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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