Countries
Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia
  
Afganistan, Iran, Tajikistan
  
National Language
Somalia
  
Afganistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
  
Second Language
Not spoken in any of the countries
  
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
  
Speaking Continents
Africa, Middle East
  
Asia
  
Minority Language
Yemen
  
Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates
  
Regulated By
National Languages Committee, Regional Somali Language Academy
  
Academy of Persian Language and Literature (فرهنگستان زبان و اد, Academy of Sciences of Afghanistan
  
Interesting Facts
- Somali language is one of the best documented Afro-Asiatic languages.
- One of the most widely spoken of the Cushitic languages is the Somali Language.
  
- In Iran, Parsi language is known as Farsi, while in Afghanistan Persian language is known as Dari.
- Persian language has borrowed many loanwords from the Arabic language.
  
Similar To
Afar and Oromo Language
  
Pashto and Balochi Languages
  
Derived From
Arabic Language
  
Arabic Language
  
Alphabets in
Somali-Alphabets.jpg#200
  
Persian-Alphabets.jpg#200
  
Phonology
  
  
Scripts
Arabic, Latin, Osmanya
  
Arabic
  
Writing Direction
Left-To-Right, Horizontal
  
Right-To-Left, Horizontal
  
Hard to Learn
  
  
Hello
Hello
  
سلام
  
Thank You
Waad ku mahadsan tahay
  
متشکرم
  
How Are You?
Sidee tahay ?
  
چطور هستید?
  
Good Night
Habeenka Good
  
شب بخیر
  
Good Evening
Evening Good
  
عصر بخیر
  
Good Afternoon
galab wanaagsan
  
بعد از ظهر بخیر
  
Good Morning
Subax wanaagsan
  
صبح به خیر
  
Please
Fadlan
  
لطفا
  
Sorry
sorry
  
متاسف
  
Bye
caraysiiyo
  
خدا حافظ
  
I Love You
Waan ku jeclahay
  
من شما را دوست دارم
  
Excuse Me
iga raali ahow
  
ببخشيد!
  
Dialect 1
Northern Somali
  
Western Persian
  
Where They Speak
Gabon, Standard Somali
  
Iran, Iraq
  
How Many People Speak
Not Available
  
47,000,000.00
  
7
Dialect 2
Benaadir
  
Dari Persian
  
Where They Speak
Georgia, The capital of Mogadishu
  
Afganistan
  
How Many People Speak
Not Available
  
12,500,000.00
  
7
Dialect 3
Af-Ashraaf
  
Tajik Persian
  
Where They Speak
Standard Somali
  
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
  
How Many People Speak
Not Available
  
7,900,000.00
  
6
How Many People Speak?
13.00 million
  
99+
65.00 million
  
26
Speaking Population
Not Available
  
Native Speakers
8.00 million
  
99+
65.00 million
  
17
Native Name
af Soomaali
  
فارسی
  
Alternative Names
Af-Maxaad Tiri, Af-Soomaali, Common Somali, Soomaaliga
  
New Persian, Parsi, Persian, West Persian
  
French Name
somali
  
persan
  
German Name
Somali
  
Persisch
  
Pronunciation
Not Available
  
[fɒːɾˈsiː]
  
Ethnicity
Somalis
  
Persian people
  
Origin
19th century
  
1500 BC
  
Language Family
Afro-Asiatic Family
  
Indo-European Family
  
Subgroup
Cushitic
  
Indo-Iranian
  
Branch
Not Available
  
Iranian
  
Language Forms
  
  
Early Forms
No early forms
  
Old Persian and Middle Persian
  
Standard Forms
Somali
  
Persian
  
Signed Forms
Somali Sign Language
  
Persian Sign Language
  
Scope
Individual
  
Individual
  
ISO 639 1
so
  
fa
  
ISO 639 2
  
  
ISO 639 2/T
som
  
fas
  
ISO 639 2/B
som
  
per
  
ISO 639 3
som
  
pes
  
ISO 639 6
Not Available
  
Not Available
  
Glottocode
soma1255
  
fars1254
  
Linguasphere
No data available
  
58-AAC-c
  
Types of Language
  
  
Language Type
Living
  
Living
  
Language Linguistic Typology
Subject-Object-Verb
  
Subject-Object-Verb
  
Language Morphological Typology
Not Available
  
Synthetic