| Somali | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | Somalia,Djibouti,Ethiopia,Kenya |
Native speakers | 27 million (2020)[1] |
| Linguistic classification | Afro-Asiatic |
| Proto-language | Proto-Somali |
| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | None east2653 (East Omo–Tana (partial match)) |
TheSomali languages form a group that are part of theAfro-Asiatic language family. They are spoken as a mother tongue byethnic Somalis inHorn of Africa and theSomali diaspora. Even with linguistic differences, Somalis collectively view themselves as speaking dialects of a common language.[2]
Some neighboring populations and individuals have also adopted the languages. Somali is for instance used as a second language by speakers ofGirirra.[3]
Somali variations form a group ofEast Cushitic languages that are part of theAfroasiatic language family. Their closest relatives are theAweer andGarre languages, followed byRendille; this group is sometimes known asSam or Eastern Omo-Tana. Together withBayso and theArboroid languages such asDaasanach, these are known as theOmo-Tana languages. A term "Somaloid" is ambiguous and has been used for either all of Omo-Tana, for the Sam group, or for a group comprising Sam and Baiso.
Somali linguistic varieties are broadly divided into three main groups:Northern,Benadir andMaay. Northern Somali forms the basis for Standard Somali.[4]
The most extensive publication on the subject is Marcello Lamberti's 'Die Somali-Dialekte'.[5] Both Lamberti (1986) and Blench (2006) separate Central and Benadir into two distinct groups, Digil and Maay and Benadir and Ashraaf, respectively:[6][7]
Northern Somali is spoken by more than 70% of the entire Somali population.[8] Its primary speech area stretches from Djibouti, Somaliland and to parts of the eastern and southwestern sections of Somalia.[9] This widespread modern distribution is a result of a long series of southward population movements over the past ten centuries from theGulf of Aden littoral.[10] Northern Somali is subdivided into three dialects: Northern Somali proper (spoken in the northwest), the Darod group (spoken in the northeast and along the eastern Ethiopia frontier), and the Lower Juba group (spoken by northern Somali settlers in the southern riverine areas).[8] Northern Somali has frequently been used by famous Somali poets as well as the political elite, and thus has the most prestige out of the Somali dialects.[11] Due to being wide spread, it forms the basis for Standard Somali.[12] Most of the classical Somali poetry is recited and composed in the Northern Somali dialect.[8]
Lamberti divides Northern Somali into three subgroups:[7]
Coastal Somali (also grouped asBenadir andAshraf) is spoken on theBenadir coast fromHobyo to south ofMerca, includingMogadishu and in the hinterland.[6]
Central Somali (also grouped as Digil andMaay) is spoken in the inter-riverine regions of Somalia by theDigil andMirifle clans, collectively known as theRahanweyn Somalis.[6] They are most often described as dialects[6] whilst others regard them as being divergent from Somali asSpanish is toPortuguese.[13] Of the Central variations,Jiiddu is the most incomprehensible to Benadir and Northern speakers.[6]
There are other languages that are spoken in Somalia which are not necessarily Afsoomali. They may be a mixture of the Somali languages and other indigenous languages. Such a language is Maay which is principally spoken by the Digil and Mirifle (Rahanweyn or Sab) clans in the southern regions of Somalia.[14] Its speech area extends from the southwestern border with Ethiopia to a region close to the coastal strip between Mogadishu andKismayo, including the city ofBaidoa.[15] Maay is not mutually comprehensible with Northern Somali, and it differs in sentence structure and phonology.[16] It is also not generally used in education or media. However, Maay speakers often use Standard Somali as a lingua franca,[15] which is learned via mass communications, internal migration and urbanization.[16]
Maay is not closely related with the Somali language in sentence structure and phonology. ItsJiddu,Dabarre,Garre andTunni varieties are also spoken by smaller Rahanweyn communities. Collectively, these languages present similarities with Oromo that are not found in mainstream Somali. Chief among these is the lack of pharyngeal sounds in the Rahanweyn/Digil and Mirifle languages, features which by contrast typify Somali but are not Somali. Although in the past frequently classified as dialects of Somali, more recent research by the linguistMohamed Diriye Abdullahi has shown that these varieties, including Maay, constitute separate Cushitic languages.[17] The degree of divergence is comparable to that between Spanish and Portuguese.[18] Of the Digil varieties, Jiddu is the most incomprehensible to Benadir and Northern speakers.[6] Despite these linguistic differences, Somali speakers collectively view themselves as speaking a common language.[19]
In addition, Kirk (1905) reportsYibir andMidgan, spoken by theYibir andMadhiban, respectively. Blench (2006) says, "These lects, spoken respectively by magicians and hunters among the Somali are said to differ substantially in lexicon from standard Somali. Whether this differentiation is in the nature of a code or these represent distinct languages remains unknown."
The classification found in Ehret & Ali (1984) differs sharply from others. Ehret & Ali classify these varieties into three main groups in a more genealogically focused approach:[20]
Jiiddu in this model is relocated as not even a Somalisensu lato variety in origin, but instead as a sibling ofBayso.[20] In contrast, Garre shows quite close affinity toAweer, a language spoken by theAweer people, who are distinct in culture and appearance.[21][22] Evidence suggests that the Aweer/Boni are remnants of the early hunter-gatherer inhabitants of Eastern Africa. According to linguistic, anthropological and other data, these groups later came under the influence and adopted the Afro-Asiatic languages of theEastern andSouthern Cushitic peoples who moved into the area.[23]
Proto-Somali has been reconstructed by Biber (1982).[24]
Dalby2 was invoked but never defined (see thehelp page).s4 was invoked but never defined (see thehelp page).