U+10480 "𐒀" Osmanya Letter Alef Unicode Character

U+10480 "𐒀" Osmanya Letter Alef is the first letter of the Osmanya script, an alphabet created in the early 20th century by Osman Yusuf Kenadid to write the Somali language. This character represents the glottal stop sound, analogous to the Arabic letter alef, and was part of an effort to provide a native writing system for Somalia, though it was eventually overshadowed by the Latin script for official use. The Osmanya block was added to the Unicode Standard in version 4.0, released in 2003, to preserve this historical script for digital communication and cultural heritage.