| Language name: | SOMALI |
| UPSID number: | 4358 |
| Alternate name(s): | |
| Classification: | Afro-Asiatic, Cushitic |
| This language has | 32 segments |
| Its Frequency index is | 0.362111973 (average percentage of segments; 0.1: many very rare segments; 0.39: average; 0.7: many common segments) |
| The language has these sounds: | b tDh dD d.* kh g G tS f s S x H 9 m n l r[ ? h i I "e E aa U+ "@) a U O j w |
| Comment: | All vowels may appear long and short. Long rounded vowels are not centralized and long /I/ is indistinguishable from long /i/. There is vowel harmony, possibly based on pharyngeal cavity size (Farnetani, 1981). |
| Source(s): | Andrzejewsky, B.W. 1955. The problem of vowel representation in the Isaaq dialect of Somali. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 17: 567-80. Andrzejewsky, B.W. 1956. Accentual patterns in verbal forms in the Isaaq dialect of Somali. School of Oriental and African Studies 18: 103-129. Armstrong, L.E. 1964. The phonetic structure of Somali. Mitteilungen des Seminars fur Orientalische Sprachen (Berlin) 37/3: 116-61. Cardona, G.R. 1981. Profilo fonologico del somalo. In G.R. Cardona and F. Agostini (eds.), Studi Somali I: Fonologia e Lessico. Ministero degli affari esteri - Dipartmento per la cooperazione allo sviluppo; Comitato tecnico linguistico per l'universita nazionale somala. Farnetani, E. 1981. Dai tratti ai parametri: introduzione all'analisi strumentale della lingua somala. In G.R. Cardona and F. Agostini (eds.), Studi Somali I: Fonologia e Lessico. Ministero degli affari esteri - Dipartmento per la cooperazione allo sviluppo; Comitato tecnico linguistico per l'universita nazionale somala. |