Script guide › Latin
Afrikaans vs Somali
Afrikaans and Somali sit in the same corner of the writing-system map — Grafle's Latin group — and players mix them up constantly. Here's the fastest way to tell them apart.
The tell
Somali has doubled vowels plus x and dh clusters; Afrikaans reads like simplified Dutch with its standalone 'n.
Side by side
Afrikaans
Alle menslike wesens word vry en gelyk in waardigheid gebore.
Hallo, hoe gaan dit? Dis 'n lekker dag vandag.
'n Boer maak altyd 'n plan.
Afrikaans's own tells
- Looks like simplified Dutch — the standalone 'n (apostrophe-n) is the giveaway.
- Uses y where Dutch has ij: vry, gelyk.
On signs in:
- South Africa
- Namibia
Somali
Aadanaha dhammaantood waxay dhashaan iyagoo xor ah oo sinnaan ku ah.
Iska warran, sidee tahay?
Aqoon la'aani waa iftiin la'aan.
Somali's own tells
- Doubled vowels (aa, oo, ee) plus heavy use of x, q and dh — no accents at all.
On signs in:
- Somalia
- Djibouti