In Somali, there is not one, but four ways to form the plural of nouns :
- By adding a vowel suffix to the end of the name, usually -o ; -yo ; -oyin or -yaal.
- By reduplicating a monosyllabic noun.
- By making a tonal change on the noun : prosodic plural.
- By adding a complex suffix : irregular plural.
Another feature of Somali is that a number of nouns switch gender when they are plural.
Detailed review of different types of plurals :
- Type 1 - Feminine/Masculine, with -o ending
- Type 2 - Feminine/Masculine, with -oyin ending
- Type 3 - Masculine/Feminine, with -o or -yo ending
- Type 4 - Masculine/Feminine, with -yaal ending
- Type 5 - Masculine/Masculine, with -o or -yo ending
- Type 6 - Masculine/Masculine, with reduplication
- Type 7 - Masculine/Feminine, with tonal change
- Type 8 - Irregular plurals
Type 1 - Feminine in singular, masculine in plural, with "-o" ending
Singular does not end in /-o/.
Plural is formed by adding /-o/ or /-yo/ after /i/.
Singular (absolutive) has high tone on the
last syllable.
Vowel loss occurs in plural if phonological conditions are met.
Vowel loss occurs in plural if phonological conditions are met.
Singular absolute | Plural absolute | Translation |
---|---|---|
káb | kabo | shoe |
náag | naago | woman |
irbád | irbado | needle |
mindí | mindiyo | knife |
nimrád | nimrado | numeral |
gacán | gacmo | hand |
galáb | galbo | afternoon |
madág | madago or madko | fire-stick |
qolóf | qolfo | husk |
Type 2 - Feminine in singular, masculine in plural, with "-oyin" ending
Singular always ends in -o.
Plural is formed by adding /-oyin/.
Both singular and plural have final HL sequence on last two syllables.
Singular absolute | Plural absolute | Translation |
---|---|---|
ayéeyo | ayeeyóoyin | grandmother |
dáwo | dawóoyin | medicine |
éeddo | eeddóoyin | maternal aunt |
hóoyo | hooyóoyin | mother |
magáalo | magaalóoyin | town |
shéeko | sheekóoyin | story |
tálo | talóoyin | decision |
wáddo | waddóoyin | road |
Type 3 - Masculine in singular, feminine in plural, with "-o" ending
Singular is always polysyllabic and does not end in -e.
Plural is formed by adding /-o/ and doubling last consonant if /b/, /d/, /dh/, /l/, /r/, /n/, /m/, or by adding /-yo/ after /i/, /x/, /c/, /q/, and sometimes after /s/ or /g/.
Divided into two subgroups on the basis of tonal behavior :
Type 2a :
This is the majority case.
Singular ends in HL sequence on last two moras
The last two moras can be either one or two syllables ; rest of singular is L.
The last two moras can be either one or two syllables ; rest of singular is L.
Singular absolute | Plural absolute | Translation |
---|---|---|
baabùur | baabuurro | truck |
darìiq | dariiqyo | road |
dísti | distiyo | cooking pot |
dhínac | dhinacyo | side |
muftax | muftaxyo | key |
nácas | nacasyo | fool |
sánnad | sannaddo | year |
wáddan | waddammo | country |
Type 2b :
Not more than 50 words in the language.
Singular has L tone throughout
However, L tone is exceptional in that the last syllable does not lower before a pause.
However, L tone is exceptional in that the last syllable does not lower before a pause.
Singular absolute | Plural absolute | Translation |
---|---|---|
abti | abtiyo | maternal uncle |
durmaan | durmaanno | drum |
gorgor | gorgorro | vulture |
huudhi | huudhiyo | canoe |
markhaati | markhaatiyo | witness |
sambab | sambabbo | lung |
suldaan | suldanno | sultan |
Type 4 - Masculine in singular, feminine in plural, with "-yaal" ending
Singular always ends in -e.
Plural is formed by adding /-yaal/ and changing final /e/ to /a/.
Singular has penultimate-syllable H.
