Monday June 9, 2025
The present article follows a previous piece posted on Hiiraan Online Website on May 4, 2025, under the heading “Obstacles that hampered the writing of the Somali language. Egyptian attempts to undermine efforts to select a common script”
According to an official United Nations document we have been able to consult, (UNOR “T/PET”. 11/40. May 3, 1951,p, 22) in 1952, the Somali Youth League party (SYL), submitted to the United Nations a petition describing the Somali language and culture as “underdeveloped”, with “very limited vocabulary” and with “no literature at all”. This inaccurate public statement, written at a very superficial level, was submitted to the United Nations for analyses and action.
The petition, dated May 3, 1952 reads:
“The Somali language is underdeveloped and as such has a very limited vocabulary with no literature at all. It is extremely difficult to express ourselves adequately in the Somali language. It is difficult, if not impossible, for the Somalis to improve their language at the present time. Such improvement or development would require time and education and would require perhaps a few centuries.
“The Arab language is uniform and is understood in Moslem countries. From a questionnaire recently conducted by our secretariat all over Somalia, we discovered that there is no general agreement among the Somalis as to which one among the various Somali dialects should become the national language. The people of each province or area insisted that their dialect should be made the national language. When they were, however, asked if they had any objection to the introduction of Arabic as a national language they expressed no objection whatsoever.
“Since the Somali people are backward, and the job of developing the Somali language is a gigantic task requiring the attention of highly educated and cultured men, such an attempt would be futile. And if the Somalis, in their present condition, cannot develop their language, it is also difficult to see how foreigners could tackle the problem in the course of a few years.
“On the other hand, the Arabic language is rated as a very highly developed language and rich in its vocabulary and literature, expanding from day to day. The Arabic language is a growing, vital language. The Arabic language is ‘international’, we might well say. It is read and spoken all over the Muslim world including Somaliland. The Somali language, on the other hand, is narrow and confined to the Somali people inhabiting the Horn of Africa. In learning the Arabic language perfectly, the Somalis would embark on an ocean of culture which knows no limits. The Arabic language is already widely used in Somalia since the Somalis are all Muslims. The Holy Koran, written in Arabic, is taught to all Somali children from tender years, the Somalis say their prayers in Arabic. Somali Judges record all evidences and proceedings before them in Arabic; documents, private papers and letters are all written in Arabic. Thus, already, by an unconscious process, and by the very fact that the Somalis are Muslims, the ‘lingua franca’ of Somalis is Arabic. The Arabic language is necessary for the linking together Somalia with the Muslim countries culturally and politically. There is a union of thought and feeling between all Muslims all over the world, and the Arabic language helps to foster and strengthen the bond between the Muslim brothers who are all believers in Allah, His Holy Prophet Mohamed and the Holy Koran” (UNOR “T/PET”. 11/40. May 3, 1951,p, 22)
The purpose of this piece is not to criticize or denigrate the signatures of the petition in question as they had acted bona fide. We should not judge them too severely. The purpose of this writing is solely to bring to light, without malice towards anyone, the wrong prevailing thinking at the time of the petition that the Somali language was nor susceptible to development. The wrong believe that the Somali language was a mere local dialect, has since been radically changed, and it is today a written national language for millions of Somalis. The Somalis have realized that their language is one of the richest languages spoken in the world; rich in terms of literature and vocabulary. It lacked only an agreed upon alphabet to write it and make Somali the national language of the country au lieu of any other foreign language, including the Arabic. We all know that the process leading to identifying and deciding on the most adequate/suitable alphabet proved to be an uphill task due to a number of foreign and domestic pressures the elaboration of which is beyond the purview of this piece.
M. Trunji
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