Lahjada maayga dad badan ayaa waxay ka soo qaadeen af gaar ah oo leh alifbeeto marka aan isla eegno
The most recent attempt to transcribe Maay was carried out by the
late Mustapha Sheikh who used the first Latin-based transcription.
However, the first organized and systematic attempt to institutionalize
the Alif-Maay script was initiated by a group of young, well educated
expatriate workers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in 1988. This group produced
the first modern script in a small booklet entitled “Baroy Af-Somali
Maay” (Learn Alif-Maay). They have also produced a collection of over
500 proverbs and substantial number of vocabularies.
In 1993, another young, and well educated group in Toronto, Canada,
produced an improved version of the Jeddah Group and presented a paper
entitled, “Alif-Maay” at the First International Conference of the
Inter-riverine Studies Association held in Toronto in November, 1994.
More than a decade later, another group including members of the
initial Toronto Group along with a number of intellectuals, community
leaders, and traditional elders created a forum called Kulung Technical
Committee. The purpose of this committee, like those that preceded it,
is to come up with a more standardized Af-Maay Script. This group met
several times in London, and Toronto, Canada. After long discussions,
we, the Alif-Maay Group, working under the direction of Kulung Technical
Committee, are convinced that this version of the script is as good it
can be, and therefore comprehensive enough to be presented for comments
by the Maay speaking peoples. Thus, we seek comments and suggestions, as
well as any instruction that you may kindly give to improve on the
current script
Maay Alphabet ( English Version )
The alphabet used for writing Maay language is the same as the
international Roman alphabet, with letters chosen to represent the Maay
phones (sound structure). It also uses digraphs i.e. a sequence of two
letters to represent single sounds. The Maay alphabet has five primary
vowels: a, e, i, o, u, and one semi-vowel ( Y ) and twenty four
consonants.
(1.00) Consonants:
B P T J JH D TH R S SH DH G GH F Q K L M N NG W H Y Y’
(1.01) Vowels:
Maay has two major categories of vowels: short and long according to
the position they occupy in the word in which they are located. Long
vowels are spelled as double vowels. They are pronounced exactly like
short vowels except that they are longer:
A E I O U
AA EE II OO UU
(1.02) Semi-vowel Y
Maay has one semi-vowel “Y” which has a distinct pronunciation that
is different from the vowel sound produced by the vowel i and is used to
represent the “ieh” sound occurring ( felt ) most often at the end of
Maay words. Example:
teesy (fly) moory (animal enclosure) lamy (two) sedy (three)
Since the letter ‘Y’ is used both a consonant and vowel, because of
its double role the following Shorongshoor rule has been put together to
clarify when one can use ‘Y’ as a consonant and as a vowel:
(1.03) Shorongshoor
(b) If the letter ‘y’ is preceded by a vowel it is used as consonant and is pronounced as it is ‘y’.
Example: Bay (name of a region) Biyooley ( name of a city) siyeed (eight)
(P) On the other hand, if the letter ‘y’ is preceded by a consonant,
then the letter ‘y’ is used like vowel and is pronounced as ‘ieh’.
Example: toory = knife misgy = sorghum Jyny = heaven shyny = bee
(1.04) Glottal stop (Shalreepy) (‘)
A vowel followed by different vowel or the same vowel which is not a
long vowel is separated from the other vowel by an apostrophe(‘)
‘shalreepy’.
Example: ta’ady = betray ba’iid = deer su’aal = question
(1.05) Doubling
In the Maay alphabet, only letters ‘r’ and ‘l’ are doubled within some words.
