Somali phrasebook

Somali is the official language of the Eastern African country Somalia.

Pronunciation Guide

Vowels

a 

as in pat if short (a) but as in father if long (aa)

e 

as in pet if short (e) but as in paid if long (ee)

i 

as in sit if short (i) but as in seat if long (ii)

o 

as in cot if short (o) but as in coat if long (oo)

u 

as in put if short (u) but as in shoot if long (uu)

Note that the general difference in length of vowels is important because otherwise words could get mixed up and it could end up in great confusion.

Consonants

b 

as in box

d 

as in dog

g 

as in get

h 

as in hat

j 

as in jet

k 

as in kick

l 

as in let

m 

as in mat

n 

as in net

r 

rolled as in the French rouge

s 

as in sit

sh 

as in shut

t 

as in ten

w 

as in well

y 

as in yet

Note that the 'doubling' of consonants is also very important not to get confused. A doubled consonant is pronounced in both syllables whereas a single consonant is pronounced in one syllable.

Also note the following complicated pronunciations.

dh 

Can be viewed as flapped d or r depending on the speaker - either way you'll get it right. Set your mouth to pronounce as normal d or r, but then curl your tongue right up so that the bottom touches the top part of your mouth. As you try you'll fell your tongue flapping forward.

x 

It's more of an emphantic version of h. Take the exhaling sound you make when you've just burnt your mouth after taking a sip of boiling hot soup, push it right back into the very back of your mouth, making sure your tongue also goes back and that should be a good approximation.

c 

If you follow the same pronunciation rules for x, with the tongue and back of the mouth all pressed up against the back of the throat then simply change the hiss of the h to a sound using your vocal cords. If you're then sounding if you being choked then that's it. Hint: Think of c as a vowel modifier and if listening to a natie speaker, note how it changes thevowel in its vicinity 'pharyngealized' the vowel, sending half the sound up the nose.

q 

It's pronounced like a k but right back in the mouth at the throat end, in the same area as c and x. Imagine you've got a marble in the back of the throat and that you're bouncing it using only the glottis and make a k sound at the same time.

kh 

It's the rasping ch in Scottish loch and German ach. It's also pronounced like the Spanish jota.

' 

It's what's called the glottal stop. You simply close the glottis at the very back of the mouth/top of throat, and then release the built-up air. The result is a light uh sound with a very slight grunt just before it. Althought it's not written, it occurs in the conversational speech of nearly all English speakers, being most noticeable in the pronunciation of words like bottle as 'bo'el' by many Londoners

Phrase List

Basics

Hello. 

iska warran (is-KA w-AR-an)

Hello. (informal) 

haloow (hah-LO-wh)

How are you? 

sideed tahay? (se-DEH ta-HAIY)

Fine, thanks, and you? 

waan wanaagsan ahay, mahadsanid, adigana? (WAN wanah-SEN a-hi maha-SEN-id a-deh-gan-A?)

What is your name? 

 ? ( ?)

My name is ______ . 

magacaygu waa ___ (MAHGA-ay-goo w-aahh _____ .)

Nice to meet you. 

. ( )

Please. 

fadlan (FAHD-lahn)

Thank you. 

mahad sanid (me-HAD SEN-eed)

You're welcome. 

. ( )

Yes. 

waa yahay (w-AH Ya-hehy) or haa (HAAH)

No. 

maya (m-AY-ah)

Excuse me. (getting attention) 

iga raali ahow ( )

Excuse me. (begging pardon) 

. ( )

I'm sorry. 

. ( )

Goodbye 

nabad galyo (na-bad GEHL-you)

Goodbye (informal) 

. ( )

I can't speak name of language [well]. 

[ ]. ( [ ])

Do you speak English? 

 ? ( ?)

Is there someone here who speaks English? 

 ? ( ?)

Help! 

 ! ( !)

Look out! 

 ! ( !)

Good morning. 

subax wanaagsan (sohb-AH wan-ax-sen)

Good afternoon 

Galab wanaagsan

Good evening. 

Good night. 

habeen wanaagsan (ha-BEAN wan-ax-sen)

Good night (to sleep) 

. ( )

I don't understand. 

. ( )

Where is the toilet? 

 ? ( ?)

Authority

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