 | Chapter 25 - Interrogative and Negative Subject Pronouns |
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Generalities
The preverbal subject pronouns waan, waad, wuu, way, etc., are not fixed as in French, but change their form in interrogative or negative sentences.
They are formed from the interrogative or negative word MA, to which the subject endings are added.
"ma-" is then modified to "miy-" in interrogative forms, and the a of "ma-" is removed in the presence of subject endings in negative forms!
We will see that very often MA is sufficient to mark the interrogation or negation. Example: Ma nabad baa? = How are you? (Is it peace?)
Interrogative Preverbal Pronouns
| Person | ma + subject person | Interrogative Pronoun |
|---|---|---|
| I | ma + aan | -> miyaan |
| You (singular) | ma + aad | -> miyaad |
| He | ma + uu | -> miyuu |
| She | ma + ay | -> miyay |
| We (inclusive) | ma + aynu | -> miyaynu |
| We (exclusive) | ma + aannu | -> miyaannu |
| You (plural) | ma + aydin | -> miyaydin |
| They | ma + ay | -> miyay |
Some examples:
| Dukaanka ma tagtay? = Did you go to the store? | - Yes, I went there. = Yes, I went there. |
| Dukaanka miyaad tagtay? = Did you go to the store? | - Yes, I went there. = Yes, I went there. |
| Dukaanka miyay heshay? = Did she find the store? | - Yes, she found it. = Yes, she found it. |
| Dukaanka miyay heleen? = Did they find the store? | - Yes, they found it. = Yes, they found it. |
| Buuggii miyaad akhriday? = Did you read the book? | - Yes, I read it. = Yes, I read it. |
| Maktabada miyuu galay? = Did he go to the library? | - Yes, he went there. = Yes, he went there. |
| Guriga miyaydin ka baxdeen? = Did you come from the house? | - Yes, we did. = Yes, we did. |
In the examples above, we observe that the complement is placed initially, before the interrogative preverbal pronoun. This complement is generally not repeated in the answers but is implied.
We can also simply use MA when there is no doubt about the person the question is referring to.
Preverbal Negative Subject Pronouns
When the verb does not allow distinguishing the person, the following preverbal negative subject pronouns are used instead of MA. They are slightly different from the interrogative subject pronouns:
| Person | ma + subject person | Negative Pronoun |
|---|---|---|
| I | ma + aan | -> maan |
| You (singular) | ma + aad | -> maad |
| He | ma + uu | -> muu |
| She | ma + ay | -> may |
| We (inclusive) | ma + aynu | -> maynu |
| We (exclusive) | ma + aannu | -> maannu |
| You (plural) | ma + aydin | -> maydin |
| They | ma + ay | -> may |
Examples:
| Anigu ma cuno hilibka doofaarka | I do not eat pork | |
| Isagu ma cuno hilibka doofaarka | He does not eat pork | |
| Aabbahay ma kariso hilib | My father does not cook meat | |
| Hooyoday ma kariso kalluun | My mother does not cook fish | |
| Cali ma cabbo khamri | Ali does not drink wine | |
| Maan jeclayn khamriga | I did not like wine | |
| Maynu jeclayn khamriga | We did not like wine |
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