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66-558: The Gadabuursi ( Somali : Gadabuursi , Arabic : جادابورسي), also known as Samaroon ( Arabic : قبيلة سَمَرُون) , is a northern Somali clan, a sub-division of the Dir clan family. The Gadabuursi are geographically spread out across three countries: Ethiopia , Somaliland and Djibouti . Among all of the Gadabuursi inhabited regions of the Horn of Africa , Ethiopia is the country where
132-747: A Latin orthography as the official national alphabet over several other writing scripts that were then in use. Concurrently, the Italian -language daily newspaper Stella d'Ottobre ("The October Star") was nationalized, renamed to Xiddigta Oktoobar , and began publishing in Somali. The state-run Radio Mogadishu has also broadcast in Somali since 1951. Additionally, other state-run public networks like Somaliland National TV , regional public networks such as Puntland TV and Radio and, as well as Eastern Television Network and Horn Cable Television , among other private broadcasters, air programs in Somali. Somali
198-616: A desire to combine the clan's traditional territories to form a new region-state called Harawo Zone . The Saho are an ethnic group inhabiting the Horn of Africa . They are principally concentrated in Eritrea , with some also living in adjacent parts of Ethiopia . They speak Saho , a Cushitic language which is related to Somali . Among the Saho there is a sub-clan called the Gadafur. The Gadafur are an independent sub-clan affiliated with
264-455: A primordial view of their own ethnicity, and claim to be descended from Arabian immigrants; this in turn allows for an identification with the family of Muhammad , and for an association of their history with that of the Near East . The societal structure is patrilineal and hierarchic, with society vertically organized in tribes and clans and families. The tribe ( meela , kisho , or qabila )
330-493: A prominent 40,000-entry Somali dictionary. Most of the terms consisted of commonly used nouns. These lexical borrowings may have been more extensive in the past since a few words that Zaborski (1967:122) observed in the older literature were absent in Agostini's later work. In addition, the majority of personal names are derived from Arabic. The Somali language also contains a few Indo-European loanwords that were retained from
396-524: Is a result of a long series of southward population movements over the past ten centuries from the Gulf of Aden littoral. Lamberti subdivides Northern Somali into three dialects: Northern Somali proper (spoken in the northwest; he describes this dialect as Northern Somali in the proper sense), the Darod group (spoken in the northeast and along the eastern Ethiopia frontier; greatest number of speakers overall), and
462-448: Is a tonal language, whereas Banti (1988) suggests that it is a pitch system. The syllable structure of Somali is (C)V(C). Root morphemes usually have a mono- or di-syllabic structure. Clusters of two consonants do not occur word-initially or word-finally, i.e., they only occur at syllable boundaries. The following consonants can be geminate: /b/, /d/, /ɖ/, /ɡ/, /ɢ/, /m/, /n/, /r/ and /l/. The following cannot be geminate: /t/, /k/ and
528-415: Is called a madarre . A madarre brings forth arguments to his audience and sub-clans or tribes who are involved and tries to win them over. This is discussed with clan or tribal wise men or elders, ukal . On smaller scale conflicts between 2 individuals, one of the 2 takes their grievances to the ukal , they in turn appoint shimagale or mediators for the dispute. Among the Saho there is a sub-clan called
594-522: Is classified within the Cushitic branch of the Afroasiatic family, specifically, Lowland East Cushitic in addition to Afar and Saho . Somali is the best-documented of the Cushitic languages, with academic studies of the language dating back to the late 19th century. The Somali language is spoken in Somali inhabited areas of Somalia , Djibouti , Ethiopia , Kenya , Yemen and by members of
660-550: Is described as the only Muslim leader fighting on the Western flank in the armies of Sa'd ad-Din (d. 1415), ruler of Zeila." The Gadabuursi are divided into two main divisions, the Habar Makadur and Habar 'Affan. Most Gadabuursi members are descendants of Sheikh Samaroon. However, Samaroon does not necessarily mean Gadabuursi, but rather represents only a sub-clan of the Gadabuursi clan family. The Gadabuursi in particular,
726-597: Is not marked, and front and back vowels are not distinguished. Writing systems developed in the twentieth century include the Osmanya , Borama and Kaddare alphabets , which were invented by Osman Yusuf Kenadid , Abdurahman Sheikh Nuur and Hussein Sheikh Ahmed Kaddare , respectively. Several digital collections of texts in the Somali language have been developed in recent decades. These corpora include Kaydka Af Soomaaliga (KAF), Bangiga Af Soomaaliga,
