All languages
Horn of Africa
Somali
Af-SoomaaliA Cushitic language with one of the world's great oral poetry traditions — Somali only received an official Latin orthography in 1972, and mass literacy followed within years.
- Family
- Afro-Asiatic (Cushitic)
- Script
- Latin (since 1972)
- Speakers
- ~22 million speakers
- Spoken in
- Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya
The course
Five units, one word at a time
0/5 mastered
Unit 1
Greetings
Greetings ask after health, family and livestock, in that order.
- Iska warran — Hello / what's the news?
- Nabad — Peace / fine
- Sidee tahay? — How are you?
- Mahadsanid — Thank you
- Nabadgelyo — Goodbye (go in peace)
- Soo dhawow — Welcome
Unit 2
People and family
Names, kin and the people around you.
- Hooyo — Mother
- Aabbe — Father
- Ilmo — Child
- Saaxiib — Friend
- Qof — Person
- Naag — Woman
Unit 3
Numbers one to ten
Counting in Somali.
- Kow — One
- Laba — Two
- Saddex — Three
- Afar — Four
- Shan — Five
- Toban — Ten
Unit 4
Food and the market
Tea, camel milk and the price of things.
- Biyo — Water
- Cunto — Food
- Suuq — Market
- Immisa? — How much?
- Waan rabaa — I want
- Waa qaali — It is expensive
Unit 5
Everyday phrases
Getting by, politely.
- Haa — Yes
- Maya — No
- Fadlan — Please
- Xagee? — Where?
- Ma fahmin — I don't understand
- Raali ahow — Excuse me / forgive me
How to sound right
- Doubled vowels are long and change meaning: 'ma' and 'maa' are different words.
- x is a deep h from the throat, c is a voiced throat sound (ayin), q is a hard k made far back.
- Somali is tonal in a limited way — tone marks gender and number on nouns.
The audio button in lessons uses your device's speech engine, which rarely has a native African voice. Treat it as a rough guide and trust the written pronunciation hints and the coach instead.