Person | With definite article | Subject form | +CONJ | Short form (with optative) |
1 sing. | aniga | anigu | an(i) | an |
2 sing. | adiga | adigu | ad(i) | ad |
3 sing. masc. | isaga | isagu | is(a) | ha |
3 sing. fem. | iyada | iyadu | iya | ha |
1 pl. exclusive | annaga | annagu | anna | annu |
1 pl. inclusive | innaga | innagu | inna | aynu |
2 pl. | idinka | idinku | idin | ad |
3 pl. | iyaga | iyagu | iya | ha |
All independent pronouns are masculine except for iyada 'she, her' which is feminine.
The forms listed in the column labelled +CONJ omit the determiner suffix and sometimes the final vowel. In most dialects they only occur with certain conjunctions (-na 'and', -se 'but'), or with the focus marker baa, and only in some combinations with these. Examples:
Anna waan arkey.
'I also saw (it).'
Adna waad aragtey. 'You also
saw (it).'
Isna wuu arkay.
'He also saw (it).'
Iyana way aragtey. 'She also
saw (it).'
Annana waannu aragney. 'We (exl.) also saw (it).'
Innana weynu aragney. 'We (incl.) also saw (it).'
Idinna weydin aragteen. 'You (pl.) also saw (it).'
Iyana wey arkeen. 'They
also saw (it).'
Aninase? 'But how about me?'
(also anise?)
Adinase? 'But how about you?'
(also adise?)
Isnase? 'But how about him?'
Iyanase? 'But how about her?'
Annanase? 'But how about us (excl.)?'
Innanase? 'But how about us (incl.)?'
Idinnase? 'But how about you (pl.)?' (also
idinse?)
Iyanase? 'But how about
them?'
Adna suuqa buu
kugu arkay. 'He also saw you at the market
(trans?)'
ad+ na suuqa baa uu ku+ ku arkay
you and market FOCUS he you at saw.
Anaa tegey. 'It is I who went.' [from
an(i) + baa]
Adaa tegey. 'It is you who went.' [from ad(i)
+ baa]
(only 1st and 2nd singular pronouns can be contracted in focus
constructions).
Apparently all of the above examples could also have the full pronoun forms, e.g. aniganase? in place of aninase?
Special pronoun forms are used as optative subjects, as exemplified below. These in fact should probably be treated as "verbal pronouns".
Cuntada keen ee an cuno
'Bring the food so I may eat (it).'
Cuntada keen ee ad cuntid '
. . .
you . . . '
Cuntada keen ee ha cuno
' . . .
he . . . '
Cuntada keen ee ha cunto
' . . .
she . . . '
Cuntada keen ee annu cunno ' . .
. we
(incl.) . . . '
Cuntada keen ee aynu cunno ' . .
. we
(excl.) . . . '
Cuntada keen ee aydin cunteen ' . . .
you (pl.) . . . '
Cuntada keen ee ha cuneen '
. . .
they . . . '
Sentence | Subject Pronoun | Object Pronoun
(first series) |
Locatives | Negative | Deictics | Object Pronoun
(second series) |
Verb |
1. | aan | ku | arkay | ||||
2. | aan | ku | ku | arkay | |||
3. | uu | ku | soo | noqday | |||
4. | uu | na | u | soo | kaa | diray | |
5. | ay | na | u-ka | qaadeen | |||
6. | (*) | i | u | ma | soo | iibinin |
In examples 1-5 above, the subject verbal pronoun follows (and coalesces
with) the positive declarative classifier w(aa).
The negative ma may occur with a subject verbal pronoun in the
place of waa, but more often the pronoun is omitted in the negative
and ma occurs in the position indicated.
Cf. the page on locative and deictic preverbal particles.
1 sing. | aan |
2 sing. | aad |
3 sing. masc. | uu |
3 sing. fem. | ay |
1 pl. excl. | aannu (aan) |
1 pl. incl. | aynu |
2 pl. | aydin (aad) |
3 pl. | ay |
1 sing. | i |
2 sing. | ku |
3 sing. masc. | - |
3 sing. fem. | - |
1 pl. excl. | na |
1 pl. incl. | ina |
2 pl. | idin |
3 pl. | - |
The second series of object pronouns is:
1 sing. | kay |
2 sing. | kaa |
3 sing. masc. | - |
3 sing. fem. | - |
1 pl. excl. | kayo |
1 pl. incl. | keen |
2 pl. | kiin |
3 pl. | - |
There are no 3rd person object pronouns in either series -- when a transitive verb (or a verbal particle) lacks an overt object or object pronoun, a third person pronoun (vague as to gender and number) is assumed.
Note that this implied pronoun is NOT an indefinite -- if an indefinite meaning is intended, it must be explicitly signaled:
Wuu arkay. 'He saw it/him/her/them.' NOT 'He saw something.'
Wax buu
arkay. 'He saw something,' or 'It was something that he saw.'
wax baa uu arkay
something FOCUS he saw
The second-series pronouns are used when a second (overt) object pronoun is needed and there is already a first-series pronoun. However, apparently the order of association of object pronoun types with verbal arguments is free, so that:
Ilaah baa na kaa siiyey.
God FOCUS us you gave.
can mean either "God gave you to us" or "God gave us to you."
This is said to be true even when one of the arguments is a verbal object and the other a pronominal object:
Way iga
kiin qaadeen.
waa ay i ka kiin
qaadeen
CLASS they me from you(pl.) took
Way idinka
kay qaadeen
waa ay idin ka
kay qaadeen
CLASS they you(pl.) from me took
are both said to be able to mean either "they took me from you" or "they
took you from me", according to Saeed, though "some speakers prefer ...
the indirect object ... in the second series form, while others prefer
... the direct object ... in the second series form. The difference may,
in part, be dialectal, but learners should be aware of both possibilities."
-ay | 1 sg. |
-aa | 2 sg. |
-iis | 3 sg. masc. |
-eed | 3 sg. fem. |
-aya | 1 pl. excl. |
-een | 1 pl. incl. |
-iin | 2 pl. |
-ood | 3 pl. |
They occur in the postnominal determiner string, and will always be preceded the gender agreement markers /-k-/ masc. or /-t-/ fem.
For (certain?) cases of inalienable possession, this may be all: ninkeed
'her husband', abbahaa 'your father'. However, other possessives
must be followed by a form of the definite articles ka/ta kii/tii:
-kayga | -tayda | 1 sg. |
-kaaga | -taada | 2 sg. |
-kiisa | -tiisa | 3 sg. masc. |
-keeda | -teeda | 3 sg. fem. |
-kayaga | -tayaga | 1 pl. excl. |
-keenna | -teenna | 1 pl. incl. |
-kiinna | -tinna | 2 pl. |
-kooda | -tooda | 3 pl. |
Examples:
Magacaa?
[What's] your name?
Magacaygu waa X. My name is X. (-u here is the subject
marker)
Magaciis?
[What's] his name?
Magaciisu waa X. His name is X.
Magaceed?
[What's] her name?
Magaceedu waa X. Her name is X.
Shandad
suitcase
Shandadda
the suitcase
Shandado
suitcases
Shandadaha the
suitcases
Shandaddaada your suitcase
Shandadahaaga your suitcases
Shandadahaygii my suitcases (previously
discussed)
Cases of inalienable possession may at least sometimes optionally have definite articles appended. Whether these are morphophonologically regular or not is unclear.
Some Somali possessive constructions have no counterparts in (modern)
English, especially those that act as the functional equivalent of genitives
or postpositions.