Reviving Somali Grammar (Prefix Conjugations)

[Northern Swordsman]

Reviving Somali Grammar: Prefix-Verbs & M-Nominalization

Somali has some unique grammar features that have faded from everyday use. Two of them are:
• Prefix-conjugated verbs (verbs that use prefixes instead of suffixes)
• The M-prefix (which turns verbs into nouns)

These features still exist, but they aren’t widely used anymore. Let’s bring them back.


1. Prefix-Conjugated Verbs

Somali verbs used to conjugate with prefixes, like “ah” (to be)

Ahay - I am
Tahay - You (sg.) are
Yahay - He/She is
Nahay - We are
Tihiin/Yihiin - You (pl.) / They are

Other verbs followed this pattern too:

aal - to stand, lay

Aalay - I stood / laid
Taalay - You stood / laid
Yaalay - He/She stood / laid
Naalnay - We stood / laid
Taaliin / Yaaliin - You (pl.) / They stood / laid

imaad - to come

Imi / Imaaday - I came
Timi / Timaaday - You came
Yimi / Yimaaday - He/She came
Nimi / Nimaadnay - We came
Timaadeen / Yimaadeen - You (pl.) / They came

This system makes Somali more expressive, but it’s rarely used now.

Why not revive it?

Instead of just cunay (I ate), why not ahmay?

You might wonder why I said ahmay instead of something similar to cun?

Well *aham > *ahan “to eat” is the predecessor of cun which went through a phonological change where archaic aham became ahan and then cun

*aham/*ahan has been preserved in these following words:

Aftahan - eloquence, well spoken person

Aftahmo - same as Aftahan (this words presents the typical Somali shift from m > n taham > tahan)

Geestahan - disease that causes itching

In Somali there is also a common pattern that h > Ø as in *aham/ahan > ohom/ohon > aam/aan > oom/oon words indicating this are as follows:

Geestahan has another variation geestaan (clearly depicting the h > Ø)

Ohon - grain, food
Oon - thirst, also food and drink
Oomati - food

Now that we cleared and understood that this prefix conjugation was / is pretty common in certain verbs we could revive them with this example (that already exist but aren’t really use)

ahan - I eat
Tahan - you eat
Yahan - he eats
Tahan - she eats
Nahan - we eat
Tahanaan - (2p.) you eat
Yahanaan - (3p.) they eat


The same is also with *cab “to drink” we already have evidence of it’s prefix conjugation

As in Dhiigyacab - blood drinker

Yacab - he drinks

If we use the same structure we can reconstruct the following forms

Acab - I drink (Im leaning towards cab > cabay sticking to the ah > ahay form)
Tacab - you drink
Yacab - he drinks
Tacab - she drinks
Nacab - we drink
Tacabaan - you drink
Yacabaan - they drink

With the *cabay form ( made up reconstruction by me)

Cabay- I drink
Tacabay - you drink
Yacabay - he drinks
Tacabay - she drinks
Nacabay - we drink
Tacibiin - you drink (from tihiin>tacibiin or ticibiin)
Yacibiin - they drink



Instead of wuu dhintay (he died), why not yamuuday? You might ask why yamuuday?

This an attested (in some regions still used) form of using the verb to die, we often use dhintay.

There are two forms attest for this word. It’s noun is Umaad meaning Geeri ie death

This form *umaad and *amuud are both present in words derived from them examples:

Tummaati - weapon
Tammooti - deadly wound

Both these forms derive from from *amuud and *umaad

Umaad > tummaad > tummaati
Amuud > tammood > tamooti

The -ti suffixes in these words are pretty common in Somali (I’m not sure for the southern dialects but they’re very common in the north)

Essentially this -ti suffix forms a verb into an agent noun, example:

Qax to “flee or evacuate” > Qaxooti “refugees, evacuees”

Gashaan “lover” > Gashaanti “marriageable girl”

Arag “to see” > Aragti “view point, opinion etc”

You get the point.

Now back to *umaad and *amuud, they become:

*umaad

Umaad - I die
Tumaad - you die
Yumaad - he dies
Tumaad - she dies
Numaad - We die
Tamuudaan - you die (also Tumaadiin)
Yumaadaan - they die (Yumaadiin)


*amuud

Amuud - I die
Tamuud - you die
Yamuud - he dies
Tamuud - she dies
Namuud - We die
Tamuudaan - you die (also Tamuudiin)
Yamudaan - they die (Yamuudiin)

This verb *amuud / *umaad is considerably very easy to reconstruct since we’ve already a similar verb that we use daily, namely *imaad

Imaadaa - I come
Timaadaa - you come
Yimaadaa - he comes
Timaadaa - she comes
Nimaadnaa - we come
Timaadaan - you come
Yimaadaan - they come

The last one I’d like to present is *awood and *uwaad meaning “to be able, can”. There are attested forms of the later usage of this verb than the first one. This verb in its form *awood is common in the north while *uwaad is common in central and southern regions.

