Map and classification of the Omo-Tana languages (the language group Somali is in), OC (Revised)

[Mohamedamiin120]

 

[Mohamedamiin120]

Last post had a few errors (not including Dabarre and Tunni).

Potential questions: "What is 'Somali Languages'?" Somali languages are languages with high levels of overlap with Somali (labeled as Standard Somali here), and which was heavily influenced by Somali and in return heavily influences Somali speakers close by- a classic language continuum. "What is Baiso-Jiddu?" I trust the research, idk.

Questions that I have: How did Arbore and Daasnach people's keep their language very pure with little Amharic, Oromo, or Nuer influence even though today they have heavy Nilotic admixure and endured centuries of Ethiopian rule? And how has Daasnach kept features considered to be very very old for an Afroasiatic language which is not even spoken by a people who today are identifiable with the original speakers of it? "What is Baiso-Jiddu?" Well I have zero clue, as the Baiso people are incredibly small. Maybe before the Oromo invasions they were a much larger people and us Somalis enslaved them and brought them to Somalia, then intermingled with Somalis to enter the Somali language continuum.

 

[ZBR]

So Somalia learned Somali after coming to Somalia hmm

 

[Mohamedamiin120]

So Somalia learned Somali after coming to Somalia hmm

Somali was likely developed within Somaliweyn, it’s just that the language group as a whole likely migrated here- with the Omotic people likely being displaced in the process. The main theory is that the ancestors of the Somali, Oromo, Afar, etc etc were likely from Egypt/Sudan (where the Beja of Egypt and Sudan historically/currently are) and slowly migrated south. However this was a very very very very long time ago so there are a lot of ideas.

 

[Barkhadle1520]

How is tunni separate and not sub of somali

 

[Mohamedamiin120]

How is tunni separate and not sub of somali

Linguists say it’s apart of a language continuum with Standard Somali (as in a separate but heavily overlapping language), and not a dialect of Somali (as in a group of ppl speaking Standard Somali deviated slowly over time and that’s why it’s different.)

 

[Barkhadle1520]

Linguists say it’s apart of a language continuum with Standard Somali (as in a separate but heavily overlapping language), and not a dialect of Somali (as in a group of ppl speaking Standard Somali deviated slowly over time and that’s why it’s different.)

Bs

 

[Mohamedamiin120]

Bs

It has it's own sentence structure and phenology, a hallmark for a separate language. Infact my error here was not that I put Tunni under Somali but that I did not put Tunni and Dabarre under 'Tunni-Dabarre' (I did not read hard enough i'm afraid)

 

[Mohamedamiin120]

It has it's own sentence structure and phenology, a hallmark for a separate language. Infact my error here was not that I put Tunni under Somali but that I did not put Tunni and Dabarre under 'Tunni-Dabarre' (I did not read hard enough i'm afraid)

Fixed??? Read extra throughly so this is the last change needed hopfully

 

[Barkhadle1520]

View attachment 364414Fixed??? Read extra throughly so this is the last change needed hopfully

genuinely what is cursing my eyes

 

[Mohamedamiin120]

genuinely what is cursing my eyes

wdym?

 

[Shangani]

aff mahadoonte ? where would it fit

 

[Mohamedamiin120]

aff mahadoonte ? where would it fit

I have zero clue as no books mention it but according to ppl on r/Somalia (scraping the bottom of the barrel here lol) it is possibly a offshoot of Af Maay/Maaxa. (Assuming you are a speaker of the language) you could easily fact check this with a grammar/structure comparison.

Also some random ass German language book says it's related to Garre with like zero proof.

Linguistics is weird...

 

[Shangani]

I have zero clue as no books mention it but according to ppl on r/Somalia (scraping the bottom of the barrel here lol) it is possibly a offshoot of Af Maay/Maaxa. (Assuming you are a speaker of the language) you could easily fact check this with a grammar/structure comparison.

Also some random ass German language book says it's related to Garre with like zero proof.

Linguistics is weird...

no I don't speak it was just curious as a lot of people in shingani and merka speak it its also called of merka.

 

[reer_ugaas_hussein]

aff mahadoonte ? where would it fit

af mahadoonte and benadiri dialects in general are also forms of af maxaa tiri so would just be part of standard somali.

 

[Shangani]

af mahadoonte and benadiri dialects in general are also forms of af maxaa tiri so would just be part of standard somali.

Af mahadoonte isnt maaxa tiri i think its more similar to maay

 

[Zak12]

What is interesting about the Omo-Tana group is that it implies Somalis originated from southern Ethiopia. I generally believe Somalis came from the north yet our language is more related to Oromo than to Afar-Saho.

 

[Idilinaa]

What is interesting about the Omo-Tana group is that it implies Somalis originated from southern Ethiopia. I generally believe Somalis came from the north yet our language is more related to Oromo than to Afar-Saho.

Northern Somali dialects is more similar to Saho and Afar in some ways, because they gained certain sounds/prounciations thats is missing in the southern dialects and Oromo. Which if i recall correctly M.Nuuh attributes to sustained contact with their afro-asiatic speaking red sea neighbors.


But yeah the Omo-Tana Theory is bunk Somalis which also include southerners originated in the northern part.

 

[Idilinaa]

This is how Christopher Ehret divides Oma Tana:

And this is how M Nuuh Ali divides Somali dialects

Some relevant information i shared before:

How Af Maay became diverged from the Northern-Coastal Dialects has to do with ecological seperation created by the two rivers.

Linguist Abdalla Omar Mansuur explained it in his paper: Titled: The linguistic and ethno-cultural homogeneity of Somali people.

Despite the ecological niches there was enough cross migration and contact between sedentary and mobile population resulted in the prescense of common somatic and cultural features.

The ecological separation between riverrine and northern-coastal are usually understood in the sense that they exist as part of two separate branches in the Somali language tree

The text below explains the process of differentiation and split that happened.

Graph from Nuuh Ali
View attachment 356814

Because Northern -Coastal dialect went through more movements, influences and migrations , it had a lot more internal differentiation, borrowing, convergence and innovation that happened to it, whereas the Riverrine dialects remained a lot more static, insulated and therefore retained more archaic(older) features.

Maay and Digil are broadly understood to be two separate speech variations, that form the ''Riverine'' branch but they are quite different from eachother compared to Maxaa Tirii Dialects. They have varying degrees of intelligibility between them.

Maxaa Tiri are broken into different dialects it not just accents. They even have some lexical differences but they are most similar to eachother due to convergence.

The dialects spoken in the central-southern Somali and the coast fall under Af-Maxaa Tiri broadly speaking. In lot of cases they grouped as ''Coastal-Northern''

There is no Hawiye dialect or distinct Benadiri dialect, they are part of the same continuum of dialect clusters.


The map i showed is from Christopher Ehret who is a historical linguist who studies Cushitic languages.

 

[Zak12]

This is how Christopher Ehret divides Oma Tana:
View attachment 376568

And this is how M Nuuh Ali divides Somali dialects
View attachment 376569

Some relevant information i shared before:

IIRC, in regards to Af-Maay, another difference from it and standard Somali comes from Af-Maay retaining archaic Somali/Lowland East Cushitic features as af-Maxa gained some Arabic influence following the spread of Islam.