https://www.pdx.edu/multicultural-topics-communication-sciences-disorders/maay-maay-somali-bantu
"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."
"The letters p, jh, gh, ng and yc are used to represent sounds common in Af Maay are considered. They are also not found in the Af Maxaa alphabet.
P always occurs in the middle of the word and it sounds similar to the 'p' in the English alphabet (e.g., apaal, 'gratitude'; hopoog, 'scarf').
Jh is guttural and sounds like j (e.g., jheer, 'shyness'; jhab, 'fracture').
Th is pronounced as in 'the' in English (e.g., mathal, 'appointment'; etheb, 'politeness').
Gh sounds like the letter 'gain' of the Arabic alphabet (e.g., dhaghar, 'deceive'; shughul, job').
Ng is similar to the sound of 'ing' in English (e.g., angkaar, 'curse'; oong, 'thirst').
Ieh is a common ending on nouns and verbs. However, the letter 'y' is commonly used among Af Maay writers to represent this sound.
- Maghy 'Noun'Misgy 'Sorghum'
- Maaycy 'Ocean'
- Jyny 'Heaven'
- Shyny 'Bee'
- Myfathaaw 'I do not want it'
Yc, a sound found in the word signore, bsogno, and agnello in the Italian language, is also a source of controversy. This sound is universally found in many Asian and African languages and in some Af Maay scripts this sound is represented as either ny or gn.
- Ycaaycuur 'cat'Maaycy 'ocean'
- Ycuuycy 'name of a person'
- Ycisaang 'the youngest'
- Myyceeg 'feeble'"
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The Somali languages:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_languages