Friday January 22, 2016
MOGADISHU -- Somalia on Thursday marked the 43rd anniversary of the Somali Language Script which was formally written and adopted in the Horn of African country in 1972.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud led other national leaders including the Speaker of Federal Parliament Mohamed Osman Jawari and ministers in celebrating the occasion which was renewed last year after several years interrupted by the civil war.
Speaking during the ceremony, Mohamud noted it was imperative for Somalia to adopt and promote its mother tongue.
The president said it was imperative that all government offices adopted the Somali language in order to promote and encourage many others to learn the language.
He said the Somali Language and Research Academy whose foundation stone was laid last year in the presence of Djibouti President Ismail Omar Gelleh will soon be opened to the public to promote the language in the larger Horn and East Africa.
But the language has also faced enormous challenges from other foreign languages notably English and Arabic.
The Somali Diaspora which is located mainly in Europe and the U.S. have also contributed to diversification of languages in Somalia.
Somali is the official language of Somalia, a national language in Djibouti, and a working language in the Somali region of Ethiopia. It is also used as an adoptive language by a few neighboring ethnic minority groups and individuals largely in east Africa