Somali language | Britannica

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Plato points to the heavens and the realm of Forms, Aristotle to the earth and the realm of things." width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/story/plato-and-aristotle-how-do-they-differ" >Plato and Aristotle: How Do They Differ?</a> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <button class="drawerToggle btn position-sticky border btn-xs btn-white btn-circle rounded-sm d-none d-lg-flex " type="button" aria-label="Toggle Drawer"> <em class="material-icons font-18 text-blue" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_left"></em> </button> </div> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="h-100 ml-0 pr-lg-0"> <div class="h-100 grid gx-0 gx-lg-20"> <div class="h-100 col-sm d-flex flex-column"> <div class="toc-sticky-header d-none d-lg-none bg-gray-50 px-10 px-sm-30 position-sticky w-100 "> <div class="toc-sticky-header-inner-container align-items-center d-flex mx-auto h-100 w-100"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-sm btn-white text-blue border-2 border-gray-100 gtm-mobile-toc-header-button js-sections-button d-lg-none p-10"> <em class="material-icons my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Contents </button> <div class="header-ai-ask-button-placeholder"></div> <div class="header-ai-summarize-button-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <div class="grey-box w-100 grey-box-middle"> <div class="grey-box-content mx-auto w-100"> <br class="d-block mt-20"> <div class="topic-header"> <div class="d-flex align-items-top justify-content-between"> <div class="d-flex flex-column"> <div> <div> <h1>Somali language</h1></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="d-none d-sm-flex flex-row"> </div> <div class="toc-header-marker"></div> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 js-header-ai-ask-button d-none btn-sm btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 mr-0 mr-lg-10 ml-5 ml-sm-10 ml-lg-0 p-10"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> </div> <div id="ref1"><article><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="1"></section></article><section class="index-entries"><h2 class="h3"><strong>Learn about this topic</strong> in these articles:</h2><section><h3>adaptation of orthography</h3><ul class="list-unstyled"><li><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/26/26-050-6CEC395D/Somalia-map-boundaries-cities-locator.jpg" alt="Somalia" data-width="1600" data-height="1327" loading="lazy"></div> <span class="index-xref">In <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Somalia/Plant-and-animal-life#ref419600" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Somalia: Languages</a></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The Somali language belongs to the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Despite several regional dialects, it is understood throughout the country and is an official language. The second official language is Arabic, which is spoken chiefly in northern Somalia and in the coastal towns.…</p><a class="read-more" href="/place/Somalia/Plant-and-animal-life#ref419600">Read More</a></li><li><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/26/26-050-6CEC395D/Somalia-map-boundaries-cities-locator.jpg" alt="Somalia" data-width="1600" data-height="1327" loading="lazy"></div> <span class="index-xref">In <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Somalia/Revolt-in-British-Somaliland#ref419656" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Somalia: The era of Scientific Socialism</a></span><p class="topic-paragraph">…1973 and 1974, which made Somali a written language (in Latin characters) for the first time.</p><a class="read-more" href="/place/Somalia/Revolt-in-British-Somaliland#ref419656">Read More</a></li></ul></section><section><h3>Cushitic languages</h3><ul class="list-unstyled"><li> <span class="index-xref">In <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Cushitic-languages#ref1004413" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Cushitic languages</a></span><p class="topic-paragraph">…million speakers) in southern Ethiopia; Somali, the official language of Somalia, with about 15 million speakers; and Saho-Afar, two closely related languages, spoken by more than 1 million people in Djibouti and adjacent areas. Agau languages are spoken by a few thousand people in scattered enclaves in northern and central…</p><a class="read-more" href="/topic/Cushitic-languages#ref1004413">Read More</a></li></ul></section><section><h3>distribution</h3><ul class="list-unstyled"><li><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/25/25-050-7DFB6F50/Ethiopia-map-boundaries-cities-locator.jpg" alt="Ethiopia" data-width="1600" data-height="1327" loading="lazy"></div> <span class="index-xref">In <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Ethiopia/Ethnic-groups-and-languages#ref419450" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Ethiopia: Ethnic groups and languages</a></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Cushitic languages are Oromo, Somali, and Afar. Oromo is native to the western, southwestern, southern, and eastern areas of the country. Somali is dominant among inhabitants of the Ogaden and Hawd, while Afar is most common in the Denakil Plain.</p><a class="read-more" href="/place/Ethiopia/Ethnic-groups-and-languages#ref419450">Read More</a></li></ul></section><section><h3>use in African literature</h3><ul class="list-unstyled"><li><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/04/68004-050-3CF39874/Athol-Fugard-actors-John-Kani-Winston-Ntshona-1973.jpg?w=300" alt="Athol Fugard with John Kani and Winston Ntshona" data-width="1600" data-height="1200" loading="lazy"></div> <span class="index-xref">In <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/African-literature/Somali#ref519594" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">African literature: Somali</a></span><p class="topic-paragraph"> <em>Hikmad Soomaali</em> (“Somali Wisdom”), a collection of traditional stories in the Somali language recorded by Muuse Xaaji Ismaaciil Galaal, was published in 1956. Shire Jaamac Axmed published materials from the Somali oral tradition as <em>Gabayo, maahmaah, iyo sheekooyin yaryar</em> (1965; “Poems, Proverbs, and Short… </p><a class="read-more" href="/art/African-literature/Somali#ref519594">Read More</a></li></ul></section></section></div> </div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320" data-page="1"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article></div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"INDEX","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":1,"pageId":553861,"pageLength":0,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"B","adLeg":"B","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"INDEX","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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