Ajami (, ) or Ajamiyya (, ), which comes from the Arabic root for 'foreign' or 'stranger', is an Arabic-derived script used for writing

African languages The number of languages natively spoken in Africa is variously estimated (depending on the delineation of language vs. dialect) at between 1,250 and 2,100, and by some counts at over 3,000. Nigeria alone has over 500 languages (according to SI ...

, particularly Songhai, Mandé, Hausa and Swahili, although many other languages are also written using the script, including Mooré,

Pulaar Pulaar (in Latin script, Latin: , in Ajami script, Ajami: ), often referred to as Pulaar du Nord, is dialect of the Fula language spoken primarily as a first language by the Fula people, Fula and Toucouleur peoples in the Senegal River valley ar ...

, Wolof, and Yoruba. It is an adaptation of the Arabic script to write sounds not found in Standard Arabic. Rather than adding new letters, modifications usually consist of additional dots or lines added to pre-existing letters.

History

The script was first used between the 10th and the 16th centuries. It was likely originally created with the intent of promoting

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

. The first languages written in the script were likely old Taseelhit or medieval

Amazigh Berbers, or the Berber peoples, also known as Amazigh or Imazighen, are a diverse grouping of distinct ethnic groups indigenous to North Africa who predate the arrival of Arabs in the Maghreb. Their main connections are identified by their u ...

, Kanuri, or Songhay. Later, Fulfulde, Hausa, Wolof, and Yoruba would use the script. By the 17th century, the script was being used to publish religious texts and poetry. Guinean Fulani poetry was written in Ajami from the middle of the 18th century. During the pre-colonial period, Qur'anic schools taught Muslim children Arabic and, by extension, Ajami. After Western colonization, a Latin orthography for Hausa was adopted and the Ajami script declined in popularity. Some anti-colonial groups and movements continued to use Ajami. An Islamic revival in the 19th century led to a wave of Ajami written works. Ajami remains in widespread use among Islamic circles but exists in

digraphia In sociolinguistics, digraphia refers to the use of more than one writing system for the same language. Synchronic digraphia is the coexistence of two or more writing systems for the same language, while diachronic digraphia or sequential digr ...

among the broader populace. Ajami is used ceremonially and for specific purposes, such as for local herbal preparations in the Jula language.

Hausa Ajami script

There is no standard system of using Ajami, and different writers may use letters with different values. Short vowels are written regularly with the help of vowel marks (which are seldom used in Arabic texts other than the Quran). Many medieval Hausa manuscripts, similar to the

Timbuktu Manuscripts Timbuktu Manuscripts, or Tombouctou Manuscripts, is a blanket term for the large number of historically significant manuscripts that have been preserved for centuries in private households in Timbuktu, a city in northern Mali. The collections i ...

written in the Ajami script, have been discovered recently. and some of them describe

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The first constellati ...

s and

calendar A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A calendar date, date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is ...

s. An example of the letter values is in the following table.

References

External links

*
PanAfrican L10n page on Arabic script and "Ajami"
{{Authority control Arabic alphabets Writing systems of Africa

History

Hausa Ajami script

See also

References

Further reading

External links