Somali vs Swahili
Countries
Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia
African Union, Democratic Republic of the Congo, East African Community, Kenya
National Language
Somalia
Burundi, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, South Sudan, Tanzania
Second Language
Not spoken in any of the countries
Not spoken in any of the countries
Speaking Continents
Africa, Middle East
Africa
Minority Language
Yemen
Not spoken in any of the countries
Regulated By
National Languages Committee, Regional Somali Language Academy
Chama cha Kiswahili cha Taifa (Kenya)
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.
- Swahili language has borrowed many words from Arabic language.
- The oldest written scripts in swahili language were found in 18th century.
Similar To
Afar and Oromo Language
Burundi, Rwanda, Malawi Languages
Derived From
Arabic Language
Arabic Language
Alphabets in
Somali-Alphabets.jpg#200
Swahili-Alphabets.jpg#200
Scripts
Arabic, Latin, Osmanya
Latin
Writing Direction
Left-To-Right, Horizontal
Not Available
Thank You
Waad ku mahadsan tahay
Asante
How Are You?
Sidee tahay ?
Habari gani?
Good Night
Habeenka Good
Usiku mwema
Good Evening
Evening Good
Habari za jioni
Good Afternoon
galab wanaagsan
nzuri Alasiri
Good Morning
Subax wanaagsan
Habari za asubuhi
I Love You
Waan ku jeclahay
nakupenda
Excuse Me
iga raali ahow
Samahani
Dialect 1
Northern Somali
Kiunguja
Where They Speak
Gabon, Standard Somali
Zanzibar island
Dialect 2
Benaadir
Kimrima
Where They Speak
Georgia, The capital of Mogadishu
Dar es Salaam
Dialect 3
Af-Ashraaf
Kimgao
Where They Speak
Standard Somali
Kilwa
Speaking Population
Not Available
Not Available
Native Name
af Soomaali
Not Available
Alternative Names
Af-Maxaad Tiri, Af-Soomaali, Common Somali, Soomaaliga
Kisuaheli, Kiswahili
French Name
somali
swahili
German Name
Somali
Swahili
Pronunciation
Not Available
Not Available
Ethnicity
Somalis
Swahili people or Waswahili
Origin
19th century
6th century
Language Family
Afro-Asiatic Family
Niger-Congo Family
Subgroup
Cushitic
Benue-Congo
Branch
Not Available
Bantu
Early Forms
No early forms
No early forms
Standard Forms
Somali
Swahili
Language Position
Not Available
Signed Forms
Somali Sign Language
Not Available
Scope
Individual
Individual, Macrolanguage
ISO 639 6
Not Available
Not Available
Glottocode
soma1255
swah1254
Linguasphere
No data available
99-AUS-m
Language Type
Living
Living
Language Linguistic Typology
Subject-Object-Verb
Not Available
Language Morphological Typology
Not Available
Not Available
Somali and Swahili Language History
Comparison of Somali vs Swahili language history gives us differences between origin of Somali and Swahili language. History of Somali language states that this language originated in 19th century whereas history of Swahili language states that this language originated in 6th century. 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 Swahili Language History.
Somali and Swahili 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 Swahili greetings helps you to understand basic phrases in Somali and Swahili language. Somali word for "Hello" is Hello or Swahili word for "Thank You" is Asante. Find more of such common Somali Greetings and Swahili Greetings. These greetings will help you to be more confident when conversing with natives that speak these languages.
Somali vs Swahili Difficulty
The Somali vs Swahili difficulty level basically depends on the number of Somali Alphabets and Swahili 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 Swahili are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Somali and Swahili, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Somali is 52 weeks while to learn Swahili time required is 36 weeks.