Abstract
The objective of this study was to determine the degree of intelligibility of Af-Maay to Somali university student speakers (n=21) of Af-Maxaa in the United States by implementing a perceived intelligibility test. The investigator aimed to test whether time spent in the United States, language contact with Af-Maay speakers, native Somali dialect, or the region of origin in Somalia affected the intelligibility of Af-Maay. The one-sample t-test showed that Af-Maay is partially intelligible to speakers of Af-Maxaa; t(21)=4.623, p=.000. This appears to agree with Crystal's (1987) Type 5 language-dialect relationship category, where there is a partial intelligibility due to the overlapping history between Af-Maay and Af-Maxaa speakers. The results of the Pearson's correlation coefficient revealed statistically significant associations between the participants' level of understanding of Af-Maay and Standard Somali, their association with Af-Maay speakers, and their time spent in the United States. These results imply that there is a combination of linguistic and non-linguistic factors influencing the intelligibility of Af-Maay.
Advisor
Karen Lybeck
Committee Member
Harry Solo
Date of Degree
2011
Language
english
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
English
College
Arts and Humanities
Recommended Citation
Hassan, Dequa. (2011). Somali Dialects in the United States: How Intelligible is Af-Maay to Speakers of Af-Maxaa? [Master’s thesis, Minnesota State University, Mankato]. Cornerstone: A Collection of Scholarly and Creative Works for Minnesota State University, Mankato. https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/etds/276/
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Rights Statement
