Home
Languagevs


Somali vs English


English vs Somali


Countries

Countries
Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia   
Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Cameroon, Canada, Dominica, Fiji, Ghana, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Malta, Mauritius, Micronesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somaliland, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Kingdom, Zambia, Zimbabwe   

Total No. Of Countries
3   
12
33   
2

National Language
Somalia   
Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Grenada, Guam, Guyana, Jersey, Montserrat, Nauru, Singapore, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom, United States of America   

Second Language
Not spoken in any of the countries   
India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Singapore   

Speaking Continents
Africa, Middle East   
Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America   

Minority Language
Yemen   
South Africa   

Regulated By
National Languages Committee, Regional Somali Language Academy   
Not Available   

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.
  
  • Most of the English words begin with the letter S than any other letter.
  • English is third most commonly spoken language in the world.
  

Similar To
Afar and Oromo Language   
Not Available   

Derived From
Arabic Language   
Latin   

Alphabets

Alphabets in
Somali-Alphabets.jpg#200   
English-Alphabets.jpg#200   

Alphabets
26   
8
26   
8

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
5   
2
5   
2

How Many Consonants
21   
11
21   
11

Scripts
Arabic, Latin, Osmanya   
Latin   

Writing Direction
Left-To-Right, Horizontal   
Left-To-Right, Horizontal   

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
5   
4
7   
6

Time Taken to Learn
52 weeks   
12
6 weeks   
3

Greetings

Hello
Hello   
Hello   

Thank You
Waad ku mahadsan tahay   
Thank you   

How Are You?
Sidee tahay ?   
How are you?   

Good Night
Habeenka Good   
Good Night   

Good Evening
Evening Good   
Good Evening   

Good Afternoon
galab wanaagsan   
Good Afternoon   

Good Morning
Subax wanaagsan   
Good Morning   

Please
Fadlan   
Please   

Sorry
sorry   
Sorry   

Bye
caraysiiyo   
Bye   

I Love You
Waan ku jeclahay   
I love you   

Excuse Me
iga raali ahow   
Excuse Me   

Dialects

Dialect 1
Northern Somali   
American English   

Where They Speak
Gabon, Standard Somali   
United States of America   

How Many People Speak
Not Available   
225,000,000.00   
3

Dialect 2
Benaadir   
Hiberno-English   

Where They Speak
Georgia, The capital of Mogadishu   
Republic of Ireland, United Kingdom   

How Many People Speak
Not Available   
4,500,000.00   
15

Dialect 3
Af-Ashraaf   
Welsh English   

Where They Speak
Standard Somali   
United Kingdom   

How Many People Speak
Not Available   
2,500,000.00   
14

Total No. Of Dialects
3   
3
188   
34

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
13.00 million   
99+
1,200.00 million   
1

Speaking Population
Not Available   
5.43 %   
4

Native Speakers
8.00 million   
99+
400.00 million   
3

Second Language Speakers
Not Available   
400.00 million   
1

Native Name
af Soomaali   
English   

Alternative Names
Af-Maxaad Tiri, Af-Soomaali, Common Somali, Soomaaliga   
Not Available   

French Name
somali   
anglais   

German Name
Somali   
Englisch   

Pronunciation
Not Available   
/ˈɪŋɡlɪʃ/   

Ethnicity
Somalis   
Not Available   

History

Origin
19th century   
5th Century AD   

Language Family
Afro-Asiatic Family   
Indo-European Family   

Subgroup
Cushitic   
Not Available   

Branch
Not Available   
Not Available   

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
No early forms   
Old English, Middle English, Early Modern English and English   

Standard Forms
Somali   
Standard English   

Language Position
83   
99+
3   
3

Signed Forms
Somali Sign Language   
Signed English   

Scope
Individual   
Individual   

Code

ISO 639 1
so   
en   

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
som   
eng   

ISO 639 2/B
som   
eng   

ISO 639 3
som   
eng   

ISO 639 6
Not Available   
engs   

Glottocode
soma1255   
stan1293   

Linguasphere
No data available   
52-ABA   

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living   
Living   

Language Linguistic Typology
Subject-Object-Verb   
Subject-Verb-Object   

Language Morphological Typology
Not Available   
Analytic, Fusional, Isolating, Synthetic   

Countries >>
<< All

Somali and English Language History

Comparison of Somali vs English language history gives us differences between origin of Somali and English language. History of Somali language states that this language originated in 19th century whereas history of English language states that this language originated in 5th Century AD. Family of the language also forms a part of history of that language. More on language families of these languages can be found out on Somali and English Language History.

Compare Most Difficult Languages

Somali and English Greetings

People around the world use different languages to interact with each other. Even if we cannot communicate fluently in any language, it will always be beneficial to know about some of the common greetings or phrases from that language. This is where Somali and English greetings helps you to understand basic phrases in Somali and English language. Somali word for "Hello" is Hello or English word for "Thank You" is Thank you. Find more of such common Somali Greetings and English Greetings. These greetings will help you to be more confident when conversing with natives that speak these languages.

Somali vs English Difficulty

The Somali vs English difficulty level basically depends on the number of Somali Alphabets and English Alphabets. Also the number of vowels and consonants in the language plays an important role in deciding the difficulty level of that language. The important points to be considered when we compare Somali and English are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Somali and English, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Somali is 52 weeks while to learn English time required is 6 weeks.

Most Difficult Languages

Most Difficult Languages

» More Most Difficult Languages

Compare Most Difficult Languages

» More Compare Most Difficult Languages