Colours are one of the first things toddlers name, so they are one of the fastest ways to get Somali into everyday talk: "Cadaan!" for the white cup, "Guduud!" for the red ball. Several Somali colour words come straight from nature, which makes them easy to remember: cagaar (green) is also the word for fresh grass, and jaalle (yellow) shares a root with the word for a companion.
Tap a card for the meaning, examples and a native recording.
| Somali | English | Say it | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guduud / Casaan | Red | gu-DUUD | |
| Buluug | Blue | bu-LUUG | |
| Cagaar | Green | 'a-GAAR (starts with the throat sound c) | |
| Jaalle | Yellow | JAAL-le | |
| Madow | Black | MA-dow (dow rhymes with "how") | |
| Cadaan | White | 'a-DAAN (starts with the throat sound c) | |
| Bunni | Brown | BUN-ni | |
| Soosali / Carwaaji | Purple | soo-SA-li | |
| Cilaan | Orange | 'i-LAAN (starts with the throat sound c) | |
| Basali | Pink | ba-SA-li | |
| Dameeri | Gray | da-MEE-ri |
Some colours have more than one accepted word depending on region and generation; where that happens we teach the form most widely understood and mention the alternative. Every colour on this page has native audio recorded by a Somali speaker.
11 entries in the Colors topic, each with a picture, native-speaker audio and a quiz in the app.
Yes. Every entry on this page plays a recording by a Somali speaker; nothing is synthesized.
Tap each word to hear it, say it back together, then take the Colors quiz in the Luuqad app and play Coloring.
Guduud, Buluug, Cagaar, Jaalle, Madow, Cadaan and more. Then take the quiz in the app.