Meet The Brothers Who Created An Alphabet To Preserve A Language And Culture Across West Africa – Essence

The Fulani people of West Africa are the world’s largest nomadic group. Their native language, known as Pulaar, is spoken by over 40 million people, but for most of history, the language had no alphabet. 

The Fulani had to use other alphabets, which meant that the meaning and nuances of the words in their native tongue began to disappear, along with some traditions, stories, and songs, due to illiteracy.

Two brothers, Ibrahima and Abdoulaye Barry wanted to do something about that, and “letter by letter”, they created an alphabet for their people. However, since the alphabet only existed in a handwritten form, its accessibility in a modern digital world was limited and remained that way for about 30 years.

After several years of work with Microsoft, which began in 2018, this year, the Barry brothers announced the launch of ADLaM Display, an evolution of the Pulaar alphabet, in April. This digital alphabet version means the Fulani people can communicate in their native language via texts, emails, and websites. 

Article continues after video.

 “ADLaM, the acronym, A, D, L, M, Alkule Dandayɗe Leñol Mulugol, literally means it is the alphabet that will prevent the culture, the people, from disappearing. What we meant by that is not the people, themselves, will disappear, but the fact that ADLaM will allow us to preserve our culture,” said the Barry brothers in a statement shared with ESSENCE. 

The new digital version of ADLaM, created in collaboration with creative agency McCann NY, is now available across the Microsoft 365 suite, desktop, and mobile platforms, preserving culture while fostering literacy across West Africa.

“Even though we created ADLaM, to make it accessible, it has to be on computers,” Abdoulaye said in a video about the groundbreaking alphabet he and his brother created. 

Through collaboration with a group of expert typeface designers, the Barry brothers worked with Microsoft and McCann to create a revised version of the alphabet that was easier to read and write. The new typeface was updated to include new letter forms considering how the alphabet has naturally evolved within the Fulani community.  

McCann and the brothers produced educational resources for Guinean schools, including a children’schildren’s book intended to teach the ADLaM alphabet and aspects of the Fulani culture, in-classroom learning materials, and a learn-to-write book in order to combat illiteracy, which is a main objective of the project. All of the learning materials were also digitized to be used on classroom computers.

“Being able to use your language on a computer is so fundamental. If you don’tdon’t have that, you’re just shut off from the world that we function in,” said Andrew Glass, Principal Manager, Product Management at Microsoft. 

“In a world where one language is lost every three months, the ADLaM project embodies the importance of preserving and securing the future of the world’s multitude of cultures and languages, and as a result, the precious memories, myths, rituals, and deep knowledge that has been passed down over centuries,” said McCann NY, Co-Chief Creative Officer, Shayne Millington.

The redesigned alphabet has now been integrated across Microsoft’s global platforms and was made available across the Microsoft 365 suite of programs, desktop, and mobile, just in time for the summer season. 

Due to the combined efforts of the Barry brothers, Microsoft and McCann, ADLaM has been successfully adopted by the Fulani and has grown in popularity among the Fulani diaspora globally and in communities throughout West Africa. 

The first two ADLaM-focused schools will open this year in Guinea, enabling Fulani children to study the entire curriculum in their mother tongue for the first time. Guinea’sGuinea’s Minister of Education also has ensured that ADLaM is recognized as Pulaar’s official alphabet. In addition, the Mali government is in the process of including ADLaM as an official alphabet in its constitution.