Language and writing
The Garre language (Af-Garre): from Qoryooley to Mandera
Af-Garre is the Cushitic speech of the Garre of southern Somalia. In Somalia it is spoken in the Baydhabo, Diinsoor, Bur Hakaba and Qoryooley districts and is counted among the Digil varieties. Many Garre in Mandera, Kenya, and southern Ethiopia speak a Borana Oromo dialect instead. Its closest relative outside Somalia is Aweer.
Where it is spoken
Af-Garre is spoken by the Garre in southern Somalia, Ethiopia and northern Kenya. The Italian linguist Marcello Lamberti, who surveyed southern Somali speech in 1981, recorded it in the Baydhabo, Diinsoor, Bur Hakaba and Qoryooley districts (Landinfo 2011, p. 15). He took samples from Bur Hakaba, Baydhabo, Yaaq Baraawe, Kanaana and Qoryooley (Landinfo 2011, p. 4). The Historical Dictionary of Somalia by Mohamed Haji Mukhtar describes Garre as readily understood by Digil speakers and close to Af-Maay and Af-Boon (Garre language, Wikipedia, citing Mukhtar 2003, p. 28).
The linguist Mauro Tosco, who described the Tuuf variety of Lower Shabelle in 1989, distinguishes Garre Kofar (in Qoryooley) and Garre Libin (the western Garre of Ethiopia and Kenya) (Garre language, Wikipedia, citing Tosco 1989). The Garre of Mandera and around Doolow on the upper Juba speak mostly a Borana Oromo dialect, as I. M. Lewis noted in 1955 (Garre language, Wikipedia, citing Lewis 1955, p. 27). Lamberti also recorded an "Af-Garre" among the Oromo-speaking groups of Gedo and Lower Juba (Landinfo 2011, p. 9).
How many speak it
Wikipedia, citing Ethnologue, gives about 50,000 speakers in Somalia in 1992, 57,500 in 2006 and 86,000 in 2020 (Garre language, Wikipedia). The same source puts all speakers in Kenya and Somalia at 685,600 in 2019, a figure that counts Kenyan Garre who speak an Oromo variety.
Branches
Speakers themselves name two forms, Tuuf and Quranow (Landinfo 2011, p. 15). Lamberti found that Garre varies from place to place and listed five local forms: Bur Hakaba, Baydhabo, Af-Aarma and Af-Reer Amiir in Diinsoor, and Qoryooley. He thought Af-Aarma may be related to Orma, an Oromo group. The Garre of Bur Hakaba kept old verb prefixes that Baydhabo Garre has dropped, and Baydhabo Garre uses the plural ending -yaal where others use -te (Landinfo 2011, p. 15).
Family
Linguists place Garre in the Sam or Eastern Omo-Tana branch of Lowland East Cushitic. Its nearest relative is Aweer (Boni) of the Kenyan coast, then Rendille (Somali languages, Wikipedia). Ehret and Ali (1984) grouped Garre and Aweer together inside the wider Somali family (Somali languages, Wikipedia, citing Tosco 1994).
Sounds
Tosco's description of Tuuf Garre gives 22 consonants (Garre language, Wikipedia, citing Tosco 1989). Garre has no throat sound x. At the end of a word, b and d become p and t, and g and q become a glottal stop, so duq ("elder") sounds like du'. In the Baydhabo area b between vowels often becomes w, as in hawar for habar ("woman"), the same change found in the local Maay.
Read more
Sources
- Landinfo 2011, p. 15 · landinfo.no
- Garre language, Wikipedia, citing Mukhtar 2003, p. 28 · en.wikipedia.org
- Somali languages, Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
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