Somali Corpus
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Somali Corpus
Somali literature is the literature used by the ethnic Somalis of Somalia, Somaliland, Djibouti, Yemen, Eritrea, Ogadenia, and Kenya. Somali poetry Nation of Bards Due to the Somali people's passionate love for and facility with poetry, Somalia has also been called by, among others, the Canada, Canadian novelist and scholar Margaret Laurence, a "Nation of Poets" and a "Nation of Bards". The 19th-century British explorer Richard Francis Burton, who visited the Somali Peninsula, similarly recounts in his book ''First Footsteps in East Africa'' how: According to Canadian novelist and scholar Margaret Laurence, who originally coined the term "Nation of Poets" to describe the Somali Peninsular, the Eidagale sub-section of the Garhajis clan were viewed as "the recognized experts in the composition of poetry" by their fellow Somali contemporaries: Structure Somali poetry features obligatory alliteration, similar in some respects to the requirements of Germanic alliterative verse. ...
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Garhajis
The Habr Garhajis also contemporarily known as the Garhajis (, , Full Nasab: ''Ismā'īl al Qadhi ibn ash-Shaykh Isḥāq ibn Aḥmad'') is a major Northern Somali clan of the wider Isaaq clan family. They are the traditional holders of the Isaaq Sultanate and Habr Yunis Sultanate since the 18th century. As descendants of Ismail bin Sheikh Isaaq, its members form a part of the Habar Magaadle confederation, and they constitute one of the largest sub-clans of the Isaaq. The Garhajis are divided into two major sub-clans: the Habr Yunis (''Sa'īd Ismail'') and Eidagale (''Da'ud Isma'īl''). They are traditionally nomadic pastoralists, merchants and skilled poets. Distribution The Garhajis inhabit the western Togdheer, southern and eastern Maroodi Jeex, southern Sahil, northern Sool and central Sanaag regions of Somaliland. As well as inhabiting the Degehbur, Wardheer and Aware zones in the Haud region of Ethiopia, they also have a large settlement in Kenya where the ...
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Balwo
Balwo is a style of music and poetry practiced in Somalia as well as Djibouti. Its lyrical contents often deal with love and passion. The Balwo genre was founded by Abdi Sinimo. Origins The Balwo genre was founded by Abdi Sinimo, a Somali of the Reer Nuur subclan of the Gadabuursi. The first Heelo (Which is considered a sub genre of Balwo) was brought fourth by Abdi Sinimo as well. In 1945, while working as a lorry driver for the Djiboutian Port Authority, Abdi Sinimo was driving his truck and had experienced misfortune when around the Zeila area, thus the first Balwo was created. He called it "Balwo" (meaning misfortune in Somali), because of the remoteness of where his truck had experienced difficulty. The Balwo is a simple love lyric that has revolutionized modern Somali music. Another artist who made significant contributions to the genre was Abdullahi Qarshe, who is credited with the introduction of the kaban (oud) as an accompaniment to Somali music. In an interview ...
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Meter (poetry)
In poetry, metre ( Commonwealth spelling) or meter ( American spelling; see spelling differences) is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse. Many traditional verse forms prescribe a specific verse metre, or a certain set of metres alternating in a particular order. The study and the actual use of metres and forms of versification are both known as prosody. (Within linguistics, " prosody" is used in a more general sense that includes not only poetic metre but also the rhythmic aspects of prose, whether formal or informal, that vary from language to language, and sometimes between poetic traditions.) Characteristics An assortment of features can be identified when classifying poetry and its metre. Qualitative versus quantitative metre The metre of most poetry of the Western world and elsewhere is based on patterns of syllables of particular types. The familiar type of metre in English-language poetry is called qualitative metre, with stressed syllables comi ...
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Alliteration
Alliteration is the repetition of syllable-initial consonant sounds between nearby words, or of syllable-initial vowels if the syllables in question do not start with a consonant. It is often used as a literary device. A common example is " Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers". Historical use The word ''alliteration'' comes from the Latin word ''littera'', meaning "letter of the alphabet". It was first coined in a Latin dialogue by the Italian humanist Giovanni Pontano in the 15th century. Alliteration is used in the alliterative verse of Old English poems like Beowulf, Middle English poems like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Old Norse works like the Poetic Edda, and in Old High German, Old Saxon, and Old Irish. It was also used as an ornament to suggest connections between ideas in classical Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit poetry. Today, alliteration is used poetically in various languages around the world, including Arabic, Irish, German, Mongolian, Hungari ...
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Muhammad Siad Barre
Mohammed Siad Barre (, Osmanya script: , ''Muhammad Ziād Barīy''; 6 October 1919 – 2 January 1995) was a Somali military officer, politician, and revolutionary who served as the third president of Somalia from 21 October 1969 to 26 January 1991. Barre, the commander of the Somali National Army, became president of Somalia after the 1969 coup d'état that overthrew the Somali Republic following the assassination of President Abdirashid Shermarke. The Supreme Revolutionary Council military junta under Barre reconstituted Somalia as a one-party Marxist–Leninist communist state, renamed the country the Somali Democratic Republic and adopted scientific socialism. Barre spoke three languages, English, Somali and Italian. Barre's early rule was characterised by attempts at widespread modernization, nationalization of banks and industry, promotion of cooperative farms, a new writing system for the Somali language, and anti-tribalism. In 1976, the Somali Revolutionary ...
