School | Book | Pen | Eraser |
Dugsi | Buug | Qalin | Tirtire |
In Somali, the definite article has several forms, depending on whether the noun is masculine or feminine. Because Somali nouns are 99% gender specific, nouns have either masculine or feminine article. This means nouns such as house, water, group, boat, sun, eye, laughter etc are either masculine or feminine. This is not specific to singular nouns only but this rule applies to plural forms as well. (Many other languages in the world have gendered nouns as well).
Feminine definite articles are -ta, -sha, -da. Example (barta, dusha, hooyada)
Masculine definite articles are :- ka, -ga, -ha, -ca. Example (ninka, guriga, aabaha)
Very few nouns take both forms (Faynuus -> Faynuusta, or Faynuuska -Lamp)
Few other nouns take both forms of articles but the two words are not necessarily the same meaning or tone. (beer ->Beerka , Beerta) Beerka is (the liver) and beerta is (the Farm).
Throughout this chapter, we will use the above fours words (dugsi, buug, qalin & tirtire) in all of our examples, for simplicity reason. At the end of the chapter, you find more examples of the different articles.
Definite Article
Ka/ga/ha | The |
Dugsiga | The school |
Buugga | The book |
Qalinka | The pen |
Tirtiraha | The eraser |
Definite Article – Past
Kii/gii/hii (Lasoo dhaafay) | The (in the Past) |
Dugsigii | The school |
Buuggii | The book |
Qalinkii | The pen |
Tirtirihii | The eraser |
Plural
Jamac | Plural |
Dugsiyaal | Schools |
Buugaag | Books |
Qalimaan | Pens |
Tirtireyaal | Erasers |
Definite Article
Ka/Ta/Sha (Jamac) | The (Plural) |
Dugsiyaalka | Schools |
Buugaagta | Books |
Qalimaanta | Pens |
Tirtireyaalsha | Erasers |
Possessive Article
Kayga/gayga/hayga | My |
Dugsigayga | My school |
Buuggayga | My book |
Qalinkayga | My pen |
Tirtirahayga | My eraser |
Possessive Article – Past
Kaygii/gaygii/haygii (Lasoo dhaafay) | My (in the Past) |
Dugsigaygii | My school |
Buuggaygii | My book |
Qalinkaygii | My pen |
Tirtirihaygii | My eraser |
Demonstrative Adjectives -this + noun
Gaan/kaan/haan | This |
Dugsigaan | This school |
Buuggaan | This book |
Qalinkaan | This pen |
Tirtirahaan | This eraser |
Demonstrative Adjectives -that + noun
Gaas/Kaas/Haas | That |
Dugsigaas | That school. |
Buuggaas | That book. |
Qalinkaas | That pen. |
Tirtirahaas | That eraser. |
Demonstrative Adjectives plural -these + noun
Kaan/Taan | These |
Dugsiyaalkaan | These schools. |
Buugaagtaan | These books. |
Qalinmaantaan | These pens. |
Tirtireyaalkaan | These erasers. |
Demonstrative Adjectives plural -those + noun
Kaas/Taas | Those |
Dugsiyaalkaas | Those schools. |
Buugaagtaas | Those books. |
Qalinmaantaas | Those pens. |
Tirtireyaalkaas | Those erasers. |
Demonstrative Adjectives -this is + noun
Kan waa | This is |
Kan waa dugsi. | This is a school. |
Kan waa buug. | This is a book. |
Kan waa qalin. | This is a pen. |
Kan waa tirtire. | This is an eraser. |
Demonstrative Adjectives -that is + noun
Kaas waa | That is |
Kaas waa dugsi. | That is a school. |
Kaas waa buug. | That is a book. |
Kaas waa qalin. | That is a pen. |
Kaas waa tirtire. | That is an eraser. |
Demonstrative Adjectives -these are + noun
Kuwaan waa | These are |
Kuwaan waa dugsiyaal. | These are schools. |
Kuwaan waa buugaag. | These are books. |
Kuwaan waa qalimaan. | These are pens. |
Kuwaan waa tirtireyaal. | These are erasers. |
Demonstrative Adjectives -those are + noun
Kuwaas waa | Those are |
Kuwaas waa dugsiyaal. | Those are schools. |
Kuwaas waa bugaag. | Those are books. |
Kuwaas waa qalimaan. | Those are pens. |
Kuwaas waa tirtireyaal. | Those are erasers. |
Conjunctions AND/OR
Iyo | And |
Qalin iyo buug | A pen and a book |
Qalimaan iyo bugaag | Pens and books |
Ama | Or |
Qalin ama buug | A pen or a book |
Qalimaan ama bugaag | Pens or books |
More examples
Somali Word | With Article Somali | With Article English |
Meel | Meesha | The place |
Ceel | Ceelka | The well |
Il | Isha | The eye |
Gacan | Gacanta | The hand |
Ganacsi | Ganacsiga | The business |
Shirkad | Shirkada | The company |
Wadan | Wadanka | The country |
Maalin | Maalinta | The day |
Run | Runta | The truth |
Dhib | Dhibka | The problem |
Cunug | Cunuga | The child (M) |
Cunug | Cunugta | The child (F) |
Reer | Reerka | The family |
Qol | Qolka | The room |
Cunto | Cuntada | The food |
Sharci | Sharciga | The law |
Shaqo | Shaqada | The work |
Nolol | Nolosha | The life |
Su’aal | Su’aasha | The question |
Lacag | Lacagta | The money |
Hooyo | Hooyada | The mother |
Dib u soo dhawow! Good post!
Mahadsanid Yusuf.