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#1732771755628792-509: Is one of the clans with a longstanding institution of Sultan. The Gadabuursi use the title Ughaz or Ugaas which means sultan and/or king. Based on research done by the Eritrean author 'Abdulkader Saleh Mohammad' in his book ' The Saho of Eritrea , the Saho people (Gadafur) is said to have Somali origins from the Gadabuursi. The Gadabuursi are mainly found in northwestern Somaliland and are
858-464: Is organized into sub-tribes ( gaysha , harak , or ' are ) or clans ( dik or ' are ), but these two concepts are not always clearly distinguished, which are the most important strata because they indicate an individual's "personal descent or origin". Family descent is memorized going back at least 30 or 40 generations. Also memorized and narrated are laws and customs, and consanguinity plays an important role in these traditions, indicating again
924-568: Is primarily inhabited by the three sub-clans of the Gadabursi clan, whose traditional institutions survived the colonial period, Somali statehood and the war in good shape, remaining functionally intact and highly relevant to public security." The Gadabuursi also partially inhabit the neighboring region of Maroodi Jeex , and reside in many cities within that province. The Gadabuursi are the second largest clan by population in Somaliland after
990-481: Is rarely pronounced as a velar fricative, Partially the reason why is that it is mostly found in Arabic loanwords. It is pronounced as the phoneme χ when it is an allophone for the letter ⟨q⟩ in syllabic codas. As in A kh ri from A q ri meaning (read). Pitch is phonemic in Somali, but it is debated whether Somali is a pitch accent , or it is a tonal language . Andrzejewski (1954) posits that Somali
1056-584: Is recognized as an official working language in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. Although it is not an official language of Djibouti , it constitutes a major national language there. Somali is used in television and radio broadcasts, with the government-operated Radio Djibouti transmitting programs in the language from 1943 onwards. The Kenya Broadcasting Corporation also broadcasts in the Somali language in its Iftin FM Programmes. The language
1122-467: Is similar to the stem alternation that typifies Cairene Arabic . Somali has two sets of pronouns: independent (substantive, emphatic) pronouns and clitic (verbal) pronouns. The independent pronouns behave grammatically as nouns, and normally occur with the suffixed article -ka/-ta (e.g. adiga , "you"). This article may be omitted after a conjunction or focus word. For example, adna meaning "and you..." (from adi - na ). Clitic pronouns are attached to
1188-718: Is spoken in the Somali territories within North Eastern Kenya , namely Wajir County , Garissa County and Mandera County . The Somali language is regulated by the Regional Somali Language Academy , an intergovernmental institution established in June 2013 in Djibouti City by the governments of Djibouti, Somalia and Ethiopia. It is officially mandated with preserving the Somali language. As of October 2022, Somali and Oromo are
1254-582: The Awbare district as being predominantly Gadabuursi whilst highlighting the neutral role that they played in mediating peace between the Geri and Jarso: "The Gadabursi, who dominate the adjacent Awbare district north of Jijiga and bordering with the Awdal Region of Somaliland, have opened the already existing camps of Derwanache and Teferi Ber to these two communities." Filipo Ambrosio (1994) highlights how
1320-652: The Fafan Zone , the Dembel district in the Sitti Zone and the Harrawa Valley . The Department of Sociology and Social Administration, Addis Ababa University, Vol. 1 (1994), describes the Awbare district as being predominantly Gadabuursi. The journal states: "Different aid groups were also set up to help communities cope in the predominantly Gadabursi district of Aw Bare." Filipo Ambrosio (1994) describes
1386-537: The Harrawa Valley in the Gadabuursi country, as within sight of Harar : "In front, backed by the dark hills of Harar, lay the Harawwah valley." Captain H.G.C Swayne R.E. (1895) describes the Harrawa Valley as traditional Gadabuursi territory: "On 5th September we descended into the Harrawa Valley in the Gadabursi country, and back on to the high ban again at Sarír, four days later. We then marched along
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#17327717556281452-519: The Hawiye (Irir), Hawadle , Ajuran , Degoodi , Gaalje'el clan groups, who share the same ancestor Samaale . I. M. Lewis gives an invaluable reference to an Arabic manuscript on the history of the Gadabuursi Somali. 'This Chronicle opens', Lewis tells us, 'with an account of the wars of Imam 'Ali Si'id (d. 1392) from whom the Gadabuursi today trace their descent, and who is described as
