The dramatic introduction in 1972 of mass literacy in the Roman script by the military regime in Somalia is discussed in Chapter IX. Prior to this a number of scripts had been devised by Somalis. The most popular of these, called 'Osmaniya' after its inventor, enjoyed limited currency, competing in certain areas with Arabic as a medium for writing Somali.

I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Som…, loc. 718