Can an alphabet save a culture?

Adlam Display font was highlighed in unlocked.microsoft.com. At the end of the story about ADLaM, people will find the downloadable font and shareable postcards.The postcards was created by taking inspiration from the spots, triangles, lozenges and chevrons patterns found in traditional khasas (blankets), Wodaabe (hats), and textiles of the Fulani culture.

Social Assets to spread the word

Designed a collection of photo postcards showcasing different elements of the Fulani culture and the words connected to them.  Sharing through social media help spreading the important mission of ADLaM as a tool for literacy and preserving the Fulani culture.

Animation created to show the journey of the making of ADLaM over 30 years in 90 seconds.

The language of the Fulani people of West Africa, known as Pulaar, is spoken by over 40 million people, so it’s not in immediate danger. However, for most of its history, Pulaar never had an alphabet. Fulani are increasingly doing business, finding information, and expressing themselves via text on mobile devices. And if they can’t communicate digitally with an alphabet that reflects the language they speak, they will use other writing systems, and one day, other languages. For languages that have no digital script, the writing is on the wall.

Thirty years ago, two Fulani brothers took it upon themselves to reverse this inevitability. They created an alphabet that would one day spread across the global Fulani community and beyond. It would come to be known as ADLaM, an acronym using the alphabet’s first four letters, which stands for Alkule Dandayɗe Leñol Mulugol, or “the alphabet that protects the people from vanishing.”

Design Case Study

The combined efforts of the Barry brothers and Microsoft helped ADLaM gain popularity within the Fulani community spread across the globe — helping secure the future of the alphabet and their culture for future generations:

• ADLaM is being made accessible on over 1 billion devices worldwide.
• The Government of Mali is in the process of recognizing ADLaM as an official alphabet in their constitution.
• Guinea’s Minister of Education is taking steps to ensure ADLaM is recognized as Pulaar’s official alphabet.
• The alphabet will also be used to preserve the Bambara, Bozo and Dogon languages due to shared phonology and syntax with Pulaar.
• The first two ADLaM-focused schools will open this year in Guinea and for the first time, allow Fulani children to study a full curriculum in their native tongue.
• The new alphabet is being used on social media to fight illiteracy.The project also sparked the co-creation of the first ADLaM dictionary, through the hashtag #ADLaMRe.