Uwaad - I can,
Tuwaad - you can
Yuwaad - he can
Tuwaad - she can
Nuwaad - we can
Tuwaadaan - you can (Tuwaadiin)
Yuwaadaan - they can (Yuwaadiin)

Northern variant would be *awood

Awoodaa - I can
Tawoodaa - you can
Yawoodaa - he can
Tawoodaa - she can
Nawoodnaa - we can
Tawoodaan - you can
Yawoodaan - they can

One instance I personally stumbled upon is from a religious paper I was reading, it mentions:

It’s pretty wild and sad at the same time that we are letting such beautiful grammatical features vanish in vain. I hope I could inspire a spark of interest in this topic and if needed I’ve made a word document listing the prefix derived verbs I could find and some I “reconstructed” myself.

Well let’s continue with another topic which is also of interest here.


2. The M-Prefix: Turning Verbs into Nouns

Another Somali feature is the M-prefix, which turns verbs into nouns—especially for tools, places, or people.


Attested words (I did not reconstruct)

arag (to see) → marag (witness, evidence)
geli (to enter, put in) → magli (dagger)
quus (to dive, submerge) → maquus (diver)

Many of these words still exist, but some have been lost. We could revive more (I reconstructed the last word shiid) :


rog (to turn, twist) → maroog (crookedness, deformity)
kab (to restore, repair) → makaab (well frame)
shiid (to grind) → mashiid (grinding tool)

This is a native Somali feature, just like how Arabic has masjid (mosque) from sajada (to prostrate). Not only Arabic also other Cushitic languages such as Saho which has Oocobe (to drink) related to Somali cab has the m-prefix Macaba (beverage or drink). These features have always been part of our language, we should reclaim them and revive them.

Why Does This Matter?

Somali has unique grammar that makes it different from other languages. If we don’t use these forms, they’ll disappear completely.

We can bring them back by:
• Using them in speech & writing
• Teaching them in schools
• Encouraging poets & writers to use them

Languages change, but we don’t have to lose what makes Somali special.

Would anyone like to see these forms return?
Let me know!

 

[Arabsiyawi]

aal - to stand, lay

Aalay - I stood / laid
Taalay - You stood / laid
Yaalay - He/She stood / laid
Naalnay - We stood / laid
Taaliin / Yaaliin - You (pl.) / They stood / laid

This only exists with its third person pronouns, since it's only used for inanimate objects.
And the "ay" at the end here usually signals the past tense.
As in
"waay taalay" > "it (fem) was [there]"
vs
"Waay taalaa" > "it (fem) is [there]"

Btw, just like "to say" it can also be conjugated using suffix conjugation. From time to time I hear my parents use it, especially in iterrogations or negations. It takes the form of "ool" instead of "aal"

1

Spoiler

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

Why Does This Matter?

2

Spoiler

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

1] Afar has the same root for to drink and eat and uses suffix conjugation for both.
To eat is "akm" and not "ahm". Tbh the /c/ could've been the original as well since it sounds very much like an onomatopoeia, just like "cab/cub". "Ahm" is convincing enough for the somali root

2] Saaxib I used to think that Af Somali was just vibes before but then I dived into a grammar book I got in Djibouti and it made so much sense.

Unrelated but have you ever noticed how nouns change gender when they take their plural form ? 0 exceptions to this rule

 

[Midas]

Reviving Somali Grammar: Prefix-Verbs & M-Nominalization

Somali has some unique grammar features that have faded from everyday use. Two of them are:
• Prefix-conjugated verbs (verbs that use prefixes instead of suffixes)
• The M-prefix (which turns verbs into nouns)

These features still exist, but they aren’t widely used anymore. Let’s bring them back.


1. Prefix-Conjugated Verbs

Somali verbs used to conjugate with prefixes, like “ah” (to be)

Ahay - I am
Tahay - You (sg.) are
Yahay - He/She is
Nahay - We are
Tihiin/Yihiin - You (pl.) / They are

Other verbs followed this pattern too:

aal - to stand, lay

Aalay - I stood / laid
Taalay - You stood / laid
Yaalay - He/She stood / laid
Naalnay - We stood / laid
Taaliin / Yaaliin - You (pl.) / They stood / laid

imaad - to come

Imi / Imaaday - I came
Timi / Timaaday - You came
Yimi / Yimaaday - He/She came
Nimi / Nimaadnay - We came
Timaadeen / Yimaadeen - You (pl.) / They came

This system makes Somali more expressive, but it’s rarely used now.

