Somali

The Somali language has a unique history of varied linguistic influences, including Arabic, English and Italian. A great deal has been documented about the Somali language, and records of the Somali language date to before 1900, making it one of the best-documented Afro-Asiatic languages.

Somali

Classification of the Somali Language

The Somali language is classified as a member of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic family of languages. The Cushitic branch comprises approximately 40 distinct languages spoken primary in Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya and Eritrea, and is further subdivided into the North, Central, South and East Cushitic branches.

Somali belongs to the East Cushitic branch, and it is most closely related to the Afar and Oromo languages. The Somali language is one of the most widely spoken of the Cushitic languages.

Dialects of the Somali Language

Three primary dialects exist within the Somali language: Benaadir, Maay, and Northern or Northern-Central.

Benaadir, also known as Coastal Somali, can be found on the Benaadir Coast, while the Maay dialect is spoken primarily by the Digil and Mirifle clans of southern Somalia. The Northern-Central dialect serves as the basis of the modern standard Somali language.

Early Somalian History

Map of Somalia

The area of present-day Somalia has a history dating from antiquity. Parts of Somalia belonged to the Ethiopian kingdom of Aksum from the 2nd to 7th centuries AD. In the 7th century AD, Arab tribes came to settle along the coast bordering the Gulf of Aden and established the Sultanate of Adal.

It is believed that throughout the 9th century, the Somali people migrated into this area from present-day Yemen. When the Sultanate of Adal disintegrated in the 1500s, it divided into a number of small independent states, many of them ruled by Somali chieftains.

Written Somali Language: Use of an Arabic Script

Over the centuries, a number of various writing systems have been used to express the Somali language in writing. It is believed that an ancient Somali script existed, but it is long lost and little is known of it. Thanks to the history of Arab rule in present-day Somalia and the prominence of Islam in Somalia, the most widespread and influential writing system in the early years was one based on an Arabic alphabet.

Evidence for the long-standing Islamic influence in Somalia has been found in ancient Somali tomb inscriptions written using an Arabic alphabet. In more modern times, many Qur’anic schools were established in Somalia, teaching children to read and write the Arabic script from an early age.

European Colonization in Somalia

The first European colonial power to take root in Somalia was Britain, who took possession of a port at the Gulf of Aden in 1839 in order to protect British trade routes. In response to Egyptian and Turkish claims to parts of Somalia, a British protectorate known as British Somaliland was established over Somalia in 1887.

In the 19th century, Italy also developed an interest in Somalia. Various treaties with native Somali sultanates and the British resulted in Italy’s obtaining some land and power along the Somali Coast. A power struggle between Italy and Britain for control of Somalia lasted for years and did not come to an end until after the World War II.

In 1950, Italy agreed to a UN trusteeship and was awarded control over the disputed territory, which was then named Somalia. The country gained independence in 1960.

Introduction of a Latin-based Somali Script

Early Somali language made use of an Arabic script, and it was not until the arrival of Italian and British colonial powers that a Latin-language alphabet was introduced to the Somali language. In addition, a number of indigenous writing systems were developed in the early 20th century.

Today, a Latin-language Somali alphabet is the most widely used script. Developed under the government of former Somalian President Mohamed Siad Barre, the modern Latin-based script was designed by linguists specifically for the written Somali language, making use of all 26 letters of the English-language alphabet except for z, p and v.

Establishment of Somali as an Official Language

Flag of Somalia

Somali gained official status in 1972 when it was declared the national language of Somalia. At this time, a process of standardization was also undertaken, as was the development of a Latin-language alphabet with which to write the Somali language. The first comprehensive dictionary of the modern standardized Somali language was published in 1976 in accordance with a widespread literacy campaign.

Civil War in Somalia

Civil war in Somalia in the 1990s resulted in the collapse of the Somali government. A series of regional governments were instituted in this period of turmoil. Throughout the turmoil of these years however, Somali remained the de facto official language of the country.

