Based on the degree of distribution of the Arabic language throughout the vast territory of the Arab East, we can distinguish two main areas that reflect certain functional forms of its existence and characterize its use in various spheres of communication. The internal distribution area of the Arabic language covers all regions and countries where it functions freely as a native language and is used in all areas of life-from the Maghreb 1 in the west to Mashriq 2 and the Persian Gulf countries in the east of the Arab world. The outer area is represented by countries in Africa and Asia, where Arabic is not the native language of the majority of the population. In some of them, it is declared the state language or one of the official languages; in others, its status is strictly confessional and limited to the exercise of worship.

Somalia is located within the outer range of the Arabic language, combining the features of the two sub-regions mentioned above. On the one hand, Arabic is the state language here and its corresponding status is enshrined in the constitution of this country, on the other hand, it is used mainly in the religious sphere and is almost not used in other areas of communication, yielding to the Somali language in this component in most cases.

Keywords: Arabic, Somali, Somalian language.

Despite the fact that Arabic is the native language of a very small part of the population of Somalia, this African country is a full member of the League of Arab States (LAS) and, being non-Arab in fact, participates in the development of a single political line of cooperation between them, and the assignment of the state language status to Arabic has become an important economic and political The country should receive a long-awaited invitation to join this pan-Arab organization. Therefore, clarifying the role of the Arabic language in Somalia is extremely important for identifying the extent of the spread of the Arabic language in the Arab world and investigating the language situation in cases where it is not the main one and has a subordinate character against the background of the dominant language (in this case, Somali).

HISTORY OF ARABIC LANGUAGE PENETRATION IN SOMALIA

Somalia is one of the countries known since ancient times. It was here, according to some sources, that the legendary land of Punt was located, which was the most important source of incense (frankincense and myrrh) for the ancient Egyptians. Per-

1 Arab countries located west of Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula.

2 Countries of the Arab East, which cover the territory of Western Asia up to Iran, including the entire Arabian Peninsula.

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new information about trade relations between Punt and Ancient Egypt dates back to 2500 BC. Under the pharaoh of the Fifth Sahur dynasty (c. 2496-2483 BC), the first known large-scale expedition was sent here, the description of which was found on the Palermo stone. The largest expedition to Punt was organized by order of Queen Hatshepsut in 1482/1481 BC, and detailed information about it was preserved thanks to hieroglyphic inscriptions on the walls of the Deir el-Bahri temple on the west bank of the Nile (for more information, see [Struve, 1950, pp. 69-70]). According to the results of archaeological excavations and a number of studies, the inhabitants of Punta represented a flourishing civilization with its own writing system, which has not yet been deciphered and is "the oldest written monument of the Somali language" [The Ministry..., 1974, p. 5].

The history of the first contacts of Somalis with Arabs can be traced back to the time of the Pharaohs. In the third century. South Arabian tribes established strong trade links between the Horn of Africa 3 and countries in the western Indian Ocean (Hourani, 1951, p. 20-21). The famous ancient Greek geographical work "Periplus of the Erythraean Sea" tells about the coast of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea, along which the trade routes of Egyptian merchants, including to India, ran, and contains a description of the route along the eastern coast of Africa, from Mios Horos to Opona (Cape Hafun in Somalia) [Bukharin, 2007, p. 89]. At that time, the main population of Somalia was nomadic pastoralists, but there were already port settlements on the coast of the Gulf of Aden. The constant exchange of goods between Egypt, Arabia and India stimulated not only the emergence of such trade centers as Zeila 4 and Mogadishu 5, but also the active migration of Arabs, Persians and immigrants from Southeast Asia, which had a significant impact on the local language and culture.

For example, according to one version, the name "Somalia" comes from the Arabic word samala "to put out (eye)", since the alleged ancestor of the Somali people was originally from the Arabian Peninsula and fled from there to Somalia after gouging out his brother's eye. According to another hypothesis, the etymology of this lexeme is associated with the Arabic expression zu mal "well - off"-this nickname was given to the son of a rich Arab who moved to north-east Africa and became the ancestor of modern Somalis. Nevertheless, there is another, no less popular interpretation of the word soomaal, based on its translation of "idi doi" from the Somali language, because, according to legend, " in ancient times, everyone visiting Somalia with good intentions was treated to milk, hence, as it is assumed, the name of the country and its people came from "[Nadezhdin, 1976, p. 5].

Contacts between Arabs and Somalis became even more intense with the emergence of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula in the seventh century. The persecution of Muslims in Mecca forced the Prophet Muhammad to make a decision on the first migration of Muslims - the so-called Hijra to Ethiopia 6 (for more information, see [Ibn Hisham, 2007, p. 131]). Migration to the Horn of Africa continued during wars with apostates and various conflicts during the reigns of the righteous Caliphs (632-661) and Umayyads (661-750). The development of relations between immigrants and the autochthonous population led to the emergence of numerous Islamic centers

3 A peninsula in the east of the African continent, the territory of which is part of the State of Somalia.

4 A major port in the western part of the Gulf of Aden, which in the XII-XVI centuries was the capital of the Sultanate of Adal.

5 The etymology of this name also reflects the Arabic-language influence, as it comes from the phrase tats ' adu sah "throne of the shah".

