I wonder what Somali sounded in 1000 AD

Apollo

VIP
Probably with fewer loanwords, but mostly the same. Somali is a conservative language, how else could pre-colonial Djiboutian Somali dialect and what is spoken in Kismayo still be quite similar?
 
Probably with fewer loanwords, but mostly the same. Somali is a conservative language, how else could pre-colonial Djiboutian Somali dialect and what is spoken in Kismayo still be quite similar?

Its very strange that languages evolved rapidly overtime especially in the last millennium, its due to wars and trades, we had alot of words that was lost and replaced by loanwords. Maybe there was proto cushatic language that sounds like maay maay, Rindhale and anfar could be part of the proto Somali language
 

TekNiKo

“I am an empathic and emotionally-aware person.
VIP
I doubt you would understand Somali even a century back due to the amount of foreign of foreign loan words we have absorbed over the century
 
Assuming youre talking about Soomaali-MaxaaTidhi, not Soomaali-MaayTidhi, I dont think it was very different. 1000 years ago. Maay on the other hand...

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It would be interesting to see much afMaay converged with afMaxaa in the last 100 years and how much closer or further the 2 languages were 1000 years ago.
 

RedStar

The Bad Ali of Jigjiga
VIP
Probably with fewer loanwords, but mostly the same. Somali is a conservative language, how else could pre-colonial Djiboutian Somali dialect and what is spoken in Kismayo still be quite similar?

Blame the Somali governments between 1960-80. They made the northern dialect the standard and marginalised many local ones. The few distinct dialects found in the riverine regions today are all dying out.
 
Blame the Somali governments between 1960-80. They made the northern dialect the standard and marginalised many local ones. The few distinct dialects found in the riverine regions today are all dying out.
The Somali of Xamar should be the standard as that's the dialect, why are we looking to Hargeisa for the standard.

Also Somali needs to be STANDARDIZED and FAST, we need to standardize the orthography and spelling of words, as well as the grammar. And Somalia needs it's own language academy like the French or Spanish.

I've seen BBC Somali articles where the word is spelled one way in one of the articles and another way in the other. Truly embarassing.
 
I wish I could hear Somali before it was influenced by Arabic
Me too
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RedStar

The Bad Ali of Jigjiga
VIP
The Somali of Xamar should be the standard as that's the dialect, why are we looking to Hargeisa for the standard.

Also Somali needs to be STANDARDIZED and FAST, we need to standardize the orthography and spelling of words, as well as the grammar. And Somalia needs it's own language academy like the French or Spanish.

I've seen BBC Somali articles where the word is spelled one way in one of the articles and another way in the other. Truly embarassing.

it is already standardised. If you read old textbooks or listen to old radio broadcasts, you’ll notice quite quickly that it’s the northern dialect that’s being used. The discrepancies you’re seeing on news articles is mainly down to sheer incompetency on the part of the news outlets. I don’t think they even have senior editors, they just let people post whatever.

I’d rather we incorporate all Somali dialects tbh. Our language is rich and deserves the full breadth of the available vocabulary
 
like @RedStar said, AfMaxaaTidhi language is standardized. 3 out of the original 5 Somaaliweyn states use the standard pronunciation. The outliers are the former Somaaliya Itaaliyana and NFD. They have AfMaay Tedhe language and other tongues spoken around the Juba/Shabelle rivers. The AfMaxaaTidhi language is spoken in Mudug to Benaadir and Basso Giuba but they do not use the standard pronunciation used in Djibout, JSL, and DDS.

I dont think it would be right for DDS, JSL, and Djibouti impose standard AfMaxaaTidhi pronunciation on Somalia italiana regions like Mudug. Even worse would be if those 3 standard MaxaaTidhi speakers impose on communities that speak totally different languages like Barwaani, Af Maay, or Gosha

Let Mudug say gogol-xaar and Djibout/DDS/JSL can say gogol-xaad, the Maay/Barwaani/Gosha speakers can use their own language

Lakum lughtukum wa liya lughati

The Somali of Xamar should be the standard as that's the dialect, why are we looking to Hargeisa for the standard.

Also Somali needs to be STANDARDIZED and FAST, we need to standardize the orthography and spelling of words, as well as the grammar. And Somalia needs it's own language academy like the French or Spanish.

I've seen BBC Somali articles where the word is spelled one way in one of the articles and another way in the other. Truly embarassing.
it is already standardised. If you read old textbooks or listen to old radio broadcasts, you’ll notice quite quickly that it’s the northern dialect that’s being used. The discrepancies you’re seeing on news articles is mainly down to sheer incompetency on the part of the news outlets. I don’t think they even have senior editors, they just let people post whatever.

I’d rather we incorporate all Somali dialects tbh. Our language is rich and deserves the full breadth of the available vocabulary
 
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alien

📍outer space
VIP
The Somali of Xamar should be the standard as that's the dialect, why are we looking to Hargeisa for the standard.

Also Somali needs to be STANDARDIZED and FAST, we need to standardize the orthography and spelling of words, as well as the grammar. And Somalia needs it's own language academy like the French or Spanish.

I've seen BBC Somali articles where the word is spelled one way in one of the articles and another way in the other. Truly embarassing.
Mudug dialect should be standard. it tends to have the least loanwords while also can be understood by most
 

exposedmeat

i do it anyway i like
The Somali of Xamar should be the standard as that's the dialect, why are we looking to Hargeisa for the standard.

Also Somali needs to be STANDARDIZED and FAST, we need to standardize the orthography and spelling of words, as well as the grammar. And Somalia needs it's own language academy like the French or Spanish.

I've seen BBC Somali articles where the word is spelled one way in one of the articles and another way in the other. Truly embarassing.
cuz waqooyi has poetry's and uses the correct af somali dialect, ain't speaking no af xamar more like swahil + arabic + af somali :mjlol:
 
cuz waqooyi has poetry's and uses the correct af somali dialect, ain't speaking no af xamar more like swahil + arabic + af somali :mjlol:
Tbh I changed my mind.

Af Xamar is the funniest dialect but it shouldn't be the standard.

The standard should be Mudug, incredibly neutral and can be understood by almost all Somalis.

Waqooyi is good for poetry but yeah.
 

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