1518-626: The Isaaq . Within Somalia , they are known to be the 5th largest clan. The Gadabuursi are also found in Djibouti , where they are the second largest Somali clan. Within Djibouti they have historically lived in 2 of the 7 major neighborhoods in Djibouti (Quarter 4 and 5). However the majority of the Gadabuursi inhabit Ethiopia . Federico Battera (2005) states: "But most of the Gadabuursi inhabit
1584-399: The Near East and South Asia (e.g. khiyaar "cucumber" from Persian : خيار khiyār ). Other loan words have also displaced their native synonyms in some dialects (e.g. jabaati "a type of flat bread" from Hindi: चपाती chapāti displacing sabaayad). Some of these words were also borrowed indirectly via Arabic. As part of a broader governmental effort of linguistic purism in
1650-553: The Royal Geographical Society of Great Britain, scientist Johann Maria Hildebrandt noted upon visiting the area that "we know from ancient authors that these districts, at present so desert, were formerly populous and civilised[...] I also discovered ancient ruins and rock-inscriptions both in pictures and characters[...] These have hitherto not been deciphered." According to the 1974 report for Ministry of Information and National Guidance, this script represents
1716-729: The Somali diaspora as a mother tongue. Somali is an official language in both Somalia and Ethiopia , and serves as a national language in Djibouti , it is also a recognised minority language in Kenya . The Somali language is officially written with the Latin alphabet although the Arabic script and several Somali scripts like Osmanya , Kaddare and the Borama script are informally used. Somali
1782-550: The Somali diaspora . It is also spoken as an adoptive language by a few ethnic minority groups and individuals in Somali majority regions. Somali is the most widely spoken Cushitic language in the region followed by Oromo and Afar . As of 2021, there are approximately 24 million speakers of Somali, spread in Greater Somalia of which around 17 million reside in Somalia. The language is spoken by an estimated 95% of
1848-778: The Southern and Northern Red Sea regions. The Saho people speak the Saho language as a mother tongue . It belongs to the Saho-Afar dialect cluster of the Lowland East Cushitic languages , which are part of the Cushitic branch of the Afroasiatic family. and is closely related to Afar and Somali . Many Saho people have mingled with other Muslim tribes such as the Jeberti (Tigrinya-speaking Muslims) and
1914-610: The Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC) declared it the Somali Democratic Republic 's primary language of administration and education. Somali was thereafter established as the main language of academic instruction in forms 1 through 4 , following preparatory work by the government-appointed Somali Language Committee. It later expanded to include all 12 forms in 1979. In 1972, the SRC adopted
1980-675: The Tigre and have as a result adopted those tribes languages. The Saho are predominantly Muslim . Majority of the Saho had adopted Islam by the 13th century due to the growing influence of mystics and traders from the Arabian peninsula . A few Christians , who are also known as the Irob , live in the Tigray region of Ethiopia and the Debub Region of Eritrea. Regarding the customary law of
2046-641: The Cushitic and Semitic Afroasiatic languages spoken in the Horn region (e.g. Amharic ). However, Somali noun phrases are head-initial, whereby the noun precedes its modifying adjective. This pattern of general head-finality with head-initial noun phrases is also found in other Cushitic languages (e.g. Oromo), but not generally in Ethiopian Semitic languages. Somali uses three focus markers: baa , ayaa and waxa(a) , which generally mark new information or contrastive emphasis. Baa and ayaa require
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2112-555: The Gadabuursi are the predominant clan of the Awbare district in the Fafan Zone , the Dembel district in the Sitti Zone and the Harrawa Valley . They are mainly found in cities and towns such as Awbare , Awbube , Sheder , Lefe Isa , Derwernache , Gogti , Jaare , Heregel , Arabi and Dembel . The etymology of the name Gadabuursi , as described by writer Ferrand in Ethnographic Survey of Africa refers to Gada meaning people and Bur meaning mountain, hence
2178-618: The Gadabuursi are the predominant inhabitants of the Awdal Region: "The Gadabuursi's numerical predominance in Awdal virtually ensures that Gadabuursi interests drive the politics of the region." Marleen Renders and Ulf Terlinden (2010) both state that the Gadabuursi almost exclusively inhabit the Awdal Region: "Awdal in western Somaliland is situated between Djibouti, Ethiopia and the Issaq-populated mainland of Somaliland. It
