Macro-Somali languages

The Macro-Somali or Somaloid languages, or (in the conception of Bernd Heine, who does not include Baiso), Sam languages, are a branch of the Lowland East Cushitic languages. They are spoken in Somalia, Djibouti, eastern Ethiopia, and northern Kenya. The most widely-spoken member is Somali.

Languages
The primary division is between Baiso and Rendille versus the remaining languages, for which Heine proposes the terms "Eastern Sam" or "Dad".


 * Somaloid
 * Baiso
 * Rendille
 * Eastern Sam
 * Boni
 * Girirra
 * Somali languages

Sound correspondences
The following sound correspondences hold between Rendille, Aweer and Somali:

The Eastern Sam or Dad group is characterized by the following four changes:
 * The voiceless stops *t, *c, *k became voiced *d, *j, *g when following a vowel.
 * Elsewhere, *c becomes a fricative *ʃ.
 * *z > *d.
 * *m > *n at the end of a word.

In Boni, several consonant clusters simplify:
 * *mb, *nɗ, *ng > m, n, ŋ
 * *ns > s
 * *ng before *i > *ndʒ > *nʃ > ʃ