their lives. In the interior it is the collapsible mat and skin-covered hut (aqal), built on a frame of boughs lashed together, of the nomads.

4 Caqlays from the Ar. C-q-1 plus contracted is. Awr, literally 'male burden camel', is used metaphorically here as a unit of large size. This is quite a common metaphorical use. These three lines have assumed almost the currency of a proverb to the effect that bulk and brawn are not the same as ingenuity.

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TEXT VI

A letter from Borama

QTrTr-ITJ 7TFl 3HrT7

QT UTJTT. ICr TT Y TH61T'6T T7-

TTU 1 3D Tlf ITJC IYC fTnTQ13

IYC ZD71TT IJC qTlftTITT fHf

IIUT QCC qCCITJ. QTFT6T YC-

ICU QTY JflilT. TOCCO IUT

Q T FT CflTY. U3) 33 TI OQTT.I

TUINC QTYTU IfTU 3TYTU TTUJM.

UTJTT qTrFJ3.

3CqTF T7TI. tf3TnlT. TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSCRIPTION

Walal-kay 'Ali. Sela' Walaalkay 'Ali Seyla' Wa nabad. Kulkad heshid waraqdan ii soo dir Waa nabad. Kolkaad heshid waraaqdan ii soo dir kabu iyu ma'awis iyu koofiyad iyu garbagala. kabo iyo ma'awis iyo koofiyad iyo garbagale. Rer kiina wuu guuray. Walasha Hufun way timid. Reerkiina wuu guuray. Walaashaa Hufun way timid. Haduuw kiina wa la tumay. Noo soo dir waraq. Hacuu4kiina waa la tumay. Noo soo dir waraaq. Anigu wahan iman sahan dambe. Nabad galyoo. Anigu wahan iman sahan dambe. Nabad gelyo.

Sugal CAbdi, Boorama. Sugaal 'Abdi, Boorama.

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THE GADABUURSI SOMALI SCRIPT

TRANSLATION

Zeila. My brother 'Ali,

We are well. When you have received this letter 1 send me shoes, and a lungi,2 and a hat,3 and a shirt.4 The family 5 has moved. Your sister, Hufun, has come. The sorghum has been thrashed.6 Send us a letter. I shall come the day after to-morrow.7 Good-bye.

Sugaal 'Abdi, Borama.

REFERENCES

Andrzejewski, B. W., 'The problem of vowel representation in the Isaaq dialect of Somali ', BSOAS, xvII, 3, 1955, 567-80.

- 'Accentual patterns in verbal forms in the Isaaq dialect of Somali', BSOAS, xvIII, 1, 1956, 103-29.

- (ed.), Hikmad Soomaali, by Muuse Haaji Ismaa'iil Galaal (SOAS. Anno- tated African Texts, Iv: Somali), London, Cape Town, O.U.P., 1956.

Armstrong, L. E., 'The phonetic structure of Somali', MSOS, xxxvII, 3, 1934, 116-61.

Bell, C. R. V., The Somali language, London, Longmans, 1953. Corulli, E., 'Note sul movimento musulmano nella Somalia', RSO, x, 1,

1923, 1-36. Galaal, M. H. I., 'Arabic script for Somali', Islamic Quarterly, I, 2, 1954,

114-18. Kirk, J. W. C., A grammar of the Somali language, Cambridge, University Press,

1905. Laurence, Margaret, A tree for poverty, Nairobi, Eagle Press for the Somaliland

Protectorate, 1954. Lewis, I. M., Peoples of the Horn of Africa (Ethnographic Survey of Africa:

North Eastern Africa, Part I), London, International African Institute, 1955.

1 Waraaqdan, cf. Ar. w-r-q-t. 2 cf. Ar. m-<-w-z. 3 cf. Ar. k-w-f-y-t.

Garbagale-ha ' shirt ', from gal ' to enter ' and garbo ' shoulders ', the garment the shoulders enter.

5 For the meaning of the word reer see Text II, p. 147, n. 3. 6 The sorghum (haa4uui-ka) is grown in the Protectorate only in significant quantities in

Hargeisa and Borama, Districts in the west of the country, and is harvested between September and December according to the year. There is generally only one main crop each year. Much of the crop is brought into the markets of towns like Hargeisa by trade truck and sold if a good price is offered very shortly after it has been cut and thrashed in the fields. The money thus obtained provides ready cash for the purchase of necessities such as clothes and cooking utensils. At this time of year, unless the harvest has been disastrous, people are normally contented and happy, and during and immediately after the harvest the marriage season of the cultivators in the west of the Protectorate is in full swing.

7 Sahan dambe 'the day after to-morrow' is Gadabuursi dialect. In the centre and east of the Protectorate the expression is saa dambe.

1 2

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THE GADABUUBSI SOMALI SCRIPT 156

Lewis, I. M., 'Sufism in Somaliland: a study in tribal Islam', BSOAS, xvii, 3, 1955, 581-602; xviI, 1, 1956, 145-60.

Maino, M., ' L'alfabeto " osmania " in Somalia', RSE, x, 1951, 108-21. - La lingua somala strumento d'insegnamento professionale, Alessandria, 1953. Moreno, M. M., II somalo della Somalia, Roma, Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato,

1955. Webber, J. M., ' Contrast in Somaliland, Part n, festival', Corona, June 1956,

211-13.