2244-747: The Geri and Jarso both sought refuge on adjacent Gadabuursi clan territory after a series of conflicts broke out between the two communities in the early 1990s: "Jarso and Geri then sought refuge on 'neutral' adjacent Gadabursi territory in Heregel, Jarre and Lefeisa." The Research-inspired Policy and Practice Learning in Ethiopia and the Nile region (2010) states that the Dembel district is predominantly Gadabuursi: "Mainly Somali Gurgura, Gadabursi and Hawiye groups, who inhabit Erer, Dambal and Meiso districts respectively." Richard Francis Burton (1856) describes
2310-559: The Latin nor Osmanya scripts accommodate this numerical switching. *the commas in the Osmanya number chart are added for clarity Saho people The Saho are a Cushitic ethnic group who inhabit large sections of Eritrea and northern Ethiopia . They speak Saho as a mother tongue. According to Abdulkader Saleh Mohammad, most of the Saho (like the Afar and the Somali ) have
2376-585: The Lower Juba group (spoken by northern Somali settlers in the southern riverine areas). Benadir (also known as Coastal Somali) is spoken on the central Indian Ocean seaboard, including Mogadishu . It forms a relatively smaller group. The dialect is fairly mutually intelligible with Northern Somali. The language has five basic vowels . Somali has 22 consonant phonemes . The retroflex plosive /ɖ/ may have an implosive quality for some Somali Bantu speakers, and intervocalically it can be realized as
2442-486: The Minifere tribes and are believed to be originally from the tribe of Gadabuursi. Somali language Somali ( / s ə ˈ m ɑː l i , s oʊ -/ sə- MAH -lee, soh- ; Latin script: Af Soomaali ; Wadaad : اف صومالِ ; Osmanya : 𐒖𐒍 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘 [af soːmaːli] ) is an Afroasiatic language belonging to the Cushitic branch. It is spoken primarily in Greater Somalia , and by
2508-431: The Saho, when there is an issue the Saho tend to call for a meeting or conference which they call rahbe . In such a meeting the Saho people discuss how to solve issues related to water, pasture or land, clan disputes and how to alleviate these problems. This is also discussed with neighboring tribes or ethnic groups and sub-clans to reach a consensus. A skilled representative is chosen for this meeting, this representative
2574-588: The Semitic Himyarite and Sabaean languages that were largely spoken in what is modern day Yemen —"there is an extensive and ancient relationship between the people and cultures of both sides of the Red Sea coast" Mire posits. Yet, while many more such ancient inscriptions are yet to be found or analyzed, many have been "bulldozed by developers, as the Ministry of Tourism could not buy the land or stop
2640-528: The Somali Region of Ethiopia (the so-called region five) where their paramount chief (the Ugaas ) resides... In present day Awdal, most of the prominent elders have their main venues in the capital city of the region, Booroma. However, the paramount chief of the Gadabuursi local community, the Ugaas , has his main venue in Ethiopia." In Ethiopia , the Gadabuursi exclusively inhabit the Awbare district in
2706-668: The Somali Web Corpus (soWaC), a Somali read-speech corpus, Asaas (Beginning in Somali) and a Web-Based Somali Language Model and text Corpus called Wargeys (Newspaper in Somali). For all numbers between 11 kow iyo toban and 99 sagaashal iyo sagaal , it is equally correct to switch the placement of the numbers, although larger numbers is some dialects prefer to place the 10s numeral first. For example 25 may both be written as labaatan iyo shan and shan iyo labaatan (lit. Twenty and Five & Five and Twenty). Although neither
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2772-525: The Somali language, the past few decades have seen a push in Somalia toward replacement of loanwords in general with their Somali equivalents or neologisms . To this end, the Supreme Revolutionary Council during its tenure officially prohibited the borrowing and use of English and Italian terms. Archaeological excavations and research in Somalia uncovered ancient inscriptions in a distinct writing system . In an 1878 report to
2838-530: The Somali people's extensive social, cultural, commercial and religious links and contacts with nearby populations in the Arabian peninsula. Arabic loanwords are most commonly used in religious, administrative and education-related speech (e.g. aamiin for "faith in God"), though they are also present in other areas (e.g. kubbad-da , "ball"). Soravia (1994) noted a total of 1,436 Arabic loanwords in Agostini a.o. 1985,
2904-469: The Somali poems by Sheikh Uways and Sheikh Ismaaciil Faarah. The rest of the existing historical literature in Somali principally consists of translations of documents from Arabic. Since then a number of writing systems have been used for transcribing the Somali language. Of these, the Somali Latin alphabet , officially adopted in 1972, is the most widely used and recognised as official orthography of