6 First Hijra (migration) in the history of Islam, which took place in 615. The Prophet Muhammad did not participate in this migration, remaining in Mecca.

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on the coast of Somalia. The oldest inscriptions on tombstones in Mogadishu date back to the beginning of the 8th century, which indicates the penetration of Islam into the territory of Somalia already at the initial stage of its spread. The Arabic-language vocabulary has significantly enriched the Somali vocabulary with terminology related to Islamic civilization and religion, especially in the fields of theology, commerce, politics, geography, navigation, social relations, poetry, folk tales, and learning tools.

In the ninth century, Arab influence reached its peak both in coastal areas and in remote areas of Somalia. Each city had its own center, which specialized in specific issues of Islamic theology. For example, Mogadishu and Marqa were renowned for their Qur'anic interpretation and Hadith studies, 7 while Bardera and Sarman were very successful in teaching the basics of correct Qur'anic memorization. Those students who were able to learn Arabic reading and writing at an early age were given the opportunity to continue their education in centers in Kulunkul, Harare, and other cities in the Horn of Africa (Mukhtar, 1995, p.10). Many graduates of such institutions later perfected their skills in Mecca, Sana'a, Damascus, Kairouan, and Cairo, and subsequently returned home to teach Muslim teachings in East Africa.

Thus, Somalis became one of the first peoples on the African continent to convert to Islam. In the late ninth century, the famous Arab historian and geographer Yaqubi wrote that Muslims settled the northern coast of Somalia, including the sultanate's capital Adal Zeila, which, like many cities in the area, sheltered groups of believers fleeing persecution by the Quraysh.8 Zeila and Mogadishu, located in the southern coastal region of Benadir, were led by local ruling dynasties consisting of Arabized Somalis.

Various Somali tribes are still proud of their Arab origins, with many claiming to trace their ancestry back to the Prophet himself. Thus, the Darod tribe was founded by Abdurrahman ibn Ismail al-Jabarti, a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad's cousin Akil ibn Abu Talib (McGown, 1999, p. 27-28). Approximately in the X-XI centuries. he moved from the Arabian Peninsula to the coast of Somalia, married the daughter of the chief of the Dir Dobire tribe and became the ancestor of the Darod tribe. The Ishaq tribe also creates legends about its Arab past, glorifying its ancestor Ishaq ibn Ahmed al-Hashimi, a descendant of one of the first companions of the Prophet Muhammad, who arrived in the northern coastal town of Meit from Hadramaut, presumably in the XII-XIII centuries. and married a local girl from the dir tribe. Other Somali tribes (dir, Hawiya) believe that they originate from the legendary Irir Samali 10, who migrated to Somalia from Yemen in the IX century. By the early 13th century, many Arab settlers along the coast of East Africa had intermarried with the local population, exerting a great cultural influence on the region and forming the modern Somali ethnic group.

It should be noted that in the thirteenth century, well-educated sections of Somali society were already able to speak and write Arabic. During his stay in Mogadishu, the famous Arab traveler Ibn Battuta met with the local sultan and wrote:: "His name is Abu Bakr ibn Sheikh Omar, and he is of Berber descent.-

7 A number of religious disciplines aimed in Muslim theology at identifying the degree of authenticity of hadiths and their transmitters.

8 Prominent Arab medieval geographers such as Ibn Haukal, Muqaddasi, and Ibn Said wrote about the presence of Arab tribes in major cities of Somalia at this time.

9 A historical region in the south of the Arabian Peninsula, currently one of the provinces of Yemen.

10 The etymology of the name "Somalia"is often associated with his name.

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Although she speaks Mogadishu, 12 she also knows Arabic" [Laitin, 1977, p. 46]. Like many other Arab travelers, he noted that bilingualism became commonplace in the cities of Somalia at this time. Muslims encouraged the local population to teach and spread the basics of Islam by instilling bilingual communication skills. To help students quickly understand the meaning of Arabic words, Somali teachers translated certain branches of knowledge into their native language using the laqbo "rename" method. Using it, they easily learned the most complex theological subjects in the Somali language-from the interpretation of the Koran to the study of hadiths.13
In the 13th and 17th centuries, Muslim sultanates periodically emerged on the territory of modern Somalia, which controlled the main trade routes, but, as a rule, quickly disintegrated due to constant wars with neighbors from Ethiopia and internal conflicts. In many of them, Somali was considered the primary language, while Arabic was used for commerce and theology. This, in particular, applies to the Sultanate of Mogadishu already mentioned above, which was considered the most important Arab trading post of that time, since "since the XII century. Large shopping centers and stone-walled city-states have already grown up on the entire coast of East Africa " (Buettner, 1981, p. 79). A similar linguistic situation was also observed in the Warsangali Sultanate in northeastern Somalia and the Ajuran State, which subjugated large territories in the Horn of Africa in the 15th and 17th centuries.

