ADLaM script



ADLaM is a script used to write Fulani. The name is an acronym derived from the first four letters of the alphabet (A, D, L, M) and standing for Alkule Dandayɗe Leñol Mulugol (𞤀𞤤𞤳𞤵𞤤𞤫 𞤁𞤢𞤲𞤣𞤢𞤴𞤯𞤫 𞤂𞤫𞤻𞤮𞤤 𞤃𞤵𞤤𞤵𞤺𞤮𞤤), which means "the alphabet that protects the peoples from vanishing".

Usage
Adlam is written from right to left. It as both upper and lower cases. The letters can either be written connected, like Arabic, or separately.

Diacritics
ADLaM has several diacritics, several were based on Arabic diacritics, either in form, function, or both.

Other symbols
ADLaM has a decimal number system with unique symbols for the digits. Unlike Arabic, numbers in ADLaM are read right to left, like the rest of the script.

Most of the punctuation marks are the same as those used in the Latin alphabet, only mirrored to be read from right to left. The question mark ⟨𞥟 … ؟⟩ and exclamation point ⟨! … 𞥞⟩ are used like in Spanish, there are initial and final forms, which are placed before and after the clause or phrase. The final forms are the same as in the Latin alphabet, the shape of the initial marks changed in 2019 to unique symbols.

Development
The Fulani language is generally written in the Latin alphabet or the Arabic script, though there was little standardization. ADLaM was developed by brothers Ibrahima and Abdoulaye Barry in the late 1980s in order to have a standardized writing system for Fulani. At the time Ibrahima was 14 and Abdoulaye was 10. They used several methods to create symbols. One method involved them closing their eyes and drawing lines. Another method involved is thinking of a sound, imagining the look of a glyph for that sound, and drawing said glyph.

After developing the writing system they began teach members of their community and copying and writing books in ADLaM. Ibrahima continued teaching the language in college and began making newspapers and books of practical advice. The script was widely adopted by Fulani communities. It is currently being taught is Guinea, Togo, Senegal, and other surrounding countries. There are also learning centers in Europe and the United States.

Unicode
ADLaM was added to unicode in June 2016. In 2019, the character shapes were refined.

In October 2017, Google released a Noto font that supports the block, Noto Sans Adlam, although it did not handle prenasalized consonants properly. On 3 October 2018, Microsoft released an updated Ebrima font to support Adlam alphabet.

Keyboard
The ADLaM keyboard layout makes use of AltGr keys to access diacritics and letters used for loanwords.