ADLaM – An Alphabet to Preserve a Culture

An alphabet isn’t just a tool for expression, but an operating system for survival. The Fulani people are the world’s largest nomadic group. Their language, Pulaar, had no alphabet. Without one, the risk was that their culture would be swallowed by one that could operate in the digital world. In 1989, two brothers, Abdoulaye and Ibrahima Barry, began working on one. They called it ADLaM. Microsoft worked with them and their community, to revise, optimize and digitize their updated alphabet – launching it on over 1 billion devices with Microsoft 365 – preserving their culture for generations