A slightly different set of languages was characteristic of the Ifat Sultanate and the Adal Sultanate formed after its collapse (XIII—XVI centuries) in northwestern Somalia, which was explained by the territorial proximity of both to the Ethiopian Empire. As the 14th-century Arab historian Shihab al-Umari points out, the inhabitants of Ifat spoke Abyssinian 14 and Arabic. Taddesse Tamrat, in The Cambridge History of Africa Vol. 3, suggests that al-Umari meant Abyssinian in this context as one of the southern Ephiosemitic languages (Argobba or Harari), especially since he not only attached to his work a list of words, some of which can be easily identified, but also compiled the earliest Arabic description of the Ethiopian alphabet [Fage and Oliver, 1977, p. 146]. Nevertheless, the 19th-century Ethiopian historian Asma Georgis writes that the Valasma dynasty ruling in both sultanates 15 spoke Arabic, which was distantly related to Ge'ez [Tafla, 1987, p. 257].

Thus, in the Middle Ages, the disparate sultanates of Somalia were led by Arab-Muslim rulers and dynasties who did everything possible to make Arabic the language of instruction, communication and trade. At the same time, Arabic-language court titles and positions came into local use, such as sultan - "sultan", pa'ib - "deputy, or representative, of the sultan", sayh - "sheikh", 'imam - "imam", 'amir - "emir", qadin - "Muslim judge" Fatwas were issued and formulated in Arabic: after receiving a written appeal, the sultan considered the problem indicated in it and wrote his answer on the back of the message.
11 Arab geographers often used the term "Berbers" to refer to the inhabitants of the Horn of Africa, sometimes replacing it with the phrase "black Berbers" to distinguish the latter from the inhabitants of the Maghreb.

12 Apparently, this refers to the local dialect of the Somali language.

13 The utterance (kaul), approval (taqrir), image (wasfi) or action (fil) of the Prophet Muhammad, the sum of which forms a Sunnah that is authoritative for all Muslims and forms one of the foundations of Sharia law.

14 Abyssinia the common name of Ethiopia before 1931

15 According to the Egyptian historian Makrizi and the Chronicles of Valasma, the dynasty was descended from a Quraysh or Hashemite family.

16 Drsvnsephiopian, which was replaced by Amharic in the mid-19th century.

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During the colonial period beginning in the 19th century, when Great Britain, Italy and France divided the entire coast of Somalia, which became an important strategic territory after the opening of the Suez Canal, Arabic remained the main means of communication, administration and diplomacy. All treaties and contracts between Somalis and the colonial authorities were written in Arabic in addition to the foreign language, and the rulers, sultans and religious leaders of Somalia put their seal on the Arabic-language document. The leaders of the Somali resistance movement, who started a fierce armed struggle against the European invaders, as well as the sheikhs who headed various Sufi fraternities also corresponded in Arabic. 18 In addition, pedigrees, birth and death certificates, etc. were compiled in Arabic. Arabic supplements to the official daily newspapers Corriere della Somalia and Somaliland News, which represented the colonial regimes in Italian Somaliland and British Somaliland, respectively, were regularly published [Mukhtar, 2008, p. 176].

The statutes and all internal documentation of Somali political parties were written only in Arabic. It was also used to write petitions that these parties sent in large numbers to the Government and the UN. Even their symbols and names represented a connection with Arab political organizations and Muslim movements. Thus, the League of Young Somalis, formed in the early 1940s, was modeled on other nationalist movements that had emerged earlier, such as Al-Fatat [19] and the Young Turks [20]. The emblem of the Independent Constitutional Somali Party included such essential elements of the symbols of Arab-Muslim movements as the sword, cross, star and its name. Moreover, the anthems of both parties were sung in Arabic.

Many Somali parties published newsletters in Arabic: Al-Wahda represented the League of Young Somalis, Al-Shaab represented the Democratic Union of Somalia, and Al-Qarn al-Ifriki represented the Somali National League. In addition, newspapers and magazines with general political themes were published in Arabic, such as At-Talia and Al-Hakuqa.

In 1950, the League of Young Somalis sent an official letter to the administrator of Somalia, Giovanni Fornari, recommending that Arabic be recognized as the official language in Somalia. In particular, it set out the following provisions:: 1) the general secretary of the party made a number of trips around the country, but could not come to a clear opinion about the generally accepted dialect of the Somali language, while the uniform Arabic language, which is understood in all Muslim countries, did not cause objections from the local population; 2) the vocabulary of Arabic is very rich compared to Somali it is extremely difficult to reach a good understanding; 3) Arabic is a living and constantly improving substance, while it is difficult and almost impossible for Somalis to improve their language at present; 4) knowledge of one of the largest languages in the world will allow Somalis to join a huge cultural heritage that has no limits; 5) Arabic is already playing a rolelingua franca in Somalia; 6) Arabic will strengthen the cultural and political ties of Somalia with all its brothers who believe in Allah, his Prophet Muhammad, and the Holy Qur'an (Laitin, 1977, p. 99).

In 1951, the Italian administration referred the issue of recognizing Arabic as the official language in Somalia to the UN Trusteeship Council, which unanimously decided to grant it this status.

17 France ceded the territory of Djibouti.

18 Sufism is a mystical and ascetic trend in Islam, one of the main directions of classical Muslim philosophy.

19 Arab Nationalist Movement of the Ottoman Empire.

20 Political movement in the Ottoman Empire.

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CREATING A WRITTEN LANGUAGE FOR THE SOMALI LANGUAGE: BACKGROUND AND RESULTS. ARABIC, OSMANIA AND LATIN LETTERS

In 1950, on the territory of the former Italian colony, the Trust Territory of Somalia was formed, and in 1960, the territory of the former Italian colony was formed. It was merged with the State of Somaliland to form the united Republic of Somalia.

