No. 01 — Linguist · Teacher · Reformer
Shire Jaamac Axmed
The man who gave the Somali language its script. A linguist from Wardheer in western Somalia whose stubborn faith in the Latin alphabet transformed an entire people's relationship with writing, reading and knowledge.
- Born
- 1936
- Wardheer
- The Script
- 1972
- Officially adopted
- Died
- 1999
- 62 years old
Portrait · archive photograph
“The Somalis are practising what we in Tanzania preach.”Julius Nyerere — on Somalia's literacy campaign
The Chapters
Three chapters in a life that changed a nation.
From Qur'an studies in Wardheer to Al-Azhar in Cairo, from Soviet universities to a printing press in Mogadishu — Shire's journey traces Somalia's 20th century.
IBackground & education
Born in Wardheer in western Somalia in 1936. Qur'an studies, then Arabic and Islamic law at Al-Azhar in Cairo, and finally a degree in the Soviet Union in 1967.
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IIThe script & the struggle
More than a decade of debate between Arabic, Latin and Osmanya scripts. Shire's modified Latin alphabet wins — and is officially adopted in 1972.
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IIIThe literacy campaign
Between 1974 and 1975 a whole generation of Somalis learns to read and write. Teachers and students travel out to every village with Shire's alphabet.
Read on →Far Soomaali
An alphabet, honed for the Somali ear.
Shire excluded p, v, z — letters absent from Somali — and introduced the digraphs kh, dh, sh for sounds unique to the language.
The modern Somali Latin alphabet — in use since 21 October 1972.