Somali language

Somali /səˈmɑːli, soʊ-/[4][5] (Latin script: Af-Soomaali; Wadaad: اَف صومالي‎; Osmanya: 𐒖𐒍 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘 [æ̀f sɔ̀ːmɑ́ːlì])[6] 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 official language in Somalia and Ethiopia,[7] and a national language in Djibouti as well as in northeastern Kenya. The Somali language is written officially with the Latin alphabet although the Arabic alphabet and several Somali scripts like Osmanya, Kaddare and the Borama script are informally used.[8][9]

Somali
Af Soomaali,[1] Soomaali[2] 𐒖𐒍 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘, 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘 اف صومالي, صومالي,
Region	Horn of Africa
Ethnicity	Somalis
Native speakers	21,807,730 (2019)[3]
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Cushitic Lowland East Cushitic Somali languages Somali
Writing system	Somali Latin alphabet (Latin script; official) Wadaad writing (Arabic script) Osmanya alphabet Borama alphabet Kaddare alphabet
Official status
Official language in	Somalia  Somaliland  Djibouti  Ethiopia
Recognised minority language in	Kenya
Regulated by	Regional Somali Language Academy
Language codes
ISO 639-1	so
ISO 639-2	som
ISO 639-3	som
Glottolog	soma1255
Linguasphere	14-GAG-a
Primary Somali Sprachraum
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