Bismillaahir-Rahmaanir-Raheem بسم الله الرّحمن الرّحيم… In the name of Allah (God), the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Assalaamu ‘alaikum السّلام عليكم… Peace be with you
*Haye, how are you? I hope that you guys are in a great mood, InshaaAllah إن شاء الله (God willing)! ;) Today, let’s take a trip to Somalia in eastern Africa, to learn how to say the days of the week in Somali (Af-Soomaali اف سومالى). Happy learning! :)
Before I commence this straightforward lesson, let’s learn some fabulous facts about Somali.
Somali is the official language of Somalia since 1972, gaining official status with standardization (Standard Somali).
In the Afro-Asiatic family of languages, Somali is an Eastern Cushitic language.
The Somali language is spoken by ethnic Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Yemen and Kenya.
The Somali language is spoken by nearly 13 million people worldwide, including 7 to 8 million within Somalia itself.
“Common” or “Standard” Somali is used in broadcasts and most official documents, and is based on the northern-central dialect.
Not everyone born in Somalia speaks Somali as their first language. A partial list of additional languages spoken within the Somali state includes Maay (Af-Maay, Maay Maay), Garre, Jiidu, Oromo, Dabarre, Tunni and Mushungulu.
The Somali-speaking population in the United States currently totals about 150,000.
Somali dialects are divided into two main groups: The standard dialect, spoken by most Somalis, and the Digil/Raxanweyn dialect, spoken primarily in the inter-riverine areas (vicinity of the Shabelle or Juba Rivers) of the south (who are also familiar with standard Somali). Thus, language provides a channel of communication.
The current written form of Somali uses characters from the Latin alphabet and was standardized in 1972. (Earlier forms used Arabic script or some other characters but were not successfully popularized.)
Somali has adopted many Arabic words, both modern phrases to deal with modern institutions, such as government and finance, and older Arabic terms to discuss international trade and religion. In addition, Somali also contains old Qahtani words, common to Cushitic and Semitic languages.
The Somali language also contains a few Italian loanwords that were retained from the colonial period. The most widely used is ciao, meaning goodbye.
The Somali language had no official written alphabet until the former President of Somalia, Mohamed Siad Barre محمد سياد بري, formally introduced the Somali Latin alphabet in October 1972. Shire Jama Ahmed شيري جامع أحمد (Somali: Shire Jaamac Axmed) is credited with the invention of this spelling system, and his system was chosen from among eighteen competing new orthographies. At the same time, Somali was made the sole official language of Somalia.
The Somali Latin alphabet was introduced to promote literacy. This made Somali different from the languages spoken in neighboring (neighbouring) areas, which still use the Ge'ez or Arabic alphabet. Somali is written in the Latin script today, which is written from left-to-right.
PDF booklet- “Somalia: Language & Culture”
http://www.asisttranslations.com/blog/2009/08/12/somali_population_translation_interpretin/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Somalis
Talaado or Salaasa- Tuesday
Important Somali Pronunciation Notes
For an English speaker, the letters Kh, C and X are difficult to distinguish from one another and to pronounce.
- The letter “Kh” is pronounced like the Arabic letter “khaa خ” (unvoiced fricative velar), or as the Spanish “jota”.
- The letter “C” is pronounced like the Arabic letter “Ain ع” (voiced fricative pharyngeal sound).
- The letter “X” is pronounced like the Arabic letter “Haa ح” (unvoiced fricative pharyngeal sound).
Source of Somali Pronunciation Notes:
http://hooyo.web.free.fr/E_chap01.html
Test your knowledge on the Somali days of the week here, InshaaAllah:
Somali Days of the Week Flashcards (Cram.com)
Somali is the second most widely spoken Cushitic language after Oromo. (Wikipedia)
Sources and Further Reading:
http://ilanguages.org/somali_vocabulary.php
http://hooyo.web.free.fr/E_voc/cadre_bil.html
http://wikitravel.org/en/Somali_phrasebook
http://polymath.org/somali_time.php
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_language
PDF booklet- “Somalia: Language & Culture”
http://www.asisttranslations.com/blog/2009/08/12/somali_population_translation_interpretin/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Somalis
https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/adverbs-time.htm
http://polymath.org/somali_adverbs.php
More from the Word Collector 2:
The Days of the Week in Spanish
Don’t you just love the weekends?
I hope that you guys had a fascinatingly enjoyable Somali excursion, InshaaAllah إن شاء الله (God willing)! ;) See ya next time in Russia, InshaaAllah إن شاء الله (God willing). Stay safe, Wassalaam ‘alaikum والسّلام عليكم (and peace be with you)
Nabad galyo (goodbye in Somali) for now! :-h
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