The most important issues on the agenda for Somalia were the creation of a written language in the Somali language and its recognition as the State language. The introduction of a single written language was a necessary condition for the successful functioning of the administrative apparatus and the education system. This issue has been raised and discussed in various meetings and forums during the ten years of transition and the nine years of independence, but an acceptable solution has not been found.

After independence, Arabic, Italian and English were declared official languages in the newly formed republic, while Somali remained unwritten, despite its undeniable advantage as a homogeneous language understood by 95% of the local population, which is a unique phenomenon in the context of ethnic diversity on the African continent. The choice between the three proposed alphabets for the Somali language (Arabic, Osmania and Latin) was further complicated by the fact that each of them had its own influential group, which implacably defended its point of view and did not want to compromise.

The first attempts to develop a Somali script based on the Arabic alphabet date back to the 13th century, when Sheikh Yusuf ibn Ahmed Al-Kounain arrived in the Horn of Africa from Arabia to teach the basics of the Koran to schoolchildren [Warsame, 2001, p.343]. For the first time, he conducted a scientific study of the phonology of the Somali language and applied Arabic script to it, which later became known as the "wadad script"21. The graphics he created were "not grammatical Arabic, containing some Somali words" [Lewis, 1958, p. 136], which was used by local clergy to compose qasid 22, as well as merchants to conduct business, write letters, and submit petitions. However, this Arabic-based system was later significantly improved: in the 19th century, Sheikh Uweis al-Barawi used it to record the southern dialect of the Somali language Maai and standardized graphics, and Musa Haji Ismail Galal radically changed the spelling in the 1950s (in particular, he came up with a fairly accurate system for fixing Somali vowels).

In the twentieth century, distinctive alphabets began to appear in Somalia, the first of which was Osmania, developed by Sheikh Osman Yusuf Kenadid in 1920.23he came up with his own way of naming Somali consonants and vowels after he got tired of constantly using the Arabic alphabet to write letters to relatives.

Somali writing based on the Latin alphabet did not develop so rapidly, but since the beginning of the XIX century, numerous attempts were made to introduce the Latin alphabet in Somali schools, which was perceived extremely negatively by local residents. Scientific research in this area took place in Europe rather than in Somalia: the works of Italian linguists Enrico Cerulli, Martino Moreno and Mario Maino, as well as the Polish scientist Bohumil Andrzejewski, published on the basis of the Latin alphabet, are well known.

21 From somap. wadaad "priest".

22 Solid poetic form of the peoples of the Near and Middle East, Central and South Asia.

23 Other distinctive Somali alphabets include the Gadabursi system, developed by Abdurrahman Sheikh Nur in 1933, and Kaddariya, coined by Hussein Sheikh Ahmed Kaddars in 1952.

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If we look at the three alphabets mentioned above in more detail, each of them had its own advantages and disadvantages in terms of technical design, political and religious criteria. This, in all likelihood, was the reason for the inability of several linguistic commissions to accept one of them as the main one.

The Arabic alphabet has been known to all Somalis since childhood, thanks to classes in Koranic schools and the study of the Muslim Holy Book. The Arabic alphabet could easily have been adapted to the needs of the Somali language, but with the addition of additional signs due to the need to reflect five short vowels and five long phonemes in the Somali language, whereas in Arabic-three short and three long vowels, as well as the absence of several consonantal phonemes (for more details, see: [Tosco, 2010, p. 2]).

The introduction of changes to the Arabic alphabet, coupled with the massive use of diacritics, made it difficult to use as a Somali script, even for those who knew the Arabic script well enough. Therefore, Somalis themselves admitted that reading words and expressions of their native language based on the Arabic alphabet was very difficult for them. Their concerns were also shared by the UN commission, which concluded in 1966 that the extensive system of Arabic diacritics, which in some cases could be omitted in the text, would lead to "spelling chaos" [Somalia: The Writing of Somali, 1966, p. 15].

While technically speaking, the Arabic alphabet was not the best choice for the Somali script, its political prospects were brighter. If approved, it could unite the entire country and establish universal equality, because unlike Osmania, the Arabic alphabet was not associated with any particular tribe, and in addition, unlike the Latin alphabet, it did not remind of the colonial past.

Since Arabica was widespread in Somalia and known almost everywhere, achieving universal literacy with its help seemed a very realistic task. In addition, its approval could strengthen economic ties with the Middle East and reduce the influence of Europe. Such a decision was actively lobbied by the Haji faction within the ruling party, the League of Young Somalis, which consisted of wealthy merchants who imported goods from the Arab world. Another important political factor was associated with the national hero of Somalia, the founder of the Dervish state, 24 Said Mohammed Abdille Hassan, who not only wrote poems in Arabic, but also used the Arabic alphabet for his Somali poetry.

However, even the political side of the issue was not free from flaws. Although Somalis are proud of their descent from the Prophet Muhammad, they still do not consider themselves Arabs, and to adopt the Arabic alphabet as a form for the Somali language would mean for them to lose their identity. This, however, did not concern people who were concerned about the religious background of the case. The majority of devout Muslims supported the Somali script based on the Arabic alphabet, but there were also those who believed that the native language would "discredit the alphabet of the Holy Koran" [Hussein, 1968, p. 17] and it would lose its sanctity and perfect beauty after changes were made to please the local phoneme system. Therefore, numerous orthodox Muslim groups supported Arabic as the main state language in the country, or instead of supporting the Arabic alphabet, they preferred to criticize the Latin alphabet as an ungodly graphic system.

