The Osmaniya script was later adopted as a nationalist symbol of Somali achievement.

Evidence

This creation of a truly indigenous vehicle for the national language naturally appealed to the Somali national consciousness, although, from the start, it found opponents amongst conservative religious leaders who favoured Arabic. However, with its inventor’s position as a member of the princely family of the Majerteyn clan, it soon gained a restricted currency in parts of the Majerteyn region and amongst other members of the clan living elsewhere. Later events were to create circumstances in which this ingenious writing was to be championed by the leaders of modern Somali nationalism as a symbol of Somali achievement, associated with perhaps the most prized of all things in the Somali national heritage – the Somali language. — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 317

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Siyad resolved the long-stalled Somali script question by choosing the roman alphabet; An indigenous Somali script bolstered national consciousness against Arabic; Somalis devised their own scripts, especially Osmaniya, before Roman-script literacy (+3 more)

Related

• Somalis devised their own scripts, especially Osmaniya, before Roman-script literacy (similarity 0.93)
• An indigenous Somali script bolstered national consciousness against Arabic (similarity 0.93)
• A 1920 script invention made Somali fully writable for the first time. (similarity 0.89)
• Siyad resolved the long-stalled Somali script question by choosing the roman alphabet (similarity 0.89)
• Lack of a national Somali script forced continued use of colonial languages (similarity 0.88)
• The League remained divided over which script should write Somali. (similarity 0.86)
• Siyad resolved the script question that earlier governments had avoided (similarity 0.84)
• Early Roman-script Somali publications met hostile popular reaction and were withdrawn (similarity 0.82)
• Somalia still lacked a settled written script for its language in 1957 (similarity 0.82)
• Political language was coined to unify Somalis with Oromo allies (similarity 0.80)
• Pan-Somali and Oromo nationalisms merged into the new Somali Abo Liberation Front (similarity 0.79)
• The Somali Youth League’s program repudiated clan divisions and promoted a Somali script (similarity 0.79)
• Somali nationalists coined common terms to unite with Oromo allies (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Lack of a national Somali script forced continued use of colonial languages #complicates (0.70) — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 434
• Political language was coined to unify Somalis with Oromo allies #complicates (0.55) — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 566