How close are Somalis and oromos?

[johnsepei5]

A lot of linguistic similarity

 

[Northern Swordsman]

Actually not that close. We share words because we're the same language family but genetically they're more similar to habeshas (western oromos) and borana are more similar to us. They also got Omotic admixture which we lack.

 

[backgroundISneeded]

A lot of linguistic similarity

• The grammars of Oromo and Somali are closely related. It is possible to observe certain shared sets of grammar and understand how they diverged over time.
• Gender pluralism is present.
• Many vocabulary in both languages has origins in the Cushitic language family.
• The languages retain cultural norms from ancient cultures. Sometimes, you may come across extinct Somali cultures, but their phrases and words are preserved in the Somali language. Interestingly, these words are also used by the Oromo, along with additional vocabulary.
• Many names for family members have the same origin, although their meanings have evolved. For instance, "aayo" means "stepmother" in Somali, while it has a different meaning in Oromo.
• Numbers in all Cushitic languages exhibit similarities.
• Animal names are shared.
• Cultural clothing, weapons, dances, and family structures have common names across both languages

 

[Sheikh Kulkuli]

A lot of linguistic similarity

Not close the "oromos" that are close to somalis are those that were oromised durning the great oromo expansion.

 

[TheLastWaryaa]

Quite close. However, with different influences over time, they went further apart.
I am sure about 600 years ago, Oromo and Somali would be nearly identical, but since Somali received a lot of Arabic and Italian and Oromo received Amharic, they have drifted apart.

 

[Nin123]

A lot of linguistic similarity

 

[NidarNidar]

Quite close. However, with different influences over time, they went further apart.
I am sure about 600 years ago, Oromo and Somali would be nearly identical, but since Somali received a lot of Arabic and Italian and Oromo received Amharic, they have drifted apart.

We would have diverged a lot earlier, with significant differences as early as 2,000 years ago, you can even go as far as we started to start split off as early as camel domestication in the horn, a lot of settlements and trade ports around the coast, close ties would have continued due to pastoralist way of life, and permanent settlements on the coast.

This would allow extra income for those that travel from the interior and close proximity of early Somali to Oromo who are primarily farmers would have allowed trade and cultural exchange, which would have reduced genetic/culture drift.

Actually not that close. We share words because we're the same language family but genetically they're more similar to habeshas (western oromos) and borana are more similar to us. They also got Omotic admixture which we lack.

We also have omotic admixture just to lesser extent.

 

[Eyes-of-Ibad]

Actually not that close. We share words because we're the same language family but genetically they're more similar to habeshas (western oromos) and borana are more similar to us. They also got Omotic admixture which we lack.

Oromos aren’t as bottle-necked as Somalis. Highland Oromos are more related to Habesha, but Hararghe Eastern Oromos are closest to Somalis. Boranas have a higher omotic admixture than Hararghe Oromos.

 

[johnsepei5]

We would have diverged a lot earlier, with significant differences as early as 2,000 years ago, you can even go as far as we started to start split off as early as camel domestication in the horn, a lot of settlements and trade ports around the coast, close ties would have continued due to pastoralist way of life, and permanent settlements on the coast.

This would allow extra income for those that travel from the interior and close proximity of early Somali to Oromo who are primarily farmers would have allowed trade and cultural exchange, which would have reduced genetic/culture drift.


We also have omotic admixture just to lesser extent.

Somalis have no omotic admixture whatsoever

 

[Northern Swordsman]

We also have omotic admixture just to lesser extent.

This is nonsense, there's never been any omotic admixtures observed amongst somalis.