The Osmanian script has been repeatedly recognized by many prominent linguists as technically accurate and verified (for more information, see [Laitin, 1977, p. 89]).

24 Dervish-Muslim equivalent of a monk, ascetic, a follower of Sufism.

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However, in 1966, the UN Commission noted that most of the letters were similar to each other and caused confusion in the structure of the text. In addition, scientists noticed that some letters could be written from right to left, and others from left to right, which made such graphics extremely complex, and its implementation in the education system almost impossible.

Nevertheless, its significance from a political point of view could not be overstated, as it was a truly unique alphabet that appeared during the revival of the national consciousness of Somalis. However, as the brainchild of Osman Yusuf Kenadid, if adopted, it could put his native Darod tribe above all others in a unified Somalia, which made other clans wary of adopting Osmania as the national alphabet.

In the religious context, the attitude towards Osmania was neutral. The Muslim clergy feared that it might weaken the local people's commitment to Islamic values, but they were mainly engaged in the fight against the Latin alphabet, which was much more dangerous. Supporters of Osmania claimed that this alphabet would be used only for secular purposes, and the Arabic script would serve the worship.

From the phonological point of view, the Latin alphabet is best suited to the Somali language. Despite all the complexity of the vowel phoneme system in the Somali language, it copes with it quite successfully, and the absence of diacritics makes it easier to formalize the text. Two commissions for the development of writing, in 1961 and 1966, recognized the Latin alphabet as the best alphabet according to technical criteria. However, in the political and religious arena, the introduction of this graphic system was met with strong hostility. To Somalis, it looked like an alien script that identified with colonial imperialism.

Proponents of its introduction believed that the Latin alphabet would help Somalia achieve progress, as it is used in many developed countries, and its implementation in administrative work would allow civil servants to quickly organize office work with almost no prior training. Their opponents argued that the use of the Latin alphabet would increase the gap between the educated elite and illiterate segments of the population. Since Latin graphics are usually associated with Christianity, leading religious figures have protested against its implementation, fearing that it will stamp out Arab-Muslim values in the minds of young Somalis.

Thus, each of the three proposed alphabets had its own pros and cons: Arabic could be an ideal option for Muslim clergy, Osmania had a number of political advantages, and Latin seemed to be the best choice in terms of technical design. According to one of the proponents of the Arabic alphabet as the basis for the Somali language, he changed his mind on this issue two or three times, and the more he read and thought about the problem, the more he noticed new difficulties and aspects [Hussein, 1968, p.64].

The transition period (1950-1960) was marked by a struggle between supporters of the Arabic language and those who advocated the promotion of the Somali script. During the development of the Somali state, many representatives of the Islamic community contributed to the introduction of Arabic as an official language: Egypt 25, the Muslim League, the Organization of the Somali Conference and the Haji faction within the ruling League of Young Somalis party 26.

25 Using its consultative status with the United Nations, Egypt supported the development of the Arabic language, considering that replacing it with a new language would only be a waste of time.

26 Interestingly, the League of Young Somalis initially supported the Osmaniyah alphabet as a Somali script under the influence of its founder's son, Yassin Osman Yusuf Kenadid, but then changed its course towards Arabic.

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Italian newspapers published in Somalia were flooded with letters in support of the Arabic language. In particular, they stated that: 1) almost all Somalis know Arabic; 2) the UN Trusteeship Council has already chosen it as the state language and it is time to fight for the independence of Somalia, instead of trying to change the decision already made; 3) since there are several Somali dialects in the country, each region has the right to demand recognition of its dialect as the state language, and here it is unlikely that a consensus can be reached; 4) such contradictions are not observed in the case of the Arabic language.

Adherents of the Osmania alphabet believed that although the language of the Muslim religion in Somalia is Arabic, it is still a foreign language. The son of the founder of Osmania, Yasin Osman Yusuf Kenadid, became the most zealous follower of this letter, noting that unlike other newly formed states in Africa and Asia, the inhabitants of Somalia speak the same language. He compared the current situation with the historical experience of the British, French and Italians and tried to show that, in the end, the national language always dominates the rest, no matter how vulgar it may seem to the ruling circles. In addition, he cited the example of Pakistan and Iran, where the national language was different from the language of religion.

Proponents of the introduction of the Somali script based on the Latin alphabet were of the opinion that the letters of the Latin alphabet are known to almost anyone, they are easy to learn and put into use in the civil service due to the presence of English-language typewriters, so this is the best of all possible options. In addition, more Somalis in the country then knew Italian rather than Arabic, so the choice of the Latin alphabet seemed more appropriate to them. As the Somali linguist Shire Jamia Ahmed, who fiercely defended the Latin alphabet, wrote, many Muslim societies use this alphabet, for example, in Turkey and Indonesia, since it was created by man, not God, and therefore it is not a sin to use the Latin alphabet.

