Somali language

Somali is a language belonging to the Afroasiatic family, specifically the Cushitic branch. It is spoken in Somalia, Somaliland, the Somali-inhabited regions of Ethiopia, northwestern Kenya, and Djibouti, and is also spoken by diaspora communities in Europe, America, the Middle East, and other parts of Africa.

Somali is the national language of Somalia and one of the widely used languages of Djibouti. It is among the most spoken Cushitic languages and is written in Latin script, officially adopted in Somalia in 1972, known as the Somali script or script distinct from the Ottoman.

Dialects

Linguists typically divide Somali into three groups: Northern (Common Somali), which forms the basis of the standard language; Benaadir, the dialects of the central coast near Mogadishu; and Maay, spoken in parts of the Jubba and Shabeelle valleys. Some scholars treat Maay as a separate language, as mutual intelligibility between the two varieties is limited.

Grammar

Somali is distinguished by contrasts between long and short vowels and by a tone system—or pitch accent—that affects meaning and grammar, for example distinguishing masculine and feminine or singularity and plurality. Sentence structure is generally subject-object-verb (SOV), and uses grammatical particles such as 'waa', 'baa', 'ayaa', and 'waxa' to mark focus in the clause.

Nouns have grammatical gender and a gender polarity system in which plural forms may reverse the gender of the singular or be subject to other transformations. Verbs are formed through suffixes and, rarely, prefixes, as seen in tense forms like 'yaqaan' and 'yiri'.

Writing and literature

Before 1972, Somali was written mainly in Arabic script or in various personal scripts such as Osmanya, created by Osman Yusuf Kenadid in the early twentieth century, and Borama and Kaddare. Following the adoption of the Latin-based Somali script, a widespread literacy campaign was launched, and Somali became the language of education and administration. Oral literature—poetry (gabay, geeraar, buraanbur) and proverbs—remains a central part of the language's culture.