Is KH in Somali borrowed from Arabic or indigenous

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Some sounds of Somali words were made as a justification for our membership of the Arab League. Words like kh, q—X—dh— C. No language, culture or physical appearance, but only only 4 words. How is that?
 

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Some sounds of Somali words were made as a justification for our membership of the Arab League. Words like kh, q—X—dh— C. No language, culture or physical appearance, but only only 4 words. How is that?

At this point our language sounds more semetic than cushitic.
 
The man drank too much alcohol the night before and so he drank coffee in the morning . After work , he checked his temperature - it was average , so he sat on the sofa for a bit and then went to sleep on the mattress . He felt like going to a doctor or better going on a Safari holiday .


All of the words in bold are likely to be of Semitic or Arabic origin. Arabic loan words are common in Spanish , English and many other languages .( Read :Islam , trade , Arab-led Empire ).

Obviously , since the Somalis are Muslim people in close promixity to the Arabian peninsula and there is a history of Arab settlements in Somalia , it is only natural for us to have loan words from their language . This is the same for many other languages in Asia and Africa . Ask a Sikh man for a Kursi and say it is Khalas and he will think you know Punjabi .

Does that mean Somali is corrupted Arabic or similar to Arabic ? Absolutely not ! English probably has more French words than Somali has Arabic yet English is still , by way of genetic history , word formation and grammatical structure , a Germanic language . The structure of Somali is purely Cushitic and only a minority of our words are of Arabic origin . More often than not , there is an equivalent Somali word for many of the Arabic loan words we use . Swahili has many Arabic loan words but it is still a Bantu language .

Mind you , people often
Forget that fact that the Arabic language itself Contains many words from Persian , Ancient Phoenician , Hebrew , Aramaic and so forth . Many words which we consider to be of Arabic origin are likely to have been loaned from the aforementioned languages . I suspect the word coffee could well be refer to the Ethiopian Kingdom of Kaffa or has been derived from some language in the Horn .

Likewise , some of the Arabic sounding words used in parts of Ethiopia and the Horn were most likely loaned from Geez or from the Semetic languages spoken in Ethiopia and Eritrea . There are two points of Semetic language influence in the Horn .

As for the topic , it is interesting that many Cushitic Somali words beginning with X( Xadhig, for example )can be found but the vast majority of Kh sounds are clearly Arabic loan words . It is also interesting to note how some Somalis struggle with the Kh sound and at times Substitute it with the Q sound ( as in Sheeq) .

I am starting to think that original Somali had the X and Q sound and not the Kh sound . Maybe the Kh sound was introduced when Somalis made heavy contact with Arabic speakers and had to use Kh to read Quran . The only problem with that theory is the South had more Arab influence than the North. Perhaps it has to do with the Souths proximity to Af Maay speakers ?

@Young Popeye ,

Do you know if Kh sound was used in original Oromo and other Cushitic languages ? Are there Cushitic language from which these sounds are absent ?

@Grant , how about Af Maay and other minority languages in the South ?

# Suugo linguistics.
 
The man drank too much alcohol the night before and so he drank coffee in the morning . After work , he checked his temperature - it was average , so he sat on the sofa for a bit and then went to sleep on the mattress . He felt like going to a doctor or better going on a Safari holiday .


All of the words in bold are likely to be of Semitic or Arabic origin. Arabic loan words are common in Spanish , English and many other languages .( Read :Islam , trade , Arab-led Empire ).

Obviously , since the Somalis are Muslim people in close promixity to the Arabian peninsula and there is a history of Arab settlements in Somalia , it is only natural for us to have loan words from their language . This is the same for many other languages in Asia and Africa . Ask a Sikh man for a Kursi and say it is Khalas and he will think you know Punjabi .

Does that mean Somali is corrupted Arabic or similar to Arabic ? Absolutely not ! English probably has more French words than Somali has Arabic yet English is still , by way of genetic history , word formation and grammatical structure , a Germanic language . The structure of Somali is purely Cushitic and only a minority of our words are of Arabic origin . More often than not , there is an equivalent Somali word for many of the Arabic loan words we use . Swahili has many Arabic loan words but it is still a Bantu language .