There was also a group of people who longed for the recognition of the Somali language as the state language, regardless of the alphabet on the basis of which its writing is adopted.

The heated debate continued in Somalia after independence in 1960, so the Government decided to set up several special commissions to select the best alphabet for the Somali language. The first consisted of homegrown experts and met in 1961, the second included foreign experts and was held under the auspices of UNESCO in 1966. Both preferred the Latin script developed by Shire Jamia Ahmed as the best alphabet in technical terms. However, their reports were forgotten and never published officially due to the constant reshuffle in the government.

The rise to power of General Siad Barre in a military coup in 1969 allowed a number of decisive steps to be taken in this direction after 19 years of uncertainty. In 1971, the Supreme Revolutionary Council created a new linguistic commission with the aim of writing textbooks for primary schools, developing a grammar of the Somali language, and creating a 10,000-word dictionary of the Somali language. At the same time, the question of choosing a written language for the Somali language was not raised. Within a few months, the commission produced four textbooks on the Somali language, six manuals on mathematics and physics, two manuals on geography and history, and a dictionary of the Somali language. All books were printed in Latin script using the English-language printing equipment of the Ministry of Education, as the commission recognized the Latin alphabet as acceptable. The experiment was declared a success, and on October 20, 1972, the Somali script based on the Latin alphabet was finally approved as official.

However, even after securing the status of the main state language for the Somali language, Arabic has not lost its significance in Somalia. Novaya Gazeta

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After the Somali revolution, Oktyabrskaya Zvezda, which became almost the only example of new spelling in the republic for years to come, began publishing with the Arabic app Nagmatu ' uktubir. It replaced another Arabic - language publication, the Somali Post (Baridu s-sumal), which was published together with Italian and English newspapers in the early years of independence. In addition, the New Era monthly was published in Arabic, Italian, English, and Somali [Warsame, 2001, p.357].

Thus, the widespread use of the Arabic language did not stop even after the creation of the Somali script in 1972 and the entry of Somalia into the League of Arab States (LAS) in 1974. Radio and television programs were broadcast in parallel in Somali and Arabic until the collapse of the state in 1991.

To date, the situation in Somalia remains unstable. The long war has caused irreparable damage to the education system, and many schools have been destroyed and cannot be restored. The southern regions of the country are still occupied by the militants of the Islamic group "Al-Shabab", which banned the use of languages other than Arabic for teaching in the territory under its control. English and natural sciences are outlawed. Signs and billboards are only allowed in Arabic, making them unintelligible to the majority of the Somali population. Local residents are not allowed to watch TV programs in the Somali language, they were replaced by Arabic-language channels.

Currently, Arab States are trying to take a direct part in the reorganization of the education system in Somalia. Thus, in 2013, Egypt, through the Library of Alexandria, sent the first batch of various Arabic-language publications donated by cultural organizations in the Arab world to the National Library of Somalia and the University of Mogadishu. The number of books collected as a result of this campaign reached a record high of 50 thousand. instances.

Radio and television stations in Somalia mainly broadcast in the Somali language. Other languages, including Arabic, are rarely used. For example, the Somali Broadcasting Corporation, which operates in the unrecognized State of Puntland in the Somali language, includes programs in Arabic and English received in cooperation with the BBC. Radio Hargeisa , the only State - owned radio station in self-proclaimed Somaliland, also broadcasts in Somalia, and broadcasts news reports in Arabic, Amharic, and English.

Newspapers in Somalia are most often published in two languages - Somali and English. News outlets on the Internet use Arabic much more often. For example, LaasqorayNET and Radio Mogadishu's website publish some articles in Arabic and English. The Somalia Today portal is completely dedicated to news about Somalia in Arabic.

ARABIC IN THE EDUCATION SYSTEM OF SOMALIA

Arabic has always played a significant role in the Somali education system. Qur'anic schools, where all instruction was conducted in Arabic, were the most important source of knowledge about the outside world for Somalis and helped reduce the number of illiterates. Their appearance reflected the traditional way of life in a nomadic society, which was based on Arab-Muslim values, coupled with the peculiarities of local culture. Such Quranic schools were not tied to a specific location, but rather adapted to the needs of nomads, moving with the main group moving in search of new pastures for livestock. Teaching the pillars of Islam complemented the non-formal education system adopted in nomadic society, which taught children essential skills to live in the harsh environment of Somalia.

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The Muslim education system included an extensive network of madrasas for post-Qur'anic education. They combined religious education with secular subjects such as history, philosophy, mathematics, physics, etc. The highest level of Muslim education was represented by numerous Islamic centers in Mogadishu, Zeila and Brava, which were famous for the high quality of education in the field of Arabic philology and theological sciences not only in Somalia, but throughout the Arab world.

Thus, we can say that the system of traditional education was based on the principles of both nomadic and religious education, which demonstrates the constancy of this structure over the centuries. Numerous Sufi fraternities, religious communities and wandering dervishes took an active part in spreading not only Islam, but also the Arabic language as an integral part of it. In addition, there were special schools that taught basic Arabic to prepare young Somalis for higher education in other Arab countries.

During the colonial era, along with the European languages that were brought to the fore in the education system, Arabic maintained its position as a second language of instruction. Moreover, the administration of the Italian colony even organized teacher training courses for teaching Arabic and religious subjects in all schools and at any level of education [Mukhtar, 2008, p. 176].

