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Swahili and Somali


Somali and Swahili


Countries

Countries
African Union, Democratic Republic of the Congo, East African Community, Kenya  
Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia  

Total No. Of Countries
4  
11
3  
12

National Language
Burundi, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, South Sudan, Tanzania  
Somalia  

Second Language
Not spoken in any of the countries  
Not spoken in any of the countries  

Speaking Continents
Africa  
Africa, Middle East  

Minority Language
Not spoken in any of the countries  
Yemen  

Regulated By
Chama cha Kiswahili cha Taifa (Kenya)  
National Languages Committee, Regional Somali Language Academy  

Interesting Facts
  • Swahili language has borrowed many words from Arabic language.
  • The oldest written scripts in swahili language were found in 18th century.
    •   
  • 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.
  

Similar To
Burundi, Rwanda, Malawi Languages  
Afar and Oromo Language  

Derived From
Arabic Language  
Arabic Language  

Alphabets

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

Alphabets
24  
6
26  
8

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
5  
2
5  
2

How Many Consonants
21  
11
21  
11

Scripts
Latin  
Arabic, Latin, Osmanya  

Writing Direction
Not Available  
Left-To-Right, Horizontal  

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
3  
2
5  
4

Time Taken to Learn
36 weeks  
10
52 weeks  
12

Greetings

Hello
Habari  
Hello  

Thank You
Asante  
Waad ku mahadsan tahay  

How Are You?
Habari gani?  
Sidee tahay ?  

Good Night
Usiku mwema  
Habeenka Good  

Good Evening
Habari za jioni  
Evening Good  

Good Afternoon
nzuri Alasiri  
galab wanaagsan  

Good Morning
Habari za asubuhi  
Subax wanaagsan  

Please
tafadhali  
Fadlan  

Sorry
pole  
sorry  

Bye
bye  
caraysiiyo  

I Love You
nakupenda  
Waan ku jeclahay  

Excuse Me
Samahani  
iga raali ahow  

Dialects

Dialect 1
Kiunguja  
Northern Somali  

Where They Speak
Zanzibar island  
Gabon, Standard Somali  

Dialect 2
Kimrima  
Benaadir  

Where They Speak
Dar es Salaam  
Georgia, The capital of Mogadishu  

Dialect 3
Kimgao  
Af-Ashraaf  

Where They Speak
Kilwa  
Standard Somali  

Total No. Of Dialects
12  
12
3  
3

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
150.00 million  
13
13.00 million  
99+

Speaking Population
Not Available  
Not Available  

Native Speakers
15.00 million  
40
8.00 million  
99+

Native Name
Not Available  
af Soomaali  

Alternative Names
Kisuaheli, Kiswahili  
Af-Maxaad Tiri, Af-Soomaali, Common Somali, Soomaaliga  

French Name
swahili  
somali  

German Name
Swahili  
Somali  

Pronunciation
Not Available  
Not Available  

Ethnicity
Swahili people or Waswahili  
Somalis  

History

Origin
6th century  
19th century  

Language Family
Niger-Congo Family  
Afro-Asiatic Family  

Subgroup
Benue-Congo  
Cushitic  

Branch
Bantu  
Not Available  

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
No early forms  
No early forms  

Standard Forms
Swahili  
Somali  

Language Position
Not Available  
83  
99+

Signed Forms
Not Available  
Somali Sign Language  

Scope
Individual, Macrolanguage  
Individual  

Code

ISO 639 1
sw  
so  

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
swa  
som  

ISO 639 2/B
swa  
som  

ISO 639 3
swa  
som  

ISO 639 6
Not Available  
Not Available  

Glottocode
swah1254  
soma1255  

Linguasphere
99-AUS-m  
No data available  

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living  
Living  

Language Linguistic Typology
Not Available  
Subject-Object-Verb  

Language Morphological Typology
Not Available  
Not Available  

Summary >>
<< Code

All Swahili and Somali Dialects

Most languages have dialects where each dialect differ from other dialect with respect to grammar and vocabulary. Here you will get to know all Swahili and Somali dialects. Various dialects of Swahili and Somali language differ in their pronunciations and words. Dialects of Swahili are spoken in different Swahili Speaking Countries whereas Somali Dialects are spoken in different Somali speaking countries. Also the number of people speaking Swahili vs Somali Dialects varies from few thousands to many millions. Some of the Swahili dialects include: Kiunguja, Kimrima. Somali dialects include: Northern Somali , Benaadir. Also learn about dialects in South American Languages and North American Languages.

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Swahili and Somali Speaking population

Swahili and Somali speaking population is one of the factors based on which Swahili and Somali languages can be compared. The total count of Swahili and Somali Speaking population in percentage is also given. The percentage of people speaking Swahili language is Not Available whereas the percentage of people speaking Somali language is Not Available. When we compare the speaking population of any two languages we get to know which of two languages is more popular. Find more details about how many people speak Swahili and Somali on Swahili vs Somali where you will get native speakers, speaking population in percentage and native names.

Swahili and Somali Language Codes

Swahili and Somali language codes are used in those applications where using language names are tedious. Swahili and Somali Language Codes include all the international language codes, glottocodes and linguasphere.

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