Singular absolute | Plural absolute | Translation |
---|---|---|
áabe | aabayaal | father |
agaasíme | agaasimayaal | director |
báre | barayaal | teacher |
danjíre | danjirayaal | ambassador |
fúre | furayaal | key |
jáalle | jaallayaal | comrade |
madaxwéyne | madaxweynayaal | president |
túke | tukayaal | crow |
xogháye | xoghayayaal | secretary |
Type 5 - Masculine in both singular and plural, with "-o" / "-yo" ending
Singular ends with a consonant, or in -i.
Plural is formed by adding /-o/, or /-yo/ after /i/.
Singular (absolutive) ends in HL sequence on last two moras.
Vowel loss can occur in plural.
Vowel loss can occur in plural.
Singular absolute | Plural absolute | Translation |
---|---|---|
gárab | garbo | shoulder blade |
hílib | hilbo | meat |
ílig | ilko | tooth |
jílib | jilbo | knee |
qódob | qodbo or qodobbo | article |
xádhig | xadhko | rope |
xáraf | xarfo | letter (of the alphabet) |
béri | beryo | day |
gúri | guryo | house |
nàas | naaso | breast |
Type 6 - Masculine in both singular and plural, with reduplication
Singular is always monosyllabic.
Plural is formed by reduplicating the last consonant, preceded by /a/.
Singular (absolutive) has HL pattern if syllable is long, otherwise H.
Singular absolute | Plural absolute | Translation |
---|---|---|
áf | afaf | mouth, language |
bùug | buugag | book |
dáb | dabab | fire |
mìis | miisas | table |
nín | niman | men |
sán | sanan | nose |
tùug | tuugag | thief |
wán | wanan | ram |
xèer | xeerar | traditional law |
xòor | xoorar | ratel (honey badger) |
Type 7 - Masculine in singular, feminine in plural, with tonal change
This type is a small group.
Tone is final HL in singular ; final LH in plural.
Singular absolute | Plural absolute | Translation |
---|---|---|
àwr | áwr | male camel |
bálli | ballí | pond |
Cárab | Caráb | Arab |
díbi | dibí | bull |
èy | éy | dog |
mádax | madáx | head, chief |
órgi | orgí | male goat |
Soomáali | Soomaalí | Somali (person) |
Xabáshi | Xabashí | Ethiopian |
yèy | yéy | wolf |
Type 8 - Irregular plurals
Arabic broken plurals
From the examples given, it seems singular has final HL (moras), plural has final H.
Singular absolute | Plural absolute | Translation |
---|---|---|
búnduq | banaadíiq | rifle |
kúrsi | kuraasí | chair |
márkab | maraakíib | ship |
maxbùus | maxaabíis | prisoner |
May often be given Somali plurals ; for example the noun kúrsi "chair" can be found with the plural form kursiyo.
Rare plurals
Addition of /-an/ or /-aan/ is cited.
From the examples given, it seems singular has final
HL (moras), plural has final H.
Singular absolute | Plural absolute | Translation |
---|---|---|
úgax | ugxáan | egg |
dhágax | dhagxán | stone |
qálin | qalmáan | pen |
May also be found with regular endings : úgax can be treated as a Type 5 noun, qálin can be treated as a Type 3 noun.
An ordered chaos :
After analyzing the different ways to form a plural in Somali, we now propose to "predict" the plural of a noun empirically : for behind the apparent chaos are hidden a few simple rules : bear to mind that a young Somali child is capable of giving the plural of any noun without mistake !
- Don't bother if the noun is masculine or feminine : it doesn't matter at this stage.
- In 90% of cases, a singular noun forms its plural by adding -o or -yo at the end !
- If the singular noun already ends in -o, it forms its plural by adding -oyin.
- If the singular noun ends in -e, it forms its plural by adding -yaal.
- If the singular noun is monosyllabic, it generally forms its plural by reduplication.
- The only difficult cases (no more than 5% of nouns) are nouns that form their plurals by changing the tone, or irregular plurals, but even then, there is often an alternative form in -o !
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