The colonial school system was primarily designed to train lower-level administrative personnel who would assist in the effective administration of the colony. At the same time, the education of Somalis often ended in the seventh grade, which was enough to acquire the basic skills of civil servants. The implantation of Western cultural ideas did not always resonate with the local population, who were brought up in the spirit of Arab-Muslim values. It is no coincidence that the dervish movement against foreign invaders, led by Said Mohammed Abdille Hassan, was organized after the forced enrollment of Somali children in a mission school in Berbera in 1897. It can be said that since that time in the history of Somalia, there has been a confrontation between Western education, implemented using foreign languages (Italian and English), and Muslim education, emphasizing the importance of of the Arabic language.

The British government's policy of opening primary and secondary schools in a number of Somali cities (Berbera, Zeila, Burko) met with fierce opposition from the local population, so it changed its tactics and began providing small grants to Somali sheikhs who taught in private madrasas, provided that they supplemented the usual range of religious subjects with secular ones, such as Arabic reading and writing, as well as arithmetic. In 1944, the new Superintendent of Education even recruited Somali religious figures to teach in order to allay the suspicions of the protectorate residents (Dawson, 1964, p. 203).

By the middle of the 20th century, educational initiatives of the British administration were successful: in British Somaliland, 400 boys were already attending 7 primary schools, as well as 19 private Koranic schools that taught Arabic and arithmetic, and provided assistance. In Italian Somaliland, 29 primary schools were opened, with 1,600 students and 45 teachers.

The decade of existence of the Trust Territory of Somalia under the Italian administration was marked by the further development of not only primary and secondary schools, but also higher educational institutions. In many of them, Arabic was a compulsory subject: for example, the School of Politics and Administration, which specialized in civil and public law, or the School of Islamic Studies, which trained Muslim judges.

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At the same time, Arabic-language educational institutions, ranging from Quranic schools to madrasas, continued to flourish in Somalia. The British provided small subsidies to Quranic schools and even intended to officially include them in the primary education system in northern Somalia. Madrasas received support from Arab countries (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Lebanon, Algeria, and Jordan), which sent teachers there for any level of education. Here, all subjects were taught in Arabic, and graduates were awarded the same diplomas as in Arab countries. In addition, the most talented students were encouraged by scholarships and could continue their studies in Cairo, Damascus, Baghdad and other cities in the Arab world.

After the independence of Somalia, the main task of the new Government was to unite the two different school systems organized in the former British and Italian colonies into a single structure. A number of notable differences included the choice of language of instruction. In the north of the country, three years of primary school education was based on an Arabic-language curriculum, and English was introduced in the second year of study. In the south of the country, Italian was used as the main language of instruction after the second year as part of the four-year primary education program [Cassanelli, 2008, p.97].

The Ministry of Education decided to transfer all primary education programs to a four-year course of study, and chose Arabic for primary education and English for secondary education as the language of instruction. The introduction of the English secondary school education system meant that graduates would receive a British matriculation certificate, and the ministry also planned to send them to Cambridge to take exams. Egypt has sent three specialists to Somalia to help the ministry transition to the new system and facilitate its unification.

During Siad Barre's presidency, education reform was implemented, with the introduction of a written language in the Somali language in 1972 and two literacy campaigns organized in 1973-1974. Somali became the primary medium of instruction in primary school and began to displace English in secondary school after the publication of a large number of textbooks on Somalia in various fields of knowledge. However, the success of the educational reform of the 1970s was derailed by natural disasters, the war with Ethiopia and the subsequent refugee crisis, and in the 1980s the country entered with a huge number of illiterates. The collapse of the Somali state in 1991 marked the end of the yod with the efforts of President Siad Barre.

During the violent armed conflicts of the 1990s, most schools were closed, leaving only those that were supported by large local communities or Arab-Muslim charities, such as the Imam Shafi'i Foundation, the Zamzam Foundation, the African Muslim Agency, the UAE Red Cross, and the International Organization of Islamic Relief. These donors mainly sought to promote the Arabic language and Arab-Muslim culture, and the training was based on textbooks imported from various Arab countries.

To date, Somalia does not have a balanced education system. The primary school language of instruction can be either Somali, Arabic, or English. Secondary education is based on Arabic or English. The choice of the teaching medium in this case depends on the availability of textbooks, trained teachers and prospects for admission to foreign universities.

Taking into account all the above-mentioned factors and the situation in Somalia, it can be noted that at the moment children and their parents are more popular in schools with an Arabic-language bias. At the initial stage, such training courses are:

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institutions attach great importance to religious education. Secondary schools with Arabic or English as their primary language usually teach the following ten subjects: Somali, Arabic, English, Islam, mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, geography, and history. Graduates of Muslim schools are often hired as teachers of Arabic and Islamic studies.

The Quranic schools responsible for passing on the Arab-Muslim heritage to their students have remained virtually unchanged over the centuries. They are still very important as a historically established social institution. Children are sent to them at the age of four. This is a sacred duty of every Muslim, which is strictly observed in Somali villages and cities.

As a rule, each local community has its own Quranic school. By studying the Qur'an, students acquire basic knowledge of the Arabic language. They can work in small groups of ten people, or in large classes that include several hundred children who are going to study at different times of the day. In this sense, the curriculum of such schools is characterized by a free schedule designed for the convenience of the younger generation [Cummings, 2003, p.15].

