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Language and Literacy Most Somalis speak the Somali language, but many Somalis also speak Arabic. Educated Somalis usually speak either English or Italian in addition to Somali. Swahili is also commonly spoken in coastal areas near Kenya. Somali is a member of a group of languages called lowland Eastern Cushitic. Eastern Cushitic, spoken by people living in Ethopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti, Kenya, and Sudan, belongs to the Cushitic language family, which in turn is part of the Afro-Asiatic stock. Somali has two major dialects; the standard dialect spoken by most Somalis, and the Digil/Raxanweyn dialect, spoken primarily in the interriverine areas of the south. Although the Digil/Raxanweyn dialect in the south is almost as different from standard Somali as French is from Italian, most Digil/Raxanweyn speakers are familiar with standard Somali. Thus, language serves as a channel of communication for people thousands of miles apart. Somali Proverbs Somali has a rich tradition of proverbs passed on from generation to generation, and embellished by individual speakers. Such proverbs are very important in the everyday speech of Somalis. In fact, many Somalis feel that the English language lacks richness in the area of proverbs. Some Somalis even try exceptionally hard to learn English sayings and use them much too often. Other Somalis may translate literally from Somali, hopig to be understood and socially accepted. Examples of Somali Proverbs: Aqoon la'aani waa iftiin la'aan.: Being without knowledge is to be without light. Ilko wada jir bey wax ku gooyaan.: Unity is power. (literally, "Together the teeth can cut.") Intaadan falin ka fiirso.: Look befor you leap. (literally, "Think before you do.") Nabar doogi ma haro.: An old wound will not go away. Writing: Until 1972, Somali had no written form. The new Somali script that was adopted in 1972 was based on the Roman alphabet. Prior to 1972, English and Italian were the official languages of government and education. This served to create an elite as only the small proporiton of Somali society who knew these colonial languages had access to government positons or the few managerial or technical jobs in private enterprise. After Somali script was introduced in 1972, however, Somali officials were required to learn the script. Thus, a countrywide literacy campaign was launched. Great progress was made in the development of national literacy, especially in the rural areas where previous literacy campaigns had failed. In 1975, government figures indicated a literacy rate of 55% as opposed to a 5% rate before the adoption of a national script. Even if the goverment rate is exaggerated, the United Nations estimated in 1990 a rate of 24% national literacy. Thus, Somali progress in literacy has been significant. The Somali Sound System and Pronunciation (Phonology): Somali uses all but three letters (p, v, and z) of the English alphabet. Of the thirty-three Somali sounds, fifteen (b, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, s, sh, t, w, and y) are very much like their English conterparts. Somali has seven consonants (c, dh, kh, q, r, x, and glottal stop) that do not match anything in English. The sounds that are most likely to cause difficulties for Somalis learning English are those represented by the letters c, q, r, and x, since these letters are pronounced quite differently in Somali. Somali sound sound system: http://www.culturalorientation.net/somali/ssound.html In Somali, the consonants b, d, dh, g, l, m, n, and r can be doubled to indicate a sound which is pronounced with much more force than its single counterpart. Thus, Somalis often pronounce the doubled consonants in English words such as ?bigger,? ?middle,? ?merry,? ?simmer,? and ?nibble? with more strength than they would be pronounced by a native English speaker. Vowels always have fixed one-to-one correspondence in Somali; each letter has one sound and each sound has one letter: a tart aa father ay high, pie ey say e way [but shorter] ee payday i in, wit ii see o boat oo sew [but drawn a little bit longer] u coo uu noon [but drawn a little bit longer] Long vowels (aa, ee, ii, oo, uu) are used in Somali and pronounced almost twice as long as a single counterpart. English vowels may be somewhat diffult for Somalis since English lacks Somali?s one-to-one correspondence between vowel letters and sounds; in English, each letter has more than one sound, and each sound has more than one spelling. Typically, Somalis will pronounce English words the way they would pronounce them in Somali. Thus, ?boat? might be pronounced ?bow-at? with two syllables. Somalis may also lengthen English double vowels, as in ?noon? or ?been,? giving them the long sound that doubled vowel letters represent in Somali. Finally, tone is present in Somali, but it is not as complex as in Chinese, in which every word has a special tone pattern. In Somali, tone rarely marks a difference in word meaning. This aspect of Somali is not likely to create a problem for Somalis learning English. (The Cultural Orientation Project--Somalis-Their History and Culture, 2000. http://www.culturalorientation.net) |
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