Mind you , people often
Forget that fact that the Arabic language itself Contains many words from Persian , Ancient Phoenician , Hebrew , Aramaic and so forth . Many words which we consider to be of Arabic origin are likely to have been loaned from the aforementioned languages . I suspect the word coffee could well be refer to the Ethiopian Kingdom of Kaffa or has been derived from some language in the Horn .

Likewise , some of the Arabic sounding words used in parts of Ethiopia and the Horn were most likely loaned from Geez or from the Semetic languages spoken in Ethiopia and Eritrea . There are two points of Semetic language influence in the Horn .

As for the topic , it is interesting that many Cushitic Somali words beginning with X( Xadhig, for example )can be found but the vast majority of Kh sounds are clearly Arabic loan words . It is also interesting to note how some Somalis struggle with the Kh sound and at times Substitute it with the Q sound ( as in Sheeq) .

I am starting to think that original Somali had the X and Q sound and not the Kh sound . Maybe the Kh sound was introduced when Somalis made heavy contact with Arabic speakers and had to use Kh to read Quran . The only problem with that theory is the South had more Arab influence than the North. Perhaps it has to do with the Souths proximity to Af Maay speakers ?

@Young Popeye ,

Do you know if Kh sound was used in original Oromo and other Cushitic languages ? Are there Cushitic language from which these sounds are absent ?

@Grant , how about Af Maay and other minority languages in the South ?

# Suugo linguistics.

No kh.

https://www.pdx.edu/multicultural-topics-communication-sciences-disorders/maay-maay-somali-bantu

The Af Maay Dialect
Af Maay uses the Roman alphabet with minor modifications to accommodate unique pronunciations. Since it has only recently been codified, the written language is very much a work in progress, with variations quite common. Like Af Maxaa, the Af Maay grammar is not well documented although the use of proper grammar is very important in both.

Af Maay consists of 24 consonants and five vowels:

Consonants: b p t j jh d th r s sh dh g gh f q k l m n ng ny w h y

Vowels: a e i o u, pronounced aa ee ii oo uu

It is necessary to bear in mind that, unlike the Af Maxaa language, Af Maay has no pharyngeal or glottal sound such as ha (xa) and 'a (ca). In the Af Maay alphabet, only consonants such as 'r' and 'l' are doubled within some words (e.g., arring, 'matter,' illing, 'kernel').

The letters b, d, g and n are pronounced more distinctly by pronouncing them with more force when they are not at the beginning of a word. However, they are not doubled (i.e bb, dd, gg, and nn) within a word as is common in Af Maxaa. Instead, the letters p, th, gh and ng respectively are used in their place when emphasis is required. These sounds are unique to Af-Maay. There are no letters to represent these distinct sounds in Af Maxaa. Note how the following words are pronounced.

  • Barbaar 'youth'Heped 'chest'
  • Derdaar 'advice'
  • Mathal 'appointment'
  • Legding 'wrestling'
  • Saghaal 'nine'
  • Tinaar 'oven'
  • Ungbeer 'dress'
The letters p, jh, gh, ng and yc are used to represent sounds common in Af Maay are considered. They are also not found in the Af Maxaa alphabet.

P always occurs in the middle of the word and it sounds similar to the 'p' in the English alphabet (e.g., apaal, 'gratitude'; hopoog, 'scarf').

Jh is guttural and sounds like j (e.g., jheer, 'shyness'; jhab, 'fracture').

Th is pronounced as in 'the' in English (e.g., mathal, 'appointment'; etheb, 'politeness').

Gh sounds like the letter 'gain' of the Arabic alphabet (e.g., dhaghar, 'deceive'; shughul, job').

Ng is similar to the sound of 'ing' in English (e.g., angkaar, 'curse'; oong, 'thirst').

Ieh is a common ending on nouns and verbs. However, the letter 'y' is commonly used among Af Maay writers to represent this sound.

  • Maghy 'Noun'Misgy 'Sorghum'
  • Maaycy 'Ocean'
  • Jyny 'Heaven'
  • Shyny 'Bee'
  • Myfathaaw 'I do not want it'
Yc, a sound found in the word signore, bsogno, and agnello in the Italian language, is also a source of controversy. This sound is universally found in many Asian and African languages and in some Af Maay scripts this sound is represented as either ny or gn.

