Chapter 47 - Past Tense Adjectives

	Chapter 47 - Past Tense Adjectives

Generalities

Somali adjectives, in addition to agreeing in number as already seen in Chapter 14 and Chapter 15, can also agree in tense and optionally in gender in a particular case!

However, one condition must be met for this: the noun qualified by the adjective must necessarily be a definite noun suffixed with -ii.

We have mainly seen so far definite nouns with the absolute suffix -a, for example: wiilka = the boy, gabadha = the girl, naagta = the woman, etc., or ending with the subject suffix -u when they are subjects of the verb. Thus, we will have: wiilku, gabadhu, naagtu, etc.

However, to speak of people or things familiar to us, that we have known in the past but are not present when we speak, we use a definite suffix ending in -ii. We will thus have: wiilkii, gabadhii, naagtii, etc.

The adjectives that qualify these definite nouns ending in -ii are suffixed with the endings of the verb yahay in the past tense.

The interest of this process, which has no equivalent in French, is to add a notion of familiarity, of previous knowledge of the person or thing, which is shared with the person you are speaking to: a child who was small, a young girl who was beautiful, a boy who was fat, etc.

Examples:

Gabadh yar	= a little girl, a young girl	-> Gabadhii yarayd	= the little girl (the one who was little)
Wiil yar	= a little boy	-> Wiilkii yaraa	= the little boy (the one who was little)
Miskin yar	= a little poor girl	-> Miskinta yarayd	= the little poor girl, the poor little girl
Miskín yar	= a little poor boy	-> Miskinka yaraa	= the little poor boy
Naag dheer	= a tall woman	-> Naagtii dheerayd	= the tall woman (the one who is known)

This process can be used for all persons and all things, but in practice it is mainly used for living beings in the 3rd person singular or plural:

Examples:

awrta dhadheer	= the tall camels	-> awrtii dhadheerayd	= the tall camels (awr* is feminine in plural)*
Bisado waweyn	= big cats	-> Bisadihii waweynaa	= the big cats (bisad* is masculine in plural)*
Ari shilis (shilshilis)	= big sheep	-> Arigii shishlaa	= the big sheep (ari* is masculine in plural)*

Note

It must be noted that the adjective endings are always those of the verb yahay in the past tense in the 3rd person singular, i.e., -aa in the masculine and -ayd in the feminine! In this way, the adjective, in addition to agreeing in number, also agrees in tense and gender.

Different Cases of Past Definite Adjectives

i. Singular Masculine Nouns
Indefinite	Definite in ka, ga, ha, or -a (present)	Definite in kii, gii, hii or ii (past)
nin yar a small man	ninka yar the small man	ninkii yaraa
buug madow a black book	buugga madow the black book	buuggii madowbaa
shuqul adag a hard job	shuqulka adag the hard job	shuqulkii adkaa
sanduuq culus a heavy box	sanduuqa culus the heavy box	sanduuqii cuslaa
albaab xiran a closed door	albaabka xiran the closed door	albaabkii xirnaa
nin caqlileh a wise man	ninka caqligaleh the wise man	ninkii cagliga lahaa
nin indhala' a blind man	ninka indhahala' the blind man	ninkii indhaha la'aa
sanduuq qori ah a wooden box	sanduuqa qoriga ah the wooden box	sanduuqii qoriga ahaa

ii. Singular Feminine Nouns
Indefinite	Definite in ta, da or sha (present)	Definite in tii, dii or shii (past)
naag yar a small woman	naagta yar the small woman	naagtii yarayd
ri madow a black sheep	rida madow the black sheep	ridii madowbayd
shaqo adag a hard job	shaqada adag the hard job	shaqadii adkayd
sariir culus a heavy bed	sariirta culus the heavy bed	sariirtii cuslayd
alaab xiran a closed door	alaabta xiran the closed door	alaabtii xirnayd
naag caqlileh a wise woman	naagta caqligaleh the wise woman	naagtii caqliga lahayd
naag indhala' a blind woman	naagta indhahala' the blind woman	naagtii indhaha la'ayd
sariir qori ah a wooden bed	sariirta qoriga ah the wooden bed	sariirtii qoriga ahayd

iii. Plural Masculine Nouns
Indefinite	Definite in ka or ha (present)	Definite in kii or hii (past)
naago yaryar small women	naagaha yaryar the small women	naagihii yaryaraa
timo madmadow black hair	timaha madmadow the black hair	timihii madmadowbaa
miisas adadag hard tables	miisaska adadag the hard tables	miisaskii adadkaa
wanan culculus heavy rams	wananka culculus the heavy rams	wanankii cuscuslaa
buugag xirxiran closed books	buugagga xirxiran the closed books	buugagii xirxirnaa
naago caqlileh wise women	naagaha caqligaleh the wise women	naagihii caqliga lahaa
naago indhala' blind women	naagaha indhahala' the blind women	naagihii indhaha la'aa
sariiro qori ah wooden beds	sariiraha qori ah the wooden beds	sariirahii qori ahaa

iv. Plural Feminine Nouns
Indefinite	Definite in da, ta or sha (present)	Definite in dii, tii or shii (past)
askar yaryar small soldiers	askarta yaryar the small soldiers	askartii yaryarayd
kuraas madmadow black chairs	kuraasta madmadow the black chairs	kuraastii madmadowbayd
albaabbo adadag solid doors	albaabbada adadag the solid doors	albaabbadii adadkayd
kuraas culculus heavy chairs	kuraasta culculus the heavy chairs	kuraastii cuscuslayd
albaabbo xirxiran closed doors	albaabbada xirxiran the closed doors	albaabbadii xirxirnayd
odayaal caqlileh wise old men	odayaasha caqligaleh the wise old men	odayaashii caqliga lahaa
odayaal indhala' blind old men	odayaasha indhahala' the blind old men	odayaashii indhaha la'ayd
albaabbo bir ah metal doors	albaabbada birta ah the metal doors	albaabbadii birta ahayd

Note

It must be noted that a certain number of adjectives undergo phonetic changes when in contact with the endings -aa and -ayd:
madow -> madowbaa, madowbayd; adag -> adkaa, adkayd; culus -> cuslaa, cuslayd; etc.

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