Example :
RR arry (soil) irry (grey hair) marry ( the whole quran)
LL hillimy (dream) billaawy (diger) duullaang ( to invade)
(1.06) Pronunciation Guide
P
The letter ‘p’ is used when the sound of ‘b’is not stressed. Its
sound is produced by the lips, it is some what similar to the letter ‘p’
in the English alphabet.
apaal = gratitude heped = chest Hapiipy = name of a female lipee = lion
Jh:
It is guttural and it has similar sound as ‘J’. It represent a special Maay sound structure,
jhab = fracture jheer = shyness jhiring =beard jhaapy = fire wood
Th:
It is pronounced as the article ‘the’ in the English language, it is used when the sound of ‘d’ is not stressed.
mathal = appointment etheb = politeness mathy = head mithow = black
Gh:
It sounds like the “ ghain ” of the Arabic alphabet, and it is used when the sound of ‘g’ is not stressed.
maghy = name aghaar = green meghyng = refuge lughy = legs
Ng:
It represent a special Maay sound structure, it is similar to the end sound of many English words (eg. morning, caring, helping)
angkaar = curse oong = thirst ming = house lang = man sang = nose
Y’
It represent a special Maay sound structure, the sound that the
letter ‘y’’ represents is also found in the words signore, and agnello
of the Italian language.
y’aay’uur = cat y’isaang = the youngest maay’y = ocean
(1.07) Pronunciation difference of (b, d, g) and (p, th, gh)
The letters b, d, and g are stressed when they are part of a word,
but they are not doubled within a word. When they are not stressed, the
letter p, th, gh and are used respectively in their place. Note how the
following words are pronounced.
B P
barbaar = youth hupung = joint (organ) dabaal =
fool heped = chest hilib = meet apaar =
drought
D Th
derdaar = advice mathy = head sedy = three mathal = appointment bad = ocean naathy = anouncement
G Gh
legding = wrestling maghy = name/ noun shalgo =
seperation saghaal = nine dheg =
ear dheghaaly = deaf
(1.08) Similar spellings
The following Maay words are written similarly (have the same
spelling) but have different pronunciations and different meanings. They
are distinguished according to the position they occupy in the words
and sentences in which they are located as shown in the following
example:
weel = vessel ———weel = a person’s children
dood = hobble rope for camels — dood = argument
eleeng = ram eleeng = above
jeer = days of the week —–jeer = hippopotamus
fool = human face ————-fool = birth labor
beer = liver ——————beer = farm
ALIF MAAY
Farty Afky Maayky may liing etheegsythey Alifky Roomangky, yeetho
haruufo bersho liing doorythi weerdhingty Afky Maayky ing gaarky e.
Alifky Afky Maayky may leyaa lapaatung i afar shibly, shang shaghal oo
aasaaas e, i hal shaghal ing yaal:
(1.00) Shible
B P T J JH D TH R S SH DH G GH F Q K L M N NG W H Y Y’
(1.01) Shaghal
A E I O U
AA EE II OO UU
(1.02) Shaghal ing yaal (Y)
Afky Maayky may leyaa hal shaghal ing yaal oo e harafky (Y), kaasoo
weerdhingtis ku gediising weerdhingty shaghale (i , e). Shaghal ing
yaalky “Y” may liing etheegsythey weerdhing ing gaar e Afky Maayky, oo e
“ieh” taasoo eed liingku dereemow dhamaadky kelmetho Afky Maayky.
Misaal: teesy sedy lamy misgy bary
Maadaama harafky “Y” liing etheegsythow shibly i shaghal haangby, sy
liing shak kasy madi usy shibly eyi i madi usy shaghal eyi, may liing
suubiyey sher’e ly erraw Shorongshoor:
(1.03) Shorongshoor:
(b) Hooby “Y” hortiye shaghal jery , may naghythaase shibly, weerdhingtiyeeny misbedelaasy sithiye ley haathasy.
Misaal: Bay Biyooley siyeed biyi
(P) Hoopy “Y” hortiye shibly jery, may naghythaase shaghal,
weerdhingtiyeeny may naghythaase “ieh”. (Y – may galaase meelli
weerdhingtiye ing naghythy waayty shaghalky “i” misy “e”).
Misaal: toory misgy jyny shyny maghy
(1.04) Shalreepy (‘)
Hooby is rahaang lamy shaghal oo shaghal dheer ing haayny may lyky shalreebey hamsy (“) oo liingky maghy dari Shalreepy.
