What is the Somali term for “currency”? Also, did we have any traditional Somali term for money before adopting the word “Shilling”?

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(a) soojireenka (long-standing, classic), (b) joogdoonka (remain-seeker), (c) baal-midiga (right wing stance), (d) asalraacnimo (follower of the original)

Hello! I am wondering if anyone has heard this type of lullaby before. My grandmother use to sing it as a child for me and I am unsure if she made it up or if it was common lullaby. My mother and other family members do not know and haven’t heard of it. It goes hotoonay hotoonay huwaa hooyoada ma joogto. She would sing some variation of that and the other common one huwaya huwaya but would start with “hotoonay hotoonay” typically. But I would love to know if anyone knows of it and has heard of it or if it was just a lullaby she made up. Apologies for any mistakes in spelling as I am unsure of it.

(a) dhantaalidda, (b) damiinimada, (c) cillada fiirashada agnaanta, (d) ootisam. The last one is obviously a loan from English. But, that means four words, all of them meaning autism in Somali.

Which of the above options do you prefer?

the word caadi is more broad and is used in the sense of something being normal in abroad sense. The words mainstream and conventional are more specifically associated with society. As such, are there any Somali words specifically translatable from the sociaetal sense of convenional / mainstream?

How is the word balse pronounced? I know it means but but I'm not sure on how to say it.

Do you just pronounce it as it is written, like ''bal-se''?

If anyone's interested in asking me questions about English words they haven't found in Somali. I'm more than welcome and happy to assist them. I may not know every word. But for the past two years I've been building a mental repository of Somali words and their purported English counterparts. The words can just be random or ones that have been stumping you for a while.

If you're a Somali in the West who struggles to speak the language, this is for you.

1. Go through a comprehensive textbook, like Zorc and Issa's Somali Textbook. If you can't afford it, there are ways to find it online.

2. Whilst doing this, read / watch as much Somali as you can. I recommend YouTube for listening, and BBC Somali for reading. You can't be picky with topics as Somali isn't a language where there's a wealth of resources, but I like watching channels like Geedi Sahan (travel), Hanoolaato (politics). Find something you can bear.

3. Make flashcards where you jot down words you don't recognise. You can make them by hand, or you can use Anki. The nice thing is that Somali is by and large written phonetically, there's no 'knight / night' business here. You'll need a good dictionary for this: u/ereyada has a good guide on that, but you can also ask your parents, which brings me onto the next point:

4. Ask your parents to correct any mistakes you make, and don't use English if you can help it. You have access to an invaluable resource: a native speaker. I recommend holding off on speaking until you can understand 95-99% of what's being said to you, which will happen if you follow the first 3 steps for a while.

My Somali has improved significantly through following the first 3 steps, particularly step 2 and 3. You need input, you simply don't have as much exposure to the language as you think. Listen to as much Somali as you can, read as much Somali as you can. If you're the child of Somalis, you already have much of the intuitive aspects of the language encoded in you. You just need exposure to the language.

How much Somali should I listen to each day?

The more, the better. I've been aiming for 3+ hours every single day. We don't all have loads of time to dedicate to this, and I don't know everyone's situation. But the more you input, the faster you'll improve.

Notice how I didn't talk much about speaking. That's because speaking will come naturally as a consequence of steps 2 and 3. You'll find that you're able to talk more, converse in an increasingly fluent manner. But you need that exposure to the language first, particuarly in contexts outside of your household life.

Any questions, just ask.

Hi i come from a somali and danish family and I already know danish so if anyone could come with preferably a app that would be great!

Quusta iyo guuldarada maxa mataaneyay ?

How do I say we need to have boundaries in Somali ?

Is there a word for winter in Somali? I’ve been thinking about this for a long time or what seasons do we have in the Somali language

Although I'm Somali, I have very little knowledge of the language itself. I can't post this on  because my account is too new either. So I was wondering if anyone on this sub could give me tips on the best ways to become a fluent Somali speaker?

Hello!

I'm a new student in a Somali language class. We have an assignment for a presentation on the Somali language. One part is to interview a native speaker. But I'm not sure what questions to ask them.

Does anyone have some ideas for questions that would make sense to ask someone who doesn't have a PHD in Somali language & also aren't super personal?

Thank you!

I was doing some research and saw that castor is native to North Eastern Africa, particularly Somalia and Ethiopia. I tried to search for the name in somali but all I got was "dhirta castor" or "balanbaal", which is apparently a town in Toghdeer and a well in Mudug? Any help would be appreciated.

How can I know which possessive pronoun to use when combining locative nouns?

https://preview.redd.it/vs7uoxwuzgrd1.png?width=502&format=png&auto=webp&s=54cac916aa2bd1698b34502904a50cad4ac8435a

For example: are hortiisa and horteeda able to be used interchangeably? Also, is there any reason why some locative nouns use -diisa/-deeda (his/her) as opposed to -dooda (their)?

People keep saying ‘Qof duaaysan wa tahay’.

I’m familiar enough to know duaaysan has to do with dua, supplication, and it’s being directed at me.

But I still don’t fully grasp the meaning.

Salaam guys, how is it decided that a noun is masculine or feminine. For example, the definite noun for ‘miis’ is ‘miiska’, (masc) however, the definite noun for ‘sariir’ is ‘sariirta’ (fem). If anyone could explain with examples it would be much appreciated. :)

I recently learned about filmot.com and wanted to share with you guys. It's basically a search engine for YouTube captions.

https://preview.redd.it/bu3p08d13fqd1.png?width=1437&format=png&auto=webp&s=4155f98e5c656be6a88ef839f1f3a89386e5fd10

Just type a word and select manual subtitles. There are a ton of Somali videos about different topics on there.

https://preview.redd.it/h2h0g4493fqd1.png?width=1440&format=png&auto=webp&s=18a4875ab3ea295a9e5f5ab63edcdbaf23085d7a

If any of you guys are in need of more listening and reading practice, I hope this is helpful to you! :)

I understand that they both relate to the concept of "having" but I read that hay = hold, keep, have while hayso = have, possess but these definitions aren't helping me to distinguish when they would be used.

Could someone give a few examples of when you would use one vs. the other?

https://preview.redd.it/0uh27u5p90qd1.png?width=557&format=png&auto=webp&s=5c6a2436b67bd6b3e4c849a0ca40ae36188a2966

I have three questions from this page, if anyone could help I would be very grateful. :)

1. Am I able to combine the 1pl excl. and 3pl pronouns with haddii? I only ask because it wasn't shown in any sentence examples. Below I will provide what it would look like.

Haddii + aannu (we, excl.) = haddaannu

Haddii + ay (they) = hadday

2 & 3.

Haddii lacag la i siin lahaa, beer baan lahaan lahaa.

Why is the bolded form of "lahow" necessary? Also, what does "la" mean in this sentence?

Thank you!

Do the "-u" and "-oo" endings on emphatic pronouns (aniga, adiga, isaga, etc.) mean the same thing? If not, what do they mean?