Nine look-alike nouns
| Somali | English | |
|---|---|---|
| bad | the sea | |
| beer | the liver, also a garden or farm | |
| war | news | |
| dad | people | |
| run | the truth | |
| sax | correct | |
| bus | dust | |
| far | a finger | |
| bun | coffee |
Nine more, mostly verbs
Five of these are verbs in their command form, the shortest form of every Somali verb. That is why so many Somali verbs look like English three-letter words.
| Somali | English | |
|---|---|---|
| sac | a cow | |
| bar | teach | |
| tag | go | |
| gal | go in | |
| jar | cut | |
| fur | open | |
| nin | a man | |
| rag | men | |
| lug | a leg |
Say them the Somali way
The trick is the vowels. In Somali, a is always the a of father and u is always the oo of moon. Say bad as "bahd", bus as "boos", run as "roon", and the English word vanishes. Somali spelling never changes its mind: a letter makes one sound, every time. Our alphabet guide has all the sounds.
Same letters, different language.
A Somali word is read with Somali sounds. Once that habit is in place, the look-alikes stop tripping you up and start being fun.
Two to guess
Dab looks like a dance move. It is fire. Cab looks like a taxi. It is the command to drink, and it starts with the throaty Somali c, so it does not sound like cab at all.
Common questions
What does bad mean in Somali?
The sea. It is pronounced with a long, open a, like bahd, so it does not sound like the English word.
What does beer mean in Somali?
The liver, and also a garden or farm. It has nothing to do with the drink.
What does war mean in Somali?
News. War ma haysaa? means do you have any news.
What does dad mean in Somali?
People. Dadka is the people.
Why do so many Somali words look like English words?
Somali has used the Latin alphabet since 1972, and Somali verbs in their command form are very short, often three letters, so overlaps with English spellings are common. The sounds are different, especially the vowels.