Jiiddu (also known as Jiddu or Af-Jiiddu) is an

Afro-Asiatic The Afroasiatic languages (or Afro-Asiatic), also known as Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic, and sometimes also as Afrasian, Erythraean or Lisramic, are a language family of about 300 languages that are spoken predominantly in the geographic s ...

language spoken by the Jiiddu Tribe of the Dir, a

Somali Somali may refer to: Horn of Africa * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Proto-Somali, the ancestors of modern Somalis ** Somali culture ** Somali cuisine ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Somali ...

clan inhabiting southern

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constitut ...

. It is part of the family's

Cushitic The Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken primarily in the Horn of Africa, with minorities speaking Cushitic languages to the north in Egypt and the Sudan, and to the south in Kenya and Tanzania. As o ...

branch, and has an estimated 100,000 speakers mainly residing in the

Lower Shabeelle Lower Shabelle ( so, Shabeellaha Hoose, Maay: ''Shibelithy Hoosy'', ar, شبيلي السفلى, it, Basso Scebeli) is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in southern Somalia. Geography Lower Shabelle is bordered by the regions of Banaadir, ...

Bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...

and Middle Jubba regions. Typically classified as part of the Digil group of languages, Jiiddu has a different phonology and sentence structure from

. However, it more closely resembles Somali than

Baiso Baiso ( Reggiano: ) is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Reggio Emilia in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about west of Bologna and about south of Reggio Emilia. Baiso borders the following municipalities: Carpineti ...

. It also possibly shares commonalities with the Hadiyya, Gedeo, Alaba-Kabeena,

Konso Konso (also known as Karati) is a town on the Sagan River in south-western Ethiopia. The administrative center of the Konso special woreda of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of and ...

and Kambaata languages spoken in southern

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

.Ethnologue - Jiiddu language
/ref> There is a dictionary of Jiddu by a native speaker, Dr. Salim Ibro.Ibro, Salim. 1998. ''English - Jiddu – Somali Mini-dictionary. Victoria, Australia: La Trobe University Language Center.
online_access

_Notes

East_Cushitic_languages
Languages_of_Somalia.html" ;"title="East Cushitic languages">online access

Notes

East Cushitic languages
Languages of Somalia">East Cushitic languages">online access

Notes

East Cushitic languages
Languages of Somalia {{Somalia-stub