Somali spelling

Somali got its alphabet in 1973. However, it hasn't been standardized. That means there can be a number of different spellings for the same word. e.g.


Gabadh/Gabar - girl
shaati/shaadh - shirt
roodhi/rooti - bread , etc...


Some of these different spellings are because of different pronunciations of different dialects. For example, the example are from the Northern dialect and the Southern/Central dialect. However, sometimes, the pronunciation is the same, but the spelling just appears in different ways, etc,


Wey baxay - She went out - can also be written as,
Way baxay 
Way baxey


but all three examples are pronounced the same way. Sometimes, I also use different spellings, so be aware that -ay and -ey have the same pronuncation in Somali.

Also, do you remember wuxuu, waxay, waannu etc.  These are fusion words, a combination of the classifier waa and the subject pronouns uu, ey, aan, etc. 


Waxaan ahay nin soomaaliyeed - I am a Somali man


In formal written Somali, they sometimes split up these fusion words into their constituent parts,


Waxa aan ahay nin Soomaaliyeed - I am a Somali man


Muxuu sameeynayaa? - What is he doing? - becomes,


Maxaa uu sameeynayaa? - What is he doing?

Dayaxii! Wuxuu ku dhacay balliga! - The moon! It fell into the pond!

Dayaxii! Waxaa uu ku dhacay balliga! - The moon! It fell into the pond!