Language and writing
The Digil languages: Tunni, Dabarre, Garre and Jiiddu
The Digil varieties are the most varied Somali speech forms. Lamberti counts four: Tunni (Diinsoor, Baraawe, Jilib), Dabarre (Diinsoor, Qansax Dheere, the Juba), Garre (Baydhabo, Diinsoor, Bur Hakaba, Qoryooley) and Jiiddu (Qoryooley, Diinsoor, Jilib). Jiiddu is the most distinct of all Somali varieties.
The most varied group
The Italian linguist Marcello Lamberti, who surveyed southern Somali speech in 1981, called the Digil dialects the most heterogeneous of all the Somali dialect groups (Landinfo 2011, p. 14). He found that all who spoke them belonged to the Digil clan family. Diinsoor, Qoryooley, Jilib and Bur Hakaba districts form the heartland of the Digil dialects; in Diinsoor, Maay speakers were the minority at the time (Landinfo 2011, p. 13).
Many linguists now treat these varieties as languages of their own. The linguist Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi wrote that Maay and the related Digil forms "constitute separate Cushitic languages" (Culture and Customs of Somalia, 2001). Glottolog lists Dabarre and Jiiddu as separate languages (Glottolog, Dabarre; Glottolog, Jiiddu).
Tunni
Tunni is spoken in the Diinsoor, Baraawe and Jilib districts. Of the Digil forms it is the one most influenced by Maay. It has two branches, Af-Tunni Defaraat and Af-Tunni Torre (Landinfo 2011, p. 15). Lamberti noted that Tunni speakers herded cattle, sheep and goats but not camels. Compared with Somali, Tunni turns short "e" into "i" and the throat sound x into a glottal stop (Tunni language, Wikipedia). The religious leader Sheikh Uways al-Barawi was born among the Tunni in Baraawe in 1847 (Tosco 2010, Somali writings).
Dabarre
Dabarre is spoken mainly in the Diinsoor and Qansax Dheere districts and along the Juba; Lamberti linked its presence in Middle Juba to moves in the 1970s and 1980s (Landinfo 2011, p. 15). It has two forms: Af-Dabarre of the Dabarre, and Af-Iroole (Oroole) of the Iroole, who are closely tied to the Dabarre. Landinfo notes that some writers count the Dabarre as Rahanweyn and others as Digil. Wikipedia, citing Ethnologue, gives about 34,000 speakers (Dabarre language, Wikipedia).
Garre
Garre in Somalia is spoken in the Baydhabo, Diinsoor, Bur Hakaba and Qoryooley districts and is itself very varied. Speakers name two forms, Tuuf and Quranow (Landinfo 2011, p. 15). See the full page on the Garre language.
Jiiddu
Jiiddu is spoken in the Qoryooley, Diinsoor and Jilib districts. Lamberti found it unique within the Digil group and among all Somali dialects (Landinfo 2011, p. 15). He also judged it the most distinct dialect and the one least influenced by others (Landinfo 2011, p. 8).
Christopher Ehret and Mohamed Nuuh Ali, writing in 1984, went further and grouped Jiiddu with the Bayso language of Ethiopia rather than with Somali (Somali languages, Wikipedia, citing Tosco 1994). Wikipedia, citing Ethnologue, puts Jiiddu speakers at about 34,000 in Lower Shabelle, Bay and Middle Juba, and records an English-Jiddu-Somali mini-dictionary by the native speaker Salim Ibro (1998) (Jiiddu language, Wikipedia). Michael Neterer wrote a 2021 thesis on seventy years of Jiiddu language development, 1951 to 2021, at Dallas International University (Jiiddu language, Wikipedia).
Read more
Sources
- Landinfo 2011, p. 14 · landinfo.no
- Culture and Customs of Somalia, 2001 · archive.org
- Glottolog, Dabarre · glottolog.org
- Glottolog, Jiiddu · glottolog.org
- Tunni language, Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- Tosco 2010, Somali writings · doi.org
- Dabarre language, Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- Somali languages, Wikipedia, citing Tosco 1994 · en.wikipedia.org
- Jiiddu language, Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
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