Teachers in institutions of this type are usually not able to teach secular subjects, but they still have a huge influence on children, with whom they sometimes arrange informal discussions on various topics, and are highly respected in the district. Teachers ' work is most often paid for by students and parents in the form of food and gifts. Such a symbolic reward guarantees him a high social status in the community and the gratitude of God, which is expressed in the form of ajrs27 and savaba-a reward for a good deed performed. Teaching the Qur'an is considered one of these virtuous acts.

Since teachers mostly travel with other members of the community, their services are available at all times, although there are also a fair number of Qur'anic schools of a fixed type, often located at mosques in large cities such as Mogadishu or Hargeisa. Students here sit at desks in buildings, study in classrooms and use notebooks and textbooks on Koranic studies, while teachers conduct the lesson with the help of blackboards.

The educational process in Quranic schools is clearly regulated and has not changed for centuries. Traditionally, students learn the Qur'an by heart by constant rote learning, so the study is characterized by monotony and monotony. The course of study is considered completed when the student can repeat from memory 30 Surahs 28 of the Quran [Bennaars et al., 1996, p. 11].

Training is conducted with the help of wooden tablets, which were used in ancient times to explain the features of the Arabic language and Quranic texts. At the same time, the meaning of surahs from the Koran or passages from hadith written in Arabic can be interpreted by means of the Somali language, but the translation is never recorded and is used only in oral communication.

Qur'anic schools are often the only option for learning in remote and sparsely populated areas of Somalia and remain the most effective means of learning in Somalia, which is why the UN Children's Fund is making a number of attempts to introduce secular education in Qur'anic schools. The Foundation has organized accelerated courses for the professional training of teachers of these schools in the field of general education, including teaching the basics of arithmetic, education and hygiene. Such efforts are largely in line with the policy of the British protectorate, which opened a six-month teacher training course in 1955

Ajr 27 (from Arabic, ' agr "reward, reward") or sawab (from Arabic, sawab "reward, reward") - benefits (not necessarily material) that Allah will give both in this world and in the Hereafter for righteous behavior, patience, prayers, etc.

28 One of the 114 chapters of the Qur'an.

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Qur'anic schools in various subjects, including Arabic, arithmetic, basic hygiene, animal husbandry and agriculture [Cassanelli, 2008, p. 96]. However, then in five years it was possible to train only twenty teachers.

Some children remain in Qur'anic schools until they reach the age of 15, while others spend two or three years there and enter general primary schools. Sometimes students attend both religious and secular educational institutions at the same time to combine Qur'anic studies with a broader national curriculum that includes basic Somali and English, arithmetic, and enlightenment classes.

The choice of a secondary school is based on cultural and religious considerations. On the one hand, a student can start studying at a national secondary school, where the main language is English, on the other hand, they can take advantage of a much more developed system of public and private madrasas, which, along with traditional Muslim disciplines, include a number of secular subjects in the program. Arabic is the main language of instruction here, while English is only taught as a foreign language. Such Muslim educational institutions are funded by funds received from nearby Arab States (for example, Egypt and Al-Azhar University in Cairo), international donors, and various foundations such as UNESCO or the United Nations Children's Fund (Cummings, 2003, p. 15). In addition, they help the best students get scholarships for further study in Arab countries and provide attractive opportunities for higher education. Therefore, today such madrasas, which pay special attention to the Arabic language, are considered a priority option for education for young people, especially in southern Somalia.

Higher education in Somalia is represented by several universities that use both Arabic, English, and Somali as a means of communication.

conclusion

Arabic has been the language of trade, education, and religion for virtually all of Somalia's history. It became the most important means of communication on the southern coast of the country already in the 9th century and deeply penetrated many spheres of life-through the spread of Islam, active trade with the Arab world and the Arab educational system.

Today, the Arabic language functions in Somalia mainly in the religious sphere. Although all Somalis pray and sometimes greet friends and tribesmen in Arabic, and the number of Arabisms in the Somali language exceeds the number of borrowings from other languages (20% of the vocabulary), the local population rarely switches to this language in everyday communication, which is completely dominated by Somalia. Therefore, the Arabic language occupies a subordinate position in relation to the Somali language.

Only a few Somalis speak Arabic well enough. They are mainly a small group of intellectuals who have received excellent education thanks to the extensive madrasah system, as well as Muslim religious figures who are engaged in theological research. Nevertheless, its knowledge gives Somalis a number of advantages. For example, a deeper study of the language allows you to get a prestigious job in one of the Arab countries in the future.

Today, it can be assumed that Arabic will continue to play a prominent role in Somalia as a language of religion. In the minds of local residents, the concept of "Somali" is not separated from the concept of "Muslim" and, taking into account

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the fact that the share of Muslims here is close to 100%, we should expect that interest in the Arabic language will only increase. The high standards of quality of education applied to the Arabic-speaking system of Quranic schools and madrasas allow us to hope that the Arabic language will not only maintain, but also increase its position in Somalia.

Below is a phonetic transcription of Arabic letters on a Latin graphic basis with a number of additional diacritical marks added.

Appendix 1

Transcription used in the work

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