Somali Language - Britannica

You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience and security. Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos Somali language References Images Contents Somali language Ask Anything Homework Help

Quick Summary

The Somali language is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. It is spoken throughout Somalia and is an official language, alongside Arabic. Somali uses an official orthography based on the Latin alphabet, adopted in 1973, as it was previously an unwritten language. Grammatically, Somali nouns indicate number and gender, and some nouns exhibit "gender polarity," changing gender between singular and plural forms. The language employs a complex verbal morphology and a root-and-pattern system for word formation, common in Afro-Asiatic languages. The typical sentence structure is subject-object-verb (SOV).12

This summary is created from Britannica articles using AI. AI makes mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

4 Britannica Sources

1. Somalia - Languages
2. Somalia: Country Facts
3. history of Somalia - The great Somali migrations
4. Cushitic languages - Morphology and grammar

Ask AI about this topic

Ask Anything

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

adaptation of orthography

• In Somalia: Languages

  The Somali language belongs to the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Despite several regional dialects, it is understood throughout the country and is an official language. The second official language is Arabic, which is spoken chiefly in northern Somalia and in the coastal towns.…

  Read More
• In Somalia: The era of Scientific Socialism

  …1973 and 1974, which made Somali a written language (in Latin characters) for the first time.

  Read More

Cushitic languages

• In Cushitic languages

  …million speakers) in southern Ethiopia; Somali, the official language of Somalia, with about 15 million speakers; and Saho-Afar, two closely related languages, spoken by more than 1 million people in Djibouti and adjacent areas. Agau languages are spoken by a few thousand people in scattered enclaves in northern and central…

  Read More

distribution

• In Ethiopia: Ethnic groups and languages

  Cushitic languages are Oromo, Somali, and Afar. Oromo is native to the western, southwestern, southern, and eastern areas of the country. Somali is dominant among inhabitants of the Ogaden and Hawd, while Afar is most common in the Denakil Plain.

  Read More

use in African literature

• In African literature: Somali

  Hikmad Soomaali (“Somali Wisdom”), a collection of traditional stories in the Somali language recorded by Muuse Xaaji Ismaaciil Galaal, was published in 1956. Shire Jaamac Axmed published materials from the Somali oral tradition as Gabayo, maahmaah, iyo sheekooyin yaryar (1965; “Poems, Proverbs, and Short…

  Read More