Benadiri Somali also referred to as βCoastal Somaliβ ( so, Af Reer Xamar) is a dialect of the
Somali language
Somali (Latin script: ; Wadaad: ; Osmanya: ππ ππππππ ) is an Afroasiatic language belonging to the Cushitic branch. It is spoken as a mother tongue by Somalis in Greater Somalia and the Somali diaspora. Somali is an off ...
. It is primarily spoken by the
Benadiri people, who inhabit the southern
Banaadir
Banaadir ( so, Banaadir, ar, Ψ¨ΩΨ§Ψ―Ψ±, it, Benadir) is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in southeastern Somalia. It covers the same area as the city of Mogadishu, which serves as the capital. It is bordered to the northwest by the Shabel ...
coast of
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: ππππππππ; ar, Ψ§ΩΨ΅ΩΩ
Ψ§Ω, aαΉ£-αΉ’Ε«mΔl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
.
Overview
Benadiri Somali is spoken on the
Benadir coast, from
Adale
Adale ( so, Cadale; it, Adalei or Itala), also known as Cadaley, is a coastal town in the southern Middle Shabelle (Shabeellaha Dhexe) region of Somalia.
History
Adale was mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, written by an anonym ...
to south of
Merca
Merca ( so, Marka, Maay: ''Marky'', ar, Ω
Ψ±ΩΨ©) is a historic port city in the southern Lower Shebelle province of Somalia. It is located approximately to the southwest of the nation's capital Mogadishu. Merca is the traditional home territory ...
including Mogadishu, as well as in the immediate hinterland. The coastal dialects have additional
phonemes
In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language.
For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-west ...
that do not exist in Standard Somali.
Benadiri Somali is also referred to as Coastal Somali or ''Af-Reer Xamar'' ("Language of the People of Hamar").
Varieties
Blench (2006) structures the dialect into three general subdivisions:
[Blench, 2006]
The Afro-Asiatic Languages: Classification and Reference List
(ms)
*Northern Benadir (
Abgaal,
Ajuran, Huber, and
Galjal)
*Southern Benadir (
Hamari,
Bimaal
Overview
The Biimaal or Bimal, is a sub-clan of the major Dir clan family. This clan is widely known for leading a resistance against the colonials in southern Somalia for decades which can be compared to the war of the Sayyid in Somaliland. Th ...
)
Notes
References
ALSintl - Somali language
{{Somali language
Somali language