2970-571: The base of the Harar Highlands, reaching Sala Asseleh on 13th September. We had experienced heavy thunder-storms with deluges of rain daily, and had found the whole country deserted." Captain H.G.C Swayne R.E. (1895) describes the Harrawa Valley as occupying an important strategic position in the Gadabuursi country: "The position of the Samawé ruins would favour a supposition that some power holding Harar, and having its northern boundary along
3036-595: The city itself. The Gadabuursi are the second largest sub-clan within the borders of the Somali Region of Ethiopia based on the Ethiopian population census. The 2014 Summary and Statistical report of the Population and Housing Census of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia has shown that Awbare is the most populated district in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. The Gadabuursi of Ethiopia have also expressed
3102-543: The colonial period. Most of these lexical borrowings come from English and Italian and are used to describe modern concepts (e.g. telefishen-ka , "the television"; raadia-ha , "the radio"). There are 300 loan words from Italian, such as garawati for "tie" (from Italian cravatta ), dimuqraadi from democratico (democratic), mikroskoob from microscopio , and so on. Additionally, Somali contains lexical terms from Persian , Urdu and Hindi that were acquired through historical trade with communities in
3168-649: The country's inhabitants, and also by a majority of the population in Djibouti. Following the start of the Somali Civil War in the early 1990s, the Somali-speaking diaspora increased in size, with newer Somali speech communities forming in parts of the Middle East, North America and Europe. Constitutionally, Somali and Arabic are the two official languages of Somalia . Somali has been an official national language since January 1973, when
3234-534: The destruction". Besides Ahmed's Latin script, other orthographies that have been used for centuries for writing the Somali language include the long-established Arabic script and Wadaad's writing . According to Bogumił Andrzejewski , this usage was limited to Somali clerics and their associates, as sheikhs preferred to write in the liturgical Arabic language. Various such historical manuscripts in Somali nonetheless exist, which mainly consist of Islamic poems ( qasidas ), recitations and chants. Among these texts are
3300-402: The earliest written attestation of Somali. Much more recently, Somali archaeologist Sada Mire has published ancient inscriptions found throughout Somaliland . As much for much of Somali linguistic history the language was not widely used for literature, Dr. Mire's publications however prove that writing as a technology was not foreign nor scarce in the region. These piece of writing are from
3366-449: The etymology of the name Gadabuursi means people of the mountains . As a Dir sub-clan, the Gadabuursi have immediate lineal ties with the Issa , the Surre (Abdalle and Qubeys ), the Biimaal (who the Gaadsen also belong to), the Bajimal, the Bursuk , the Madigan Dir , the Gurgura , the Garre (the Quranyow sub-clan to be precise as they claim descent from Dir ), Gurre, Gariire, other Dir sub-clans and they have lineal ties with
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#17327717556283432-441: The flap [ɽ] . Some speakers produce /ħ/ with epiglottal trilling as / ʜ / in retrospect. /q/ is often epiglottalized . The letter ⟨dh⟩ is a retroflex flap when it is pronounced intervocalically, hence becoming the phoneme ( ɽ ): for example, Qu r aanjo (Ant) from Qu dh aanjo; But however, more often than not is the pronunciation of ɽ to the unretained-retroflex ɾ . The letter ⟨kh⟩
3498-400: The focused element to occur preverbally, while waxa(a) may be used following the verb. Somali loanwords can be divided into those derived from other Afroasiatic languages (mainly Arabic), and those of Indo-European extraction (mainly Italian). Somali's main lexical borrowings come from Arabic, and are estimated to constitute about 20% of the language's vocabulary. This is a legacy of
3564-471: The fricatives. Two vowels cannot occur together at syllable boundaries. Epenthetic consonants, e.g. [j] and [ʔ], are therefore inserted. Somali is an agglutinative language, and also shows properties of inflection . Affixes mark many grammatical meanings, including aspect, tense and case. Somali has an old prefixal verbal inflection restricted to four common verbs, with all other verbs undergoing inflection by more obvious suffixation. This general pattern
3630-403: The hills which wall in the southern side of the Harrawa valley, had built the fort to command the Gáwa Pass, which is one of the great routes from the Gadabursi country up on to the Marar Prairie." Richard Francis Burton describes the Gadabuursi as extending to within sight of Harar : "Though almost in sight of Harar, our advance was impeded by the African traveller's bane. The Gudabursi tribe
