Somali language

Somali
Af Soomaali,[1] Soomaali[2]
𐒖𐒍 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘, 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘
اَف سٝومالِ, سٝومالِ,
RegionHorn of Africa
EthnicitySomalis
Native speakers
24 million (2019–2023)[3]
DialectsAshraf
Benadiri
Maay
Northern Somali
Somali Latin alphabet (Latin script; official)
Wadaad's writing (Arabic script)
Osmanya alphabet
Borama alphabet
Kaddare alphabet
Official status
Official language in
 Somalia
 Somaliland
 Djibouti
 Ethiopia
Recognised minority
language in
Regulated byRegional Somali Language Academy
Language codes
ISO 639-1so
ISO 639-2som
ISO 639-3som
Glottologsoma1255
Linguasphere14-GAG-a
Primary Somali Sprachraum
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Somali (/səˈmɑːli, s-/ sə-MAH-lee, soh-;[4][5] Latin script: Af-Soomaali; Wadaad: اَف سٝومالِ‎; Osmanya: 𐒖𐒍 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘 [æ̀f sɔ̀ːmɑ́ːlì])[6] is an Afroasiatic language belonging to the Cushitic branch. It is spoken as a mother tongue by Somalis in Greater Somalia and the Somali diaspora. Somali is an official language in Somalia and Ethiopia,[7] and a national language in Djibouti as well as in northeastern Kenya. The Somali language is written officially with the Latin alphabet although the Arabic alphabet and several Somali scripts like Osmanya, Kaddare and the Borama script are informally used.[8][9]

  1. ^ "Somali alphabets, pronunciation and language". Omniglot. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  2. ^ "cldr/so.xml at master · unicode-org/cldr". Unicode. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference eth was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Jones, Daniel (2003) [1917], Peter Roach; James Hartmann; Jane Setter (eds.), English Pronouncing Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 3-12-539683-2
  5. ^ "Somali". Collins Dictionary. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  6. ^ Saeed (1999:107)
  7. ^ AfricaNews (2020-03-04). "One to five: Ethiopia gets four new federal working languages". Africanews. Archived from the original on 2020-10-28. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
  8. ^ Lewis, I.M. (1999). A Pastoral Democracy: A Study of Pastoralism and Politics Among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 175. ISBN 3825830845.
  9. ^ Lewis, I.M. (1958), The Gadabuursi Somali Script, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 21, pp. 134–156.

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