Why not revive it?

Instead of just cunay (I ate), why not ahmay?

You might wonder why I said ahmay instead of something similar to cun?

Well *aham > *ahan “to eat” is the predecessor of cun which went through a phonological change where archaic aham became ahan and then cun

*aham/*ahan has been preserved in these following words:

Aftahan - eloquence, well spoken person

Aftahmo - same as Aftahan (this words presents the typical Somali shift from m > n taham > tahan)

Geestahan - disease that causes itching

In Somali there is also a common pattern that h > Ø as in *aham/ahan > ohom/ohon > aam/aan > oom/oon words indicating this are as follows:

Geestahan has another variation geestaan (clearly depicting the h > Ø)

Ohon - grain, food
Oon - thirst, also food and drink
Oomati - food

Now that we cleared and understood that this prefix conjugation was / is pretty common in certain verbs we could revive them with this example (that already exist but aren’t really use)

ahan - I eat
Tahan - you eat
Yahan - he eats
Tahan - she eats
Nahan - we eat
Tahanaan - (2p.) you eat
Yahanaan - (3p.) they eat


The same is also with *cab “to drink” we already have evidence of it’s prefix conjugation

As in Dhiigyacab - blood drinker

Yacab - he drinks

If we use the same structure we can reconstruct the following forms

Acab - I drink (Im leaning towards cab > cabay sticking to the ah > ahay form)
Tacab - you drink
Yacab - he drinks
Tacab - she drinks
Nacab - we drink
Tacabaan - you drink
Yacabaan - they drink

With the *cabay form ( made up reconstruction by me)

Cabay- I drink
Tacabay - you drink
Yacabay - he drinks
Tacabay - she drinks
Nacabay - we drink
Tacibiin - you drink (from tihiin>tacibiin or ticibiin)
Yacibiin - they drink



Instead of wuu dhintay (he died), why not yamuuday? You might ask why yamuuday?

This an attested (in some regions still used) form of using the verb to die, we often use dhintay.

There are two forms attest for this word. It’s noun is Umaad meaning Geeri ie death

This form *umaad and *amuud are both present in words derived from them examples:

Tummaati - weapon
Tammooti - deadly wound

Both these forms derive from from *amuud and *umaad

Umaad > tummaad > tummaati
Amuud > tammood > tamooti

The -ti suffixes in these words are pretty common in Somali (I’m not sure for the southern dialects but they’re very common in the north)

Essentially this -ti suffix forms a verb into an agent noun, example:

Qax to “flee or evacuate” > Qaxooti “refugees, evacuees”

Gashaan “lover” > Gashaanti “marriageable girl”

Arag “to see” > Aragti “view point, opinion etc”

You get the point.

Now back to *umaad and *amuud, they become:

*umaad

Umaad - I die
Tumaad - you die
Yumaad - he dies
Tumaad - she dies
Numaad - We die
Tamuudaan - you die (also Tumaadiin)
Yumaadaan - they die (Yumaadiin)


*amuud

Amuud - I die
Tamuud - you die
Yamuud - he dies
Tamuud - she dies
Namuud - We die
Tamuudaan - you die (also Tamuudiin)
Yamudaan - they die (Yamuudiin)

This verb *amuud / *umaad is considerably very easy to reconstruct since we’ve already a similar verb that we use daily, namely *imaad

Imaadaa - I come
Timaadaa - you come
Yimaadaa - he comes
Timaadaa - she comes
Nimaadnaa - we come
Timaadaan - you come
Yimaadaan - they come

The last one I’d like to present is *awood and *uwaad meaning “to be able, can”. There are attested forms of the later usage of this verb than the first one. This verb in its form *awood is common in the north while *uwaad is common in central and southern regions.

Uwaad - I can,
Tuwaad - you can
Yuwaad - he can
Tuwaad - she can
Nuwaad - we can
Tuwaadaan - you can (Tuwaadiin)
Yuwaadaan - they can (Yuwaadiin)

Northern variant would be *awood

Awoodaa - I can
Tawoodaa - you can
Yawoodaa - he can
Tawoodaa - she can
Nawoodnaa - we can
Tawoodaan - you can
Yawoodaan - they can

One instance I personally stumbled upon is from a religious paper I was reading, it mentions:
View attachment 356219

View attachment 356220

It’s pretty wild and sad at the same time that we are letting such beautiful grammatical features vanish in vain. I hope I could inspire a spark of interest in this topic and if needed I’ve made a word document listing the prefix derived verbs I could find and some I “reconstructed” myself.

