Is it Possible to get the Somali Lexicon to a Million?

[Jimmy Hopkins]

Contrary to belief the size of the Somali lexicon is actually considered surprisingly large for a language which had no serious orthography until the 20th century. Very Big Language.

But I was wondering if either Reviving Previous Somali Words or creating Somali-Adjacent Words so much so that it reaches a Million.

This may be unrealistic considering the External Factors like Political and Social Change that needs to accompany this Revival for it to work but I was wondering could it be done?

Not just Somali-Adjacent but even extended to Cushitic-Adjacent perhaps.

 

[backgroundISneeded]

Yes, there are movements across the Somali peninsula to revive old vocabulary, and it is definitely possible. One agency that could take the lead is the Intergovernmental Academy of Somali Language (AGA). This organization has been working to promote and preserve the Somali language throughout the peninsula. They actively engage with students, journalists, and governments, offering education and awareness about the language.





You should check out their website and even consider volunteering. They are also very active in the diaspora, particularly in the UK, Sweden, and the USA

 

[Idilinaa]

Yes it is very possible. They actually did some of this in 1970/80s there was a movement to revive a lot of old/archaic Somali words in disuse, via a system of neologism , whereby they would do exactly what you suggested. They would give them a new meaning that was closely aligned with the original one.


Mentioned it a bit before, although i can't really find the paper where this was shared due to the search bar:

Spoke about this being as one of their big achievements in another thread. Under a thread showing Somali dictionaries and texts books in physics, astronomy and mathematics:
Somali astrological, Scientific and Mathematical terms + their 1987 dictionaries

This is considered to be one of the big achievements of the Kacaanka. The use of the native language at all levels and in all contexts was possible since Somali acquired a very large number of technical and scientific terms to be able to express new concepts unfamiliar to the Somali culture.

I read a paper by a Somali linguist in explaining how this was made possible. They adopted a system of neologism − contrary to what Western languages usually do by using Greek and Latin − restoring many archaic Somali terms in disuse.

Those terms, closely related to traditional culture, were given new meanings in some way related to the original one; the result was the creation of a new terminology that was accessible to the majority of the Somali people, at the time still without a high degree of education. In this way the Somali vocabulary was enriched and it became possible to produce immediately many textbooks for all schools from primary to high schools.