Somali is a Cushitic language of the Afro-Asiatic family, closely related to Afar and Oromo, and has been spoken in the Horn of Africa for at least 2,500 years. Despite its ancient roots, Somali had no official writing system until 1972, when the government of President Siad Barre adopted a standardized Latin-script orthography, making it one of the last major world languages to be formally transcribed. Before that, Arabic script and several competing Latin and Osmanya-script proposals had been in use among scholars and communities. The swift adoption of the Latin alphabet was accompanied by a dramatic national literacy campaign. Arabic retains influence as a language of religion and trade, particularly along the coast where Somali merchants have interacted with the Arab world for centuries. Somali dialects are mutually intelligible and include Northern (Isaaq), Benaadir (coastal), and Maay, the latter showing some divergence.
