page_title: Somali languages
section_title: Classification
hierarchical_section_title: Somali languages / Classification
caption_attribution_description: English: Distribution of Somali dialectal groups in East Africa based on research by Marcello Lamberti (1986).
context_page_description: The Somali languages form a group that are part of the Afro-Asiatic language family. They are spoken as a mother tongue by ethnic Somalis in Horn of Africa and the Somali diaspora. Even with linguistic differences, Somalis collectively view themselves as speaking dialects a common language.
  Some neighboring populations and individuals have also adopted the languages.
context_section_description: Somali linguistic varieties are broadly divided into three main groups: Northern, Benadir and Maay. Northern Somali (or Nsom) forms the basis for Standard Somali.
  The most extensive publication on the subject is Marcello Lamberti's 'Die Somali-Dialekte'. Both Lamberti (1986) and Blench (2006) separate Central and Benadir into two distinct groups, Digil and Maay and Benadir and Ashraaf, respectively:
  Somali
  Northern
  Benadir
  Ashraaf
  Maay
  Digil
caption: Distribution of Somali dialectal groups in the Horn of Africa
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