  • Ycaaycuur 'cat'Maaycy 'ocean'
  • Ycuuycy 'name of a person'
  • Ycisaang 'the youngest'
  • Myyceeg 'feeble'
 
At this point our language sounds more semetic than cushitic.

:kodaksmiley:Stop begging. Somali literally sounds nothing like semitic. Only ignrant cadaans think it sounds like arabic. English has more french/latin loanwords than Somali has arabic. Our language is very Cushitic, probably the most pure.
 

Apollo

VIP
Ps. Southern Somali have difficulties pronouncing KH and change it into Q . This generally doesn't happen in the North .

The KH sounds is what made Dutch and German so ugly to most people. It uglifies a language.

Beautiful languages like Italian lack it.
 
All Arabic loan words . I thought Khalkhal might be an original Cushitic word , but even that is an originally Arabic word . Khaatumo has an Arabic origin too .

Khasab ?

Ps. Southern Somali have difficulties pronouncing KH and change it into Q . This generally doesn't happen in the North .

Khasab/Qasab is from arabic غصب from which اغتصاب = rape is derived
 
The man drank too much alcohol the night before and so he drank coffee in the morning . After work , he checked his temperature - it was average , so he sat on the sofa for a bit and then went to sleep on the mattress . He felt like going to a doctor or better going on a Safari holiday .


All of the words in bold are likely to be of Semitic or Arabic origin. Arabic loan words are common in Spanish , English and many other languages .( Read :Islam , trade , Arab-led Empire ).

Obviously , since the Somalis are Muslim people in close promixity to the Arabian peninsula and there is a history of Arab settlements in Somalia , it is only natural for us to have loan words from their language . This is the same for many other languages in Asia and Africa . Ask a Sikh man for a Kursi and say it is Khalas and he will think you know Punjabi .

Does that mean Somali is corrupted Arabic or similar to Arabic ? Absolutely not ! English probably has more French words than Somali has Arabic yet English is still , by way of genetic history , word formation and grammatical structure , a Germanic language . The structure of Somali is purely Cushitic and only a minority of our words are of Arabic origin . More often than not , there is an equivalent Somali word for many of the Arabic loan words we use . Swahili has many Arabic loan words but it is still a Bantu language .

Mind you , people often
Forget that fact that the Arabic language itself Contains many words from Persian , Ancient Phoenician , Hebrew , Aramaic and so forth . Many words which we consider to be of Arabic origin are likely to have been loaned from the aforementioned languages . I suspect the word coffee could well be refer to the Ethiopian Kingdom of Kaffa or has been derived from some language in the Horn .

Likewise , some of the Arabic sounding words used in parts of Ethiopia and the Horn were most likely loaned from Geez or from the Semetic languages spoken in Ethiopia and Eritrea . There are two points of Semetic language influence in the Horn .

As for the topic , it is interesting that many Cushitic Somali words beginning with X( Xadhig, for example )can be found but the vast majority of Kh sounds are clearly Arabic loan words . It is also interesting to note how some Somalis struggle with the Kh sound and at times Substitute it with the Q sound ( as in Sheeq) .

I am starting to think that original Somali had the X and Q sound and not the Kh sound . Maybe the Kh sound was introduced when Somalis made heavy contact with Arabic speakers and had to use Kh to read Quran . The only problem with that theory is the South had more Arab influence than the North. Perhaps it has to do with the Souths proximity to Af Maay speakers ?

@Young Popeye ,

Do you know if Kh sound was used in original Oromo and other Cushitic languages ? Are there Cushitic language from which these sounds are absent ?

@Grant , how about Af Maay and other minority languages in the South ?

# Suugo linguistics.
Its not in oromo, i dont know about the other cushitic languages
 

xisaabiye

Ibnu Suxuufi Ibnu Al Dhoobe
Alot of words with kh are arabic loan words, these three are the only ones I know aren't from arabi

Bakhti, markhaati, khuuro
 
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