Well let’s continue with another topic which is also of interest here.


2. The M-Prefix: Turning Verbs into Nouns

Another Somali feature is the M-prefix, which turns verbs into nouns—especially for tools, places, or people.


Attested words (I did not reconstruct)

arag (to see) → marag (witness, evidence)
geli (to enter, put in) → magli (dagger)
quus (to dive, submerge) → maquus (diver)

Many of these words still exist, but some have been lost. We could revive more (I reconstructed the last word shiid) :


rog (to turn, twist) → maroog (crookedness, deformity)
kab (to restore, repair) → makaab (well frame)
shiid (to grind) → mashiid (grinding tool)

This is a native Somali feature, just like how Arabic has masjid (mosque) from sajada (to prostrate). Not only Arabic also other Cushitic languages such as Saho which has Oocobe (to drink) related to Somali cab has the m-prefix Macaba (beverage or drink). These features have always been part of our language, we should reclaim them and revive them.

Why Does This Matter?

Somali has unique grammar that makes it different from other languages. If we don’t use these forms, they’ll disappear completely.

We can bring them back by:
• Using them in speech & writing
• Teaching them in schools
• Encouraging poets & writers to use them

Languages change, but we don’t have to lose what makes Somali special.

Would anyone like to see these forms return?
Let me know!

This is definitely something I've thought about. Not prefix conjugation exactly. But how we can preserve this massive amount of culutral knowledge around poetry,lanaguge,folklore etc. Especially now that Somalis have urbanized and the traditional context in which this stuff was passed down and propagated no longer exists.

What we have to do is codify this knowledge and also put into a form that can be taught and isn't irrelevant/arcane. Sort of like how a lot of pre civil war songs adapted old words/poems . What we essentially need to do is what the early islamic grammarians and philogists did with arabic where they codified and systemized the previously oral knowledge of the bedouin arans and transformed it into the rules of lanaguge and poetry and wrote books and composed anthologies on it that could be taught.

Just like there's a western Canon and a cannon of Chinese classics. We also need to create our own written form of a Canon. This is a massive undertaking that has to be done by the govt . It requires hundred maybe even thousands of people to do this.

 

[Maakhri2024]

Reviving Somali Grammar: Prefix-Verbs & M-Nominalization

Somali has some unique grammar features that have faded from everyday use. Two of them are:
• Prefix-conjugated verbs (verbs that use prefixes instead of suffixes)
• The M-prefix (which turns verbs into nouns)

These features still exist, but they aren’t widely used anymore. Let’s bring them back.

Very important and wonderful topic, thank you for this.
FYI, I was willing to write on this particular topic, but I no longer have the enthusiasm to write in this forum because they do not have enough language skills to understand what I write.
I think I am in my own league.
but guess what if a cadaan or shisheeye person wrote what I write, you would see that they would be impressed by it .

I will write my comments later.

 

[Maakhri2024]

Instead of just cunay ( I ate ) , why not ahmay ?

You might wonder why I said ahmay instead of something similar to cun?

Well *aham > *ahan “to eat” is the predecessor of cun which went through a phonological change where archaic aham became ahan and then cun .

cun / cm is an ancient word .

Have you heard of the ancient Egyptian goddess called
Ammit ( ꜥm-mwt ) ?

Ammit ( ꜥm-mwt ) : "The eater of the dead" a figure in ancient Egyptian mythology .


in Egyptian, the forearm 𓂝 stands for the sound ꜥ " c / ع " .

in Egyptian, the owl 𓅓 stands for the sound “ m / م ” .

ꜥm " 𓂝 𓅓 " = cam mawt / cun / عم .

ꜥm-mwt = cam mawt / cun mawt : means eater of the dead .

cam / cun = ham / han .

in semitic languages cum / cun became kul .

c ↔ k / g ,
m / n ↔ L .
cum / cun ↔ kul .

if you look at this ancient Egyptians hieroglyphs
ꜥm " 𓂝 𓅓 " .
the forearm 𓂝 which stands for the sound ꜥ " c / ع " ,
can be read as a gacan / kacan in Somali language ,
while the owl 𓅓 stands for the sound “ m / م ” .
m / n and L are interchangeable .
so ꜥm " 𓂝 𓅓 " could be read as kum / kul .
cum / cun ↔ kul .

afka geley → kul / cum / cun .


Also, if you read this figure " 𓂝 𓅓 " from left to right,
you start by reading the owl 𓅓 image first,
then the arm 𓂝 image .
The owl 𓅓 is called " Guumeys " in Somali .
so The owl 𓅓 = m / g .
m ↔ k / g ,
c and L are interchangeable .
c ↔ L .
kꜥ "𓅓 𓂝 " could be read as kum / kul .

