 | Chapter 44 - Interrogative Words |
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Generalities
There are numerous interrogative words in Somali. We will see that a question such as "who?" can be asked in multiple ways.
However, we can distinguish 2 main categories of interrogative words:
- Simple interrogative words that we shall call "interrogative interjections," which are used without a verb.
- Interrogative pronouns that are used with a verb and often take subject pronoun endings for different persons.
Interrogative Interjections
1. The question with MEEYEEY, MEEDEY, and AAWAY = "where?"
Meeyey? Meedey? and Aaway? are invariable and are often used when looking for a person, an animal, or a lost object, etc. They can be placed before or after the noun. However, when it comes to people, Meeyey? is preferably used for a male, Meedey? for a female, and Aaway? for several people.
Examples:
| Meedey hooyaday? | Where is my mother? |
| Casha meedey? | Where is Aïcha? |
| Meeyeey Cali? | Where is Ali? |
| Aaway ilmaha? | Where are the children? |
| Meedey furahaygi? | Where is my key? |
| kursiga meeyey? | Where is the chair? |
| Aaway bisadaydi? | Where is my cat? |
2. The question with WAAYO = "why?"
Waayo? is invariable and is used alone, often in reaction to given information:
Examples:
| Maxamed waa maqan yahay. - Waayo? |
Mohamed is absent. - Why? |
| Diyaaradii way daahday. - Waayo? |
The plane is late. - Why? |
3. The question with AYO = "who?" :
Ayo? is invariable and is used alone, often to obtain additional information:
Examples:
| Waxaan arkay Maxamed sakaa. - Ayo? - Maxamed. |
I saw Mohamed this morning. - Who? - Mohamed |
| Magacaygu waa Cali. - Cali ayo? - Cali Xasan. |
My name is Ali. - Ali who? - Ali Hassan. |
4. The question with KEE or TEE = "what?" :
Kee and Tee are used alone, as interjections.
We use Kee if the question is about a masculine person or object and Tee for a feminine person or object.
Examples:
| Baabuurka ayaan jabiyay. - Kee? |
I broke the car. - What? |
| Casho way wayday laccaagteedii. - Tee? |
Aisha lost her money. - What? |
5. The question with SABABTA = "why?", "for what reason?" :
The simple form SABAB is often used in conversation to specify information.
For example: "Baabuurku wuu jabay." - "Sabab?" = "The car broke down." - "Why?". We could also use Waayo in this case.
Examples with Sababta:
| Sababta sonkor lo'aan u jirto? | Why is there no sugar? |
| Sababta tareenku u dahay? | Why is the train late? |
6. The question with IMMISA = "how much?" :
IMMISA is often used in commercial exchanges to ask "how much" or "what quantity".
An equivalent expression used in Southern Somalia is MEEQA?.
Examples:
| Waa immisa sonkor? | How much is the sugar? (what price?) |
| Meeqa moos? | How many bananas? (do you want?) |
We also saw that IMMISA is used to ask for the time:
Saacadu waa immisa? or Waa immisadii? = what time is it?
7. The question with INTEE = "how much?", "how long?" :
INTEE is used like IMMISA and MEEQA in commercial exchanges to ask "how much" or "what quantity", and also depending on the context to ask "how long".
Examples:
| Waa intee muusku? | How many bananas? (do you want?) |
| Intee baad joogaysaa? | How long will you stay? |
8. The question with SIDEE = "how?", "in what way?"
Sidee is invariable. It means "how", "in what way", "in what manner".
Examples:
| Sidee tahay? | How are you? |
| Sidee tihiin? | How are you all? |
| Sidee ku timid magaalada? | How did you come to the city? |
| Sidee ku karisay biyaha? | How did you boil the water? |
Interrogative Pronouns
1. The question with HALKEE / XAGGEE = "where?"
To ask "where?" in Somali, we use the words Halkee (= where?) or Xaggee (= where, in which direction?).