Misaal: ta’ady ba’iid su’aal saa’ad
(1.05) lamylaab
Alifky Afky Maayky harfo “R” i “L” sheleethiyoley lamylaabymaayang.
Misaal: RR arry irry marry
LL hillimy billaawy duullaang
(1.06) Weerdhingty harfo gaarky e:
P
Harafky “P” may ly etheegsythey madi harafky “B” weerdhingtis
futhudy, weerdhingtiisny may ku kooyase faruuy’o mayny ing dhowya
harafky afky Ingriisky ‘P”.
Misaal: apaal heped lipee hapoog Hapiipy
JH
Harafky “JH” may liing etheegsythey weerdhing Af Maay ing gaar e o haku bahaasy dhuungky, mayny ing dhowya harafky “J”.
Misaal: jhab jheer jhiryng galaangjhy jhaathyjhaathy
TH
Harafky “TH” may ly etheegsythey madi harafky “D” weerdhingtis
futhudy, mayny ly too eyaa weerdhingty kelmydy Afky Ingriisky e “the”.
Misaal: mathal etheb mathy mithow
GH
Harafky “GH” may ly etheegsythey madi harafky “G” weerdhingtis
futhudy, mayny weerdhingtis ly too etaa harafky Af Arbeedky e ( ).
Misaal: maghy aghaar meghyng lughy dhaghar
NG
Harafky “NG” may liing etheegsythey weerdhing ing gaar e Af Maay,
mayny weerdhingtis may ing dhowta weerdhingty dhamaadky kelmytho Afky
Ingriisky e “ morning, caring, helping”.
Misaal: angkaar ming lang sang bang
Y’
Harafky Y” may liing etheegsythey weerdhing ing gaar e Af Maay,
weerdhingtiisny may ly too etaa weerdhingty ky jerty kelmytho afky
Telyaanighy (signore, agnello).
Misaal: y’aay’ur y’isaang maay’y muy’y
(1.07) Farqyghy Weerdhingty Harfo (b,d,g, n) i (p, th, gh, ng)
B P
barbaar hupung
dabaal
dapaal derby
dupy
dharbaang
depeel
D TH
derdaar
mathy sedy
mathal
sody
detheb
G GH
legdyng
maghy lug
lughy
dugsy
meghaad
N NG
tinaar
lang
naar ming
suny
shang
(1.08) Dhikaal is too e:
Af Maay may leyaa kelmythy dhikaaliyo is too e, laaking ma’naasho
shal gediising, mayny ly gorythey ma’naasho madi jumly ky jeraang.
Misaal:
weel (weelky wal ky shib)—–weel (weelka weelshey kiing etheeghy)
dood (gurbyghy ha dood)—————–dood ( doody bathyng dhaaf)
eleeng (eleengky haniing goori)——–-eleeng (eleeng ing geng)
jeer (jeermaaw geeky)——————–jeer ( jeer wepi ky jerty)
beer ( beer eryng)————————–beer ( beer gooymy)
(1.09) Hegaad
b bal bed bir bohol bur
p apaal heped lipe hapoog hupung
t tab teneneg ting tol tub
j jawaang jelmed jilib jowhar jug
jh jhab jheer jhiring jhiir jhuug
d dar derdaar dilow dopool dubud
th athar etheer ithing othow uthur
r raad reer riyy roob ruung
s sar sed sir soor suul
sh shang sher shir shoor shughul
dh dhaang dheel dhiiry dhoob dhul
g gar ger goob guur gengber
gh maghaar dhaghar maghy lughy ighir
q quly qiyaas quud qalqaaly qereer
k kal keer keped koor kuul
l lab laab leeb liiling ludaay
m malmal meghed ming moory
n nal neped nikaa nolol nuur
ng lang mingdily shang bung lung
w waaly weysy withaad wehel waany
h haang heraay hiraab hoory huur
y yahaas yeemby yeraang yasow yoong
y’ y’aay’y muy’y maay’y y’aay’ur
Gopey: