Saho is a language spoken in Ethiopia (mostly in Tigray), Sudan, and Eritrea. It’s a Cushitic language, related to Qafaraf (the Afar language).
The other day, I was looking for a basic Saho vocabulary list, to support some Saho-speaking English-learners. While I found a few dictionaries, and plenty of academic/grammatical analyses, I couldn’t find any sort of basic vocabulary list, organised by topic. So, I made one (based on a few of the dictionaries)! It’s not a complete language guide (not by a loooooong stretch) — but, it’s a start!
Note: I am not a Saho-speaker. If you see anything which needs to be corrected, please let me know in the comments!
KALLAAXE (TRAVEL)
- attobus = bus
- roblaano = airplane
- tikket = ticket
- tsirga = road
- cibri = boat
SAACA (TIME)
- sekkendi = second
- daquiiqha = minute
- saaca = hour
- kado = now
LELLEC (DAY/DATE)
- kumal = yesterday
- kaafa = today
- beera = tomorrow
- erekkaso = the day before yesterday
- beexa = the day after tomorrow
- sanii = Monday
- saluus = Tuesday
- rabac = Wednesday
- xamus = Thursday
- jumcat = Friday
- cindha sambat = Saturday
- naba sambat = Sunday
MAAL (MONEY)
- limo = cost/price
- dago limo = cheap
- qaali = expensive
- foyyah = free (nothing)
- fida = refund
- ikfile = pay
XAWAX (FAMILY)
- abo = grandfather
- aboyya = grandmother
- awkä = girl
- awka = boy
- sacal = brother
- sacla = sister
- ina = mother
- abba = father
CARE (HOUSE)
- carat = bed
- shiquaaqh = toilet
- difeena = chair
- thawla = table
- farnello = stove
- bumba = faucet
- finistira = window
MACAASHA (FOOD)
- baani = bread
- xarich = flour
- lay = water
- kudaar = vegetables
- xazo = meat
- lalim = egg
- daro = fruits
- ruuz = rice
- qurse = breakfast
- dirar = dinner
- dhacamto = snack
- maaddi = meal
avagu press 