Swahili vs Somali
Countries
African Union, Democratic Republic of the Congo, East African Community, Kenya
Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia
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 in
Swahili-Alphabets.jpg#200
Somali-Alphabets.jpg#200
Scripts
Latin
Arabic, Latin, Osmanya
Writing Direction
Not Available
Left-To-Right, Horizontal
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
I Love You
nakupenda
Waan ku jeclahay
Excuse Me
Samahani
iga raali ahow
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
Speaking Population
Not Available
Not Available
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
Origin
6th century
19th century
Language Family
Niger-Congo Family
Afro-Asiatic Family
Subgroup
Benue-Congo
Cushitic
Branch
Bantu
Not Available
Early Forms
No early forms
No early forms
Standard Forms
Swahili
Somali
Language Position
Not Available
Signed Forms
Not Available
Somali Sign Language
Scope
Individual, Macrolanguage
Individual
ISO 639 6
Not Available
Not Available
Glottocode
swah1254
soma1255
Linguasphere
99-AUS-m
No data available
Language Type
Living
Living
Language Linguistic Typology
Not Available
Subject-Object-Verb
Language Morphological Typology
Not Available
Not Available
Swahili and Somali Language History
Comparison of Swahili vs Somali language history gives us differences between origin of Swahili and Somali language. History of Swahili language states that this language originated in 6th century whereas history of Somali language states that this language originated in 19th 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 Swahili and Somali Language History.
Swahili and Somali 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 Swahili and Somali greetings helps you to understand basic phrases in Swahili and Somali language. Swahili word for "Hello" is Habari or Somali word for "Thank You" is Waad ku mahadsan tahay. Find more of such common Swahili Greetings and Somali Greetings. These greetings will help you to be more confident when conversing with natives that speak these languages.
Swahili vs Somali Difficulty
The Swahili vs Somali difficulty level basically depends on the number of Swahili Alphabets and Somali 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 Swahili and Somali are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Swahili and Somali, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Swahili is 36 weeks while to learn Somali time required is 52 weeks.