# Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi (Maxamed Diiriye Cabdullaahi)

> Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi (born 1958): Somali-Canadian linguist, author of Culture and Customs of Somalia.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/people/mohamed-diriye-abdullahi/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## Who is he?

Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi is a Somali-Canadian scholar, linguist, writer and translator born in 1958 ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Diriye_Abdullahi)). He worked as a journalist in Somalia before moving to Canada (same source). See [Somali Canadians in public life](/en/diaspora/somali-canadians-in-public-life/).

## Study and research

He earned a master's degree and a PhD in linguistics at the Université de Montréal, and a diploma in teaching French as a second language at the Université de Franche-Comté in Besançon ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Diriye_Abdullahi)). He speaks Somali, Arabic, English and French (same source).

His research covers the Afro-Asiatic languages, especially the Cushitic branch, and Somali history and culture (same source). His papers include work on how the Somali words for the four directions developed and on the progressive tense in Somali (same source).

## Writing and teaching

His best-known book is *[Culture and Customs of Somalia](/en/books/culture-and-customs-of-somalia-abdullahi/)*, published by Greenwood in 2001, which discusses the origins of the Somali people among other topics ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Diriye_Abdullahi)). He teaches linguistics at the Université de Montréal and works as a translator and language consultant (same source).

## In short

A Montreal-based linguist who studies the Somali language and wrote a standard English guide to Somali culture.

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