 

[gasara]

cun / cm is an ancient word .

Have you heard of the ancient Egyptian goddess called
Ammit ( ꜥm-mwt ) ?

Ammit ( ꜥm-mwt ) : "The eater of the dead" a figure in ancient Egyptian mythology .


in Egyptian, the forearm 𓂝 stands for the sound ꜥ " c / ع " .

in Egyptian, the owl 𓅓 stands for the sound “ m / م ” .

ꜥm " 𓂝 𓅓 " = cam mawt / cun / عم .

ꜥm-mwt = cam mawt / cun mawt : means eater of the dead .

cam / cun = ham / han .

in semitic languages cum / cun became kul .

c ↔ k ,
m / n ↔ L .
cum / cun ↔ kul .

if you look at this ancient Egyptians hieroglyphs
ꜥm " 𓂝 𓅓 " .
the forearm 𓂝 which stands for the sound ꜥ " c / ع " ,
can be read as a gacan / kacan in Somali language ,
while the owl 𓅓 stands for the sound “ m / م ” .
m / n and L are interchangeable .
so ꜥm " 𓂝 𓅓 " could be read as kum / kul .
cum / cun ↔ kul .

afka geley → kul / cum / cun .


Also, if you read this figure " 𓂝 𓅓 " from left to right,
you start by reading the owl 𓅓 image first,
then the arm 𓂝 image .
The owl 𓅓 is called " Guumeys " in Somali .
so The owl 𓅓 = m / g .
m ↔ k / g ,
c and L are interchangeable .
c ↔ L .
kꜥ "𓅓 𓂝 " could be read as kum / kul .





View attachment 356360

View attachment 356362

Howd you gain such immense knowledge on this? I wanna be like you.

 

[𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒔𐒖𐒕𐒈]

Very important and wonderful topic, thank you for this.
FYI, I was willing to write on this particular topic, but I no longer have the enthusiasm to write in this forum because they do not have enough language skills to understand what I write.
I think I am in my own league.
but guess what if a cadaan or shisheeye person wrote what I write, you would see that they would be impressed by it .

I will write my comments later.

Oh come on, do not give up. You are a skilled linguist. Think of sSpot as a platform to serialise / present your research till you could publish it for wider audience.

 

[Maakhri2024]

Howd you gain such immense knowledge on this? I wanna be like you.

Honestly, what helped me was that I studied the Arabic language intensively, as I grew up in an Arab country.

After that, I learned Hebrew and Aramaic to study the Torah in its original language
( do not think I am a Christian or a Jew ) .

After that, I studied the ancient Egyptian language because I admire the ancient Egyptian civilization.

What shocked me, however, was the extent of the similarity between these ancient languages and the Somali language and how surprisingly ancient our Somali language is.

This is the effort of years of learning.

You have to love and enjoy what you are studying.

 

[Maakhri2024]

Instead of just cunay (I ate), why not ahmay?

You might wonder why I said ahmay instead of something similar to cun?

Well *aham > *ahan “to eat” is the predecessor of cun which went through a phonological change where archaic aham became ahan and then cun .

gacan / kacan in Somali language comes from :
ku cun → kacan → gacan .

or from : tan lagu cuno .
gacan / kacan waa tan lagu cuno .

t → k / g ,
tan lagu cuno → tacan → kacan → gacan .
For this reason , “gacan” is a feminine noun in Somali.
gacan , gacanta .

Ṣaḥan ( صَحْن ) / Saxan means : bowl, plate.

Ṣaḥan ( صَحْن ) / Saxan waa midka wax lagu cuno .
Ṣaḥan ( صَحْن ) / Saxan is the one on which food is eaten .
Ṣaḥan ( صَحْن ) / Saxan waa kan lagu cuno .

Shenshena ( الشِّنْشِنَةُ ) is an ancient phonetic phenomenon in which the letter K " ك " is changed to the letter š " sh / ش " .

الشِّنْشِنَةُ ظاهرة صوتية قديمة وهي قلب الكاف شينًا
k → s / sh .
ḥ " x / ح " ↔ c / ع .
ku → šu → su .
ku cun → šacan " shacan " → sacan → ṣaḥan " saxan " .

or from : kan lagu cuno ,
somebody could say : " ii keen kan lagu cuno " ,
kan lagu cuno → šacan " shacan " → sacan → ṣaḥan " saxan " .
For this reason, " ṣaḥan / saxan " is a masculine noun in Somali and in Semitic languages .
saxan , saxanka .