Iftiin Learns

As I am learning both Somali and Arabic, I thought I would share some Somali words that are derived from Arabic. This is not an exhaustive list and it is not arranged in any particular order – it’s completely random. You might wonder why so many words used in Somali today have Arabic roots – this is due to Somalia’s geographical closeness to the Middle East, extensive trade links and of course, Islam. The usage of Arabic loan words also varies by region and dialect.

1. Pen

Pen in Somali is qalin, which comes from the Arabic قلم.

2. Teacher

Teacher in Somali can be translated as bare, or the Arabic loanward of معلم, macallin.

3. University

Jamacad comes from the Arabic جامعة. The taa marbouta is replaced by a ‘d’.

4. Gold

Dahab comes from the word ذهب.

5. Capital

If you wanted to talk about the capital city, you can refer to it as the magaalo madax, but I’ve seen caasimad used more commonly, derived from عاصمة.

6. Onion

Basal comes from بصل. The colour pink in Somali is also basali.

7. Chair

Chair is kursi in Somali and in Arabic (كرسي)

8. Air

Air in Somali is hawo, which sounds very similar to هواء.

9. Question

Question can be translated as su’aal, coming from Arabic’s سؤال.

10. Year

Sanad is the Somali word for سنة.

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This is a very simple, basic list and there were tons of other words that I could have included. If you know any more, share them in the comment section down below. Thanks for reading!

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