SomaliNet Forums

Lesson one : Grammar gender
somali words equivalent to the english The how many are there and how is it applied?
I know of these:

1-ka (m)
2-ta (f)
3-da(f)
4-ga (m)
5-ha(n?)
6-sha (f?)
7. a (n)

These thing we just know without thinking about it, but for people who don't speak the language it's hard to know when and how to use them.

How they are used:

1. Nin= NinKa
2. Naag =NaagTa
3. Cunto = Cunta-da
4. Kursi= Kursiga
5. Biyo = Biya-ha
6. Dhuxul = Dhuxu-sha
7. some words you just add a to them like : ubax = ubaxa

The rules : How to use them?

Something of a male gender always ends with Ka or Ga and For feminine it's Ta or Da and few times Sha (like the word Bahal, when it's feminine it's Bahasha)

Can you explain when to use what? like why it's nin-ka and not nin-ga etc.

It has something to do with both the gender and pronunciation(spelling). I have come to some conclusion that make some sense but I'll rather hear from you guys.


Bar ama baro (or both)

most of it is down to memorization. somali grammar isn't really that strict and rigid, and you'd often see it breaking it's own rules .

Keyblade wrote:most of it is down to memorization. somali grammar isn't really that strict and rigid, and you'd often see it breaking it's own rules .

lol yeah but come on there must be a rule of thumb.

hyperactive needs lessons. I really cannot get what he writes so just give up half of the time

daiman wrote:hyperactive needs lessons. I really cannot get what he writes so just give up half of the time

lol you evil.

-ka, -ga and -ha are masculine definite suffixes.
-ta, -sha and -da are feminine definite suffixes.

Some of the legitimate questions you may ask yourself at this stage :
How can I know if a noun is masculine or feminine ?
Even if I know a noun is masculine, should it take the suffix -ka, -ga or -ha ?
Even if I know a noun is feminine, should it take the suffix -ta, -sha or -da ?

This is because we are taking the problem in reverse : Somali is not spoken according to a set of explicit grammatical rules, but according to implicit phonetic rules. As a matter of fact, phonetics is more relevent than gender.
In the absence of rules, the following may serve as a rough guide :

Singular nouns ending in...

/b/ are usually masculine and take -ka e.g. hilibka = the meat
/d/ are usually feminine and take -da e.g. bisadda = the cat
/e/ are usually masculine and take -(e)aha e.g. aabaya = the father
waraabaha = the hyena
/i/ are usually masculine and take -ga e.g. dibiga = the bull
/g/ are usually masculine and take -(g)a e.g. buuga = the book
tuuga = the thief
/l/ are usually feminine and take -sha e.g. diilsha = the wooden pot
weelsha = the calf
/r/ are usually masculine and take -ka e.g. dameerka = the donkey
giirka = the mouse
/o/ are usually feminine and take -(o)ada e.g. hoyada = the mother

Plural nouns ending in...
/g/ are usually feminine and take -ta e.g. tuugagta = the thieves
buugagta = the books
/oyin/ are usually masculine and take -ka e.g. hoyooyinka = the mothers
/yaal/ are usually masculine and take -ka e.g. aabayaalka = the fathers

shaab_ wrote:-ka, -ga and -ha are masculine definite suffixes.
-ta, -sha and -da are feminine definite suffixes.

Some of the legitimate questions you may ask yourself at this stage :
How can I know if a noun is masculine or feminine ?
Even if I know a noun is masculine, should it take the suffix -ka, -ga or -ha ?
Even if I know a noun is feminine, should it take the suffix -ta, -sha or -da ?

This is because we are taking the problem in reverse : Somali is not spoken according to a set of explicit grammatical rules, but according to implicit phonetic rules. As a matter of fact, phonetics is more relevent than gender.
In the absence of rules, the following may serve as a rough guide :

Singular nouns ending in...

/b/ are usually masculine and take -ka e.g. hilibka = the meat
/d/ are usually feminine and take -da e.g. bisadda = the cat
/e/ are usually masculine and take -(e)aha e.g. aabaya = the father
waraabaha = the hyena
/i/ are usually masculine and take -ga e.g. dibiga = the bull
/g/ are usually masculine and take -(g)a e.g. buuga = the book
tuuga = the thief
/l/ are usually feminine and take -sha e.g. diilsha = the wooden pot
weelsha = the calf
/r/ are usually masculine and take -ka e.g. dameerka = the donkey
giirka = the mouse
/o/ are usually feminine and take -(o)ada e.g. hoyada = the mother

Plural nouns ending in...
/g/ are usually feminine and take -ta e.g. tuugagta = the thieves
buugagta = the books
/oyin/ are usually masculine and take -ka e.g. hoyooyinka = the mothers
/yaal/ are usually masculine and take -ka e.g. aabayaalka = the fathers

this also what I thought. But those I highlighted sound little bit off.. I've never heard abaaya for instance