Somali language
Afroasiatic language belonging to the Cushitic branch
(Redirected from Somali languages)
Somali (Arabic: الصوماليه) is a Cushitic language. It is spoken by ethnic Somalis in Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Yemen and Kenya, as well as by the Somali diaspora around the world -- an estimated total population of between 10 and 16 million speakers.
Somali | |
---|---|
Af-Soomaali اللغة الصومالية | |
Native to | Somalia (and Somaliland), Djibouti, Ethiopia, Yemen, Kenya |
Region | Horn of Africa |
Native speakers | 16.6 million (2006) |
Afro-Asiatic
| |
Official status | |
Official language in | Somalia |
Regulated by | Ministry of Education, Culture and Higher Education |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-1 | so |
ISO 639-2 | som |
ISO 639-3 | som |
Somali-speaking region | |
The writing system of the Somali language has been Latin alphabet since 1960.
During the colonial years under Italy, in the capital Mogadishu was developed a pidgin from the Italian used by many Somalians: the Pidgin Italian of Somalia
Somali edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia