Somali Translation Services

The Somali language is a member of the Cushitic languages. It is spoken mostly in Somalia and adjacent parts of Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Kenya, but speakers are found all over the world because of the civil war. The exact number of speakers is unknown because of the war and migration but is estimated to have 15 to 25 million speakers. Somali is an Afro-Asiatic language, of the Cushitic branch. It is most closely related to the Afar language and Oromo language. It is distantly related to the Arabic language and other Semitic languages. Somali has been heavily influenced by Arabic, as a large number of words have been borrowed from Arabic since the arrival of Islam. It has also borrowed words from English and Italian from colonial times.

It is spoken mostly in Somalia, eastern Ethiopia, and Djibouti, but speakers are found all over the world because of the Somali civil war. It has between 15 to 25 million speakers.

Somali is also spoken by Somali communities all over the world, including, but not limited to, the Middle East, Europe, North America and Australia.

Somali is an official language in Somalia. While not official, Somali is also important in Djibouti, Ethiopia , and Kenya.

SOMALI
The Somali language has distinct regional variants. The two main variants are Af Maay (pronounced af my) and Af Maxaa (roughly pronounced af mahaa). Both are Cushitic, with virtually all Somalis speaking at least one of these languages. Af Maay, also know as Maay Maay, serves as the lingua franca in southern Somalia as an agropastoral language while Af Maxaa is spoken throughout the rest of Somalia and in neighboring countries, including Kenya, where the refugee camps are located.

Both languages served as official languages until 1972 when the government determined that Af Maxaa would be the official written language in Somalia. This decision further isolated and hindered southerners, including the Bantu, from participating in mainstream Somali politics, government services, and education. Af Maay and Af Maxaa share some similarities in their written form but are different enough in their spoken forms as to be mutually unintelligible.

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Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.