# Yasin Osman Kenadid (Yaasiin Cismaan Keenadiid)

> Yasin Osman Kenadid (1919–1988): SYL founder and linguist who wrote the standard Somali dictionary of 1976.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/people/yasin-osman-kenadid/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## Who was he?

Yasin Osman Kenadid was a Somali intellectual, writer and linguist ([Wikipedia, Yasin Osman Kenadid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasin_Osman_Kenadid)). He wrote a dictionary of Somali that served as the standard for decades (same source). Castagno lists him among the founders of the Somali Youth League ([Castagno, *Historical Dictionary of Somalia*, 1975, "Yasin Haji Osman Shermarke"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

## Family

He was the son of [Osman Yusuf Kenadid](/en/people/osman-yusuf-kenadid/), who created the Osmanya script ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). His uncle, Ali Yusuf Kenadid, was the second Sultan of Hobyo ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasin_Osman_Kenadid)). The sultanate was founded by his grandfather, [Yusuf Ali Kenadid](/en/people/yusuf-ali-kenadid/). See [the Majeerteen and Hobyo sultanates](/en/history/majeerteen-and-hobyo-sultanates/).

## Early life

He was born in Hobyo in 1919 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasin_Osman_Kenadid)). He studied at a Qur'an school until 15. He then moved to Mogadishu, where he attended Italian and Arabic schools and learned English (same source).

## A founder of the League

He was one of the thirteen founders of the Somali Youth League ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasin_Osman_Kenadid)). It began in Mogadishu in 1943 as the Somali Youth Club ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). The League at first urged the use of the Osmanya script for Somali (same source). See [the Somali Youth League](/en/history/somali-youth-league/).

## Teaching Somali writing

In the 1940s he taught Osmanya in Mogadishu ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). He founded the Society for Somali Language and Literature (same source). In 1953 he co-wrote a book of Somali medical terms with Mario Maino (same source, bibliography). He later sat on the National Somali Language Committee that set the standard spelling of modern Somali ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasin_Osman_Kenadid)). See [the Somali language written in 1972](/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/).

## The dictionary

His *Qaamuuska Af-Soomaaliga* was published in 1976 by the Academy of Culture ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasin_Osman_Kenadid)). For decades it was the only standard Somali dictionary (same source). In 1984 he published a study of the poetry of [Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan](/en/people/sayid-maxamed-cabdulle-xasan/) in Naples (same source).

## Death

He died on 27 November 1988 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasin_Osman_Kenadid)).

## In short

A founder of the Somali Youth League and compiler of a Somali dictionary.

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