Since they are pronouns, Halkee et Xaggee take subject person endings, which gives the following interrogative pronouns :
| Person | HALKEE | XAGGEE | |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | + aan | HALKEEN | XAGGEEN |
| You | + aad | HALKEED | XAGGEED |
| He | + uu | HALKUU | XAGGUU |
| She | + ay | HALKAY | XAGGEY |
| We | + aannu | HALKEEN | XAGGEEN |
| You | + aydin | HALKEED | XAGGEED |
| They | + ay | HALKAY | XAGGAY |
Examples:
| Halkeed ka timid? | Where are you from? |
| Halkuu ka yimid? | Where does he come from? |
| Xaggeed u socotaa ? | Where are you going? |
| Xaawo xaggey u socotaa ? | Where's Hawa going? |
| Maxamad xagguu u socotaa? | Where's Mohamed going? |
| Halkay bay joogtaa? | Where is she? |
| Waa xaggee suuqu? | Where is the market? (in which direction...) |
| Waa xaggee dugsigu? | Where is the school? (in which direction...) |
In the last 2 examples, we see that the place being sought is indeed the subject of the sentence and must be in the subject case: suuquu (= the market); dugsigu (= the school). The same applies to any other place: masaajidku (= the mosque); tooyladku (= the toilets); jaamacaddu (= the university); hudeelku (= the hotel or restaurant), etc.
We can also reverse the word order: Suuqu waa xaggee?; Dugsigu waa xaggee?, etc...
2. The question with GOORMAA = "when?"
To ask "when?" in Somali, we use the interrogative pronoun Goormaa.
Goormaa as a pronoun carries the mark of different persons.
It is actually composed of goormaa + subject pronoun, which gives the following interrogative pronouns:
| Person | GOORMAA | |
|---|---|---|
| I | + aan | GOORMAAN |
| You | + aad | GOORMAAD |
| He | + uu | GOORMUU |
| She | + ay | GOORMAY |
| We (Excl.) | + aannu | GOORMAANNU |
| We (Incl.) | + aynu | GOORMAYNU |
| You (Plural) | + aydin | GOORMAYDIN |
| They | + ay | GOORMAY |
Examples:
| Goormaad tagaysaa? | When are you leaving? |
| Goormuu tagayaa? | When is he leaving? |
| Goormay tegi doontaa? | When will she leave? |
| Gormay yimaaddeen? | When did they come? |
For more emphasis, we can also use the simple interrogative word goormaa with the focus marker ayaa for different persons:
Examples:
| Goormaa ayuu baxaa? | When is he leaving? |
| Goormaa ayay tegi doontaa? | When will she leave? |
| Gormaa ayay baxayaan? | When are they leaving? |
3. The question with MAXAA... U = "why?"
Maxaa... u as a pronoun carries the mark of different persons.
It is generally used in sentences with a verb.
It is actually composed of maxaa + subject pronoun, which gives the following interrogative pronouns:
| Person | MAXAA | |
|---|---|---|
| I | + aan | MAXAAN |
| You | + aad | MAXAAD |
| He | + uu | MUXUU |
| She | + ay | MAXAY |
| We (Excl.) | + aannu | MAXAANNU |
| We (Incl.) | + aynu | MAXAYNU |
| You | + aydin | MAXAYDIN |
| They | + ay | MAXAAY |
Examples:
| Maxaad sheegtay? | What's up? (What are you saying?) |
| Maxaad u daahday? | Why are you late? |
| Maxaad shaqo u rabtaa? | Why do you want a job? |
| Muxuu u tegi doonaa? | Why will he leave? |
4. The question with YAA = "who?" :
Yaa keeps its basic form when it's the subject of the question:
Examples:
| Yaa ku booqday? | Who visited you? |
| Yaa joogá? | Who is there? |
| Yaa kuu keenay cuntada? | Who brought you the food? |
However, Yaa takes subject pronoun endings when it's not the subject of the question:
| Person | YAA | |
|---|---|---|
| I | + aan | YAAN |
| You | + aad | YAAD |
| He | + uu | YUU |
| She | + ay | YAY |
| We (Excl.) | + aannu | YAANNU |
| We (Incl.) | + aynu | YAYNU |
| You | + aydin | YAYDIN |
| They | + ay | YAY |
Examples:
| Yaad aragtay? - Casha baan arkay. | Who did you see? - I saw Aisha. |
| Yaad la hadlaysay? - Cali. | Who were you talking to? - Ali. |
5. The question with WAA KUMA / WAA TUMA = "who?" :
We use Kuma for masculine and Tuma for feminine.
Very often we ask the question waa kuma? and waa tuma? alone, to ask "who is it?"
Kuma and tuma can also take subject pronoun endings when they are not subjects of the question:
Examples:
| Waa tumaad aragtay? - Casha baan arkay. |
Who did you see? - I saw Aisha. |
| Waa kumaad hadlaysay? - Cali baan hadlayay. |
Who were you talking to? - I was talking to Ali. |
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