ADLaM Display is a digitized version of the Pulaar language alphabet, originally created by the Barry brothers in 1989 to preserve the Pulaar language of the Fulani people in West Africa.

It was never written and was at risk of disappearing until the brothers created letterforms based on the language’s sounds. Named after an acronym pulled from the Pulaar phrase Alkule Dandayɗe Leñol Mulugol, which means “the alphabet that will prevent the culture, the people, from disappearing,” ADLaM Display is an evolution of the brothers’ original digitization effort, further enhanced by a group of expert typeface designers for use across text messages, emails and websites.

The language preservation project began in 2018, when Microsoft first met the brothers at a Unicode conference. It’s since expanded to a larger literacy project between the Barrys and McCann for Guinean schools, and has become a resource for the Fulani people to conduct business and connect socially online.
In-classroom learning materials, a learn-to-write book and a children’s book were designed to teach the ADLaM alphabet and elements of the Fulani culture, which were also digitized for classroom computers. The first two ADLaM-focused schools will open in Guinea this year.