Glossary · Term · script

Osmanya

c. 1920 · 20th century · Also known as Osmanya script

Osmanya is an alphabet for the Somali language created around 1920 by Osman Yusuf Kenadid, son of the sultan of Hobyo. Written from left to right, its letters drew partly on Arabic and Ethiopic forms. It spread among nationalists in the 1940s and 1950s, but in 1972 the Somali government adopted a Latin alphabet instead.

Osmanya
Image: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 state history

Sultanate of Hobyo

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Osmanya. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/osmanya
MLA
“Osmanya.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/osmanya. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Osmanya.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/osmanya.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Osmanya’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/osmanya (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