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Horn Of Africa
The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), p. 26 Located on the easternmost part of the African mainland, it is the fourth largest peninsula in the world. It is composed of Somaliland, Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Eritrea. Although not common, broader definitions include parts or all of Kenya and Sudan.John I. Saeed, ''Somali'' – Volume 10 of London Oriental and African language library, (J. Benjamins: 1999), p. 250.Sandra Fullerton Joireman, ''Institutional Change in the Horn of Africa'', (Universal-Publishers: 1997), p.1: "The Horn of Africa encompasses the countries of Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia. These countries share similar peoples, languages, and geographical endowments." It has been described as a region of geopolitical and strategic importance, since it ...
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Anthropologist
An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values, and general behavior of societies. Linguistic anthropology studies how language affects social life, while economic anthropology studies human economic behavior. Biological (physical), forensic, and medical anthropology study the biology and evolution of humans and their primate relatives, the application of biological anthropology in a legal setting, and the study of diseases and their impacts on humans over time, respectively. Education Anthropologists usually cover a breadth of topics within anthropology in their undergraduate education and then proceed to specialize in topics of their own choice at the graduate level. In some universities, a qualifying exam serves to test both the breadth and depth of a student's understandi ...
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Occasional Verse
Occasional poetry is poetry composed for a particular occasion. In the history of literature, it is often studied in connection with orality, performance, and patronage. Term As a term of literary criticism, "occasional poetry" describes the work's purpose and the poet's relation to subject matter. It is not a genre, but several genres originate as occasional poetry, including epithalamia (wedding songs), dirges or funerary poems, paeans, and victory odes. Occasional poems may also be composed exclusive of or within any given set of genre conventions to commemorate single events or anniversaries, such as birthdays, foundings, or dedications. Occasional poetry is often lyric because it originates as performance, in antiquity and into the 16th century even with musical accompaniment; at the same time, because performance implies an audience, its communal or public nature can place it in contrast with the intimacy or personal expression of emotion often associated with the term " ...
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Said Sheikh Samatar
Said Sheikh Samatar (, ‎; 1943 – 24 February 2015) was a Somali scholar and writer. Biography Early years Said was born in 1943 in the Ogaden in Ethiopia to Faduma and Sheikh Samatar. He came from a large family consisting of fourteen people, including his father's second wife. Samatar spent his early years in a nomadic environment, where he writes that "seasons of plenty" with "fragrant flowers blooming all over the fallowed fields, abundant milk and meat" alternated with the "perennial threat of starvation during droughts, marauding gangs of enemy clans bent on murder and mayhem, stripping you of your livestock, the ever-present danger of ravenous predators." In 1958, Said's father, who had been working for the government as an Islamic magistrate since 1948, sent for him to begin schooling. Samatar subsequently moved to the town of Qalaafo, transitioning from nomadic life to urban life. Samatar received education at a Christian Missionary school run by Protestants. D ...
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Somali Studies
Somali studies is the scholarly term for research concerning Somalis and Greater Somalia. It consists of several disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, linguistics, historiography and archaeology. The field draws from old Somali chronicles, records and oral literature, in addition to written accounts and traditions about Somalis from explorers and geographers in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East. The Somali Studies International Association is the primary organization for Somalist scholars. ''Bildhaan'', ''Somali Studies'', ''Horn of Africa'' and the ''Anglo-Somali Society Journal'' likewise serve as the field's main periodicals. Since 1980, prominent Somalist scholars from around the world have also gathered annually to hold the ''International Congress of Somali Studies''. History The academic platform that would become Somali studies has its formal origins with religious, linguistic and historical research done by 18th and 19th century Somali scholars, such as Uways ...
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Ali Bu'ul
Ali Bu'ul ( Somali: ''Cali Bucul''), was a famous Somali poet, military leader and sultan from the 19th century originating from Somaliland and Djibouti. Renowned for his short lined poems who were in vogue before the early 20th century. Many of his poems are still known today History Originally from the Aden Yonis section of the Makahil Samaron (Gadabursi). A renowned 19th century poet among the ranks of Adan Gurey and Mahamed Abdille Hassan (Sayidka), Ali Bu'ul has produced numerous poems that still to this day are read and presented at gatherings. He was born in the district of Awdal, Somaliland Somaliland, officially the Republic of Somaliland, is an List of states with limited recognition, unrecognised country in the Horn of Africa. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden and bordered by Djibouti to the northwest, E .... He opposed the Abyssinians from taxing the Somali inhabitant in current area we know Somali region of Ethiopia. He was celebrate ...
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