Afro-Asiatic · ISO 639-3 ymm
Maay Language Af-Maay
Maay is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken by about 2.9 million people in 1 country. It is written in the Latin script.
Where Maay is spoken
- Official language
- Regional official
- Spoken by 10%+
- 1–10%
- Smaller communities
Countries that speak Maay
Language family
- Afro-Asiatic
- Cushitic
- East Cushitic
- Lowland East Cushitic
- Southern Lowland East Cushitic
- Mainstream Lowland East Cushitic
- Omo-Tana
- Eastern Omo-Tana
- Maay
Writing system
Latin script
Related languages
About the Maay language
Maay (Af-Maay) is spoken by about 2.9 million people, which makes it the 259th most spoken language in the world — just behind Kumaoni (2.9 million) and ahead of Eastern Egyptian Bedawi Arabic (2.8 million). It belongs to the Afro-Asiatic language family and, more precisely, to the Eastern Omo-Tana group within the East Cushitic branch.
Where is Maay spoken?
Maay is used in 1 country. The largest communities live in Somalia (2.9 million).
Maay is not a national official language anywhere.
Writing system and status
Maay is written in the Latin script. It is a safe, widely transmitted language: children still learn it at home as their first language.
Its closest relatives in the same branch of the family are Somali, Eastern Oromo, Borana-Arsi-Guji Oromo, Afar, Oromo and Sidamo.
ISO codes: ISO 639-3 ymm.
Frequently asked questions about Maay
How many people speak Maay?
Where is Maay spoken?
What language family does Maay belong to?
What is Maay called in Maay?
Is Maay an endangered language?
Data: Languages of the World dataset (MIT) — ISO 639-3, Glottolog (CC BY 4.0), Unicode CLDR, Google LinguaMeta (CC BY 4.0) and Wikidata; country lists: samayo/country-json (MIT). Speaker numbers include first- and second-language speakers where sources report them.