3696-444: The majority of the clan reside. In Ethiopia , the Gadabuursi are mainly found in the Somali Region , but they also inhabit the Harar , Dire Dawa and Oromia regions. In Somaliland , the Gadabuursi are the predominant clan of the Awdal Region. They are mainly found in cities and towns such as Borama , Baki , Lughaya , Zeila , Dilla , Jarahorato , Amud , Abasa , Fiqi Aadan , Quljeed , Boon and Harirad . In Ethiopia ,
3762-423: The most native and indigenous Somali tribes in Harar . The Gadabuursi inhabit the Gursum woreda where they are the majority and the Jijiga woreda where they make up a large part of the Fafan Zone . They partially inhabit Ayesha, Shinile, Erer and Afdem woreda's. The Gadabuursi also reside along the northeastern fringe of the chartered city-state of Dire Dawa , which borders the Dembel district, but also in
3828-444: The only Cushitic languages available on Google Translate . The Somali languages are broadly divided into three main groups: Northern Somali , Benadir and Maay . Northern Somali forms the basis for Standard Somali. It is spoken by the majority of the Somali population with its speech area stretching from Djibouti , and the Somali Region of Ethiopia to the Northern Frontier District . This widespread modern distribution
3894-415: The only Muslim leader fighting on the western flank in the armies of Se'ad ad-Din, ruler of Zeila : I. M. Lewis (1959) states: "Further light on the Dir advance and Galla withdrawal seems to be afforded by an Arabic manuscript describing the history of the Gadabursi clan. This chronicle opens with an account of the wars of Imam 'Ali Si'id (d. 1392), from whom the Gadabursi today trace their descent and who
3960-453: The plural of the masculine noun dibi ("bull") is formed by converting it into feminine dibi . Somali is unusual among the world's languages in that the object is unmarked for case while the subject is marked, though this feature is found in other Cushitic languages such as Oromo. Somali is a subject–object–verb (SOV) language. It is largely head final , with postpositions and with obliques preceding verbs. These are common features of
4026-423: The population of Sahos in Eritrea was about 206,000 in 2016. The Saho represent about 4% of the population of Eritrea as of 2021. A 2012 estimate placed the Saho-speaking population of Ethiopia at 37,000. According to Ethnologue , there are approximately 220,000 total Saho speakers as of 2015. Most are concentrated in Eritrea with the remainder inhabiting Ethiopia. Within Eritrea, the Saho primarily reside in
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#17327717556284092-479: The predominant clan of the Awdal Region. Federico Battera (2005) states about the Awdal Region: "Awdal is mainly inhabited by the Gadabuursi confederation of clans." A UN Report published by Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (1999), states concerning Awdal : "The Gadabuursi clan dominates Awdal region. As a result, regional politics in Awdal is almost synonymous with Gadabuursi internal clan affairs." Roland Marchal (1997) states that numerically,
4158-419: The primordial quality of tribal and ethnic identity. Most Saho are pastoralists that also engage in some agriculture but a few groups are settled farmers. The total population of the Saho is unclear due to conflicting figures. However, most Saho reside in Eritrea. According to a 2015 estimate, the total population ranges anywhere from 250,000 to 650,000. According to Saho advocacy groups, they estimated that
4224-494: The state. The script was developed by a number of leading scholars of Somali, including Musa Haji Ismail Galal , B. W. Andrzejewski and Shire Jama Ahmed specifically for transcribing the Somali language, and uses all letters of the English Latin alphabet except p , v and z . There are no diacritics or other special characters except the use of the apostrophe for the glottal stop , which does not occur word-initially. There are three consonant digraphs : DH, KH and SH. Tone
4290-408: The verb and do not take nominal morphology. Somali marks clusivity in the first person plural pronouns; this is also found in a number of other East Cushitic languages, such as Rendille and Dhaasanac. As in various other Afro-Asiatic languages, Somali is characterized by polarity of gender , whereby plural nouns usually take the opposite gender agreement of their singular forms. For example,
4356-410: Was at enmity with the Girhi, and, in such cases, the custom is for your friends to detain you and for their enemies to bar your progress. Shermarkay had given me a letter to the Gerad Adan, chief of the Girhi; a family feud between him and his brother-in-law, our Gudabursi protector, rendered the latter chary of commiting himself." The Gadabuursi, along with the Geri, Issa and Karanle Hawiye represent
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