Outside Influences on the Somali Language

Many Somalis today are Sunni Muslims. Due to the historical influence of Islam in Somalia, the Somali language has borrowed words from the Arabic language, both religious and other terms. The Somali language also contains a significant number of loanwords from the Persian language, and the former colonial languages of English and Italian.

After Somali attained official language status in the 1970s, many new words were created and introduced to the language. The majority of these new Somali terms were used to express concepts in the fields of government and education.

The Somali Language Today

Somali is the national language of Somalia. It is also spoken in Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Kenya, as well as by Somali communities in the Middle East. An estimated 7 million native Somali speakers live in Somalia while an estimated 10 to 16 million native Somali speakers exist globally.

Arabic is still prominent in Somalia and is a second official language in the country. It is spoken primary in the north of the country and along the coast. Many Somalis also speak English or Italian thanks to Somalia’s colonial history.

A

Afar

Afrikaans

Akan

Albanian

Amharic

Arabic

Aramaic

Armenian

Ashanti

Aymará

Azerbaijani

B

Bafut

Bahasa

Bambara

Basque

Bassa

Belarussian

Bemba

Bengali

Bislama

Blackfoot

Bosnian

Breton

Bulgarian

Burmese

C

Cajun

Cambodian

Cantonese

Catalan

Cebuano

Chamoro

Chichewa

Chinese

Chinook

Creole

Croatian

Crow

Czech

D

Danish

Dari

Dhivehi

Dutch

Dzongkha

E

Edo

English

Estonian

Ewe

F

Faroese

Farsi

Fijian

Fijian Hindi

Filipino

Finnish

French

Frisian

Fulani

Fuuta Jalon

G

Ga

Gaelic

Galician

Georgian

German

Gikuyu

Greek

Greenlandic

Guaraní

Gujarati

H

Hausa

Hawaiian

Hebrew

Hindi

Hmong

Hungarian

I

Ibo

Icelandic

Ilocano

Ilonggo

Indonesian

Italian

J

Japanese

Jola

K

Kannada

Karen

Kazakh

Khalkha Mongol

Khmer

Kinyarwanda

Kirghiz

Kirundi

Kissi

Kiswahili

Koniagui

Kono

Korean

Kurdish

Kwanyama

Kyrgyz

L

Laotian

Latin

Latvian

Liberian

Lingala

Lithuanian

Luxemburgian

M

Macedonian

Malagasy

Malay

Malayalam

Malinke

Maltese

Mandarin

Mandingo

Mandinka

Maori

Marathi

Marshallese

Mirandese

Moldovan

Mongolian

N

Nauruan

Navajo

Ndebele

Nepali

Niuean

Norwegian

Nzema

O

Oriya

Oromo

Ossetian

Otetela

P

Palauan

Papiamento

Pashtu

Polish

Polynesian

Portuguese

Provencal

Punjabi

Pushtu

Q

Quechua

R

Romanian

Russian

S

Samoan

Sanskrit

Scots

Serbian

Sesotho

Sign Language

Sign Language - American

Sindhi

Sinhala

Sinhalese

Sioux

Slovak

Slovenian

Somali

Soninke

Spanish

Sranan

Swahili

Swati

Swedish

T

Tagalog

Tajik

Tamil

Telugu

Tetum

Thai

Tibetan

Tigrigna

Tokelauan

Tongan

Turkish

Turkman

Tuvaluan

Twi

Tzotzil

U

Ukrainian

Urdu

Uzbek

V

Valencian

Vietnamese

Vlaams

W

Wallisian

Welsh

Wolof

X

Xhosa

Y

Yanomami

Yiddish

Yoruba

Z

Zarma

Zulu

Get Your FREE Quote
Sitemap  |  Privacy Policy  |  Terms & Conditions  |  Copyright  |  © 2024. Baystate Interpreters, Inc. All Rights Reserved