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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The use of Somali in mathematics and science |
Author: | Andrzejewski, B.W. |
Year: | 1980 |
Periodical: | Afrika und Übersee: Sprachen, Kulturen |
Volume: | 63 |
Issue: | 1 |
Pages: | 103-117 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Somalia |
Subjects: | education Somali language |
Abstract: | In 1972 Somalia embarked on a bold experiment by deciding to make Somali the official language of the country and to introduce it gradually as the medium of instruction in the whole educational system. In the educational field the greatest difficulty lay in the absence of mathematical and scientific terms. In creating a whole new vocabulary for mathematics and the natural sciences, Somali educationalists tended to rely on the existing resources of the language, in marked preference to borrowing from foreign languages. In exploiting the resources of their own language for vocabulary expansion Somalis used mainly two methods: composition and semantic shift. Illustrative examples are given. To a much lesser extent, the method of borrowing was used, almost all loanwords coming from English. Notes, ref. |