Family words are the heart of Somali. They are the first words a baby hears and the ones diaspora children hold on to longest, even when the rest of their Somali fades. Hooyo and aabo are not just labels: parents use them back to their children as terms of affection, so a mother will call her daughter "hooyo" too.
Tap a card for the meaning, examples and a native recording.
| Somali | English | Say it | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aabo | Father | AA-bo | |
| Hooyo | Mother | HOO-yo | |
| Aboowe / Walaal | Brother | a-BOO-we | |
| Abaayo / Walaal | Sister | a-BAA-yo | |
| Awoowe | Grandfather | a-WOO-we | |
| Ayeeyo | Grandmother | a-YEE-yo | |
| Adeer | Uncle (father's brother) | a-DEER | |
| Abti | Uncle (mother's brother) | AB-ti | |
| Eedo | Aunt (father's sister) | EE-do | |
| Habaryar / Habo | Aunt (mother's sister) | HA-bar-yar |
Somali is precise about relatives in ways English is not. Your father's brother is adeer while your mother's brother is abti; your father's sister is eedo and your mother's sister is habaryar. Knowing which is which is a small thing that makes elders smile.
This topic is the Family lesson in the Luuqad app: ten words, each with a picture, native audio and a quiz, plus the Family characters that appear across the app's illustrations.
10 entries in the Family 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 Family quiz in the Luuqad app and play Word Match.
Aabo, Hooyo, Aboowe, Abaayo, Awoowe, Ayeeyo and more. Then take the quiz in the app.
