Language/Somali/Grammar/Gender

Somali Grammar - Gender

Hi Somali learners! 😊

In this lesson, we will be looking at the concept of gender in Somali grammar. Unlike in English, Somali nouns are classified into gender categories that determine the form of the determiners, adjectives, and pronouns that modify or refer to them.

With the completion of this lesson, consider investigating these related pages: Noun Gender and Plurals & 0 to A1 Course.

Gender in Somali

There are two grammatical genders in Somali: masculine and feminine. The gender of a Somali noun cannot always be determined by its meaning or by any obvious characteristic. Some feminine nouns, for example, refer to male beings, while some masculine nouns refer to female beings. Nouns referring to inanimate objects can also be either masculine or feminine. In general, Somali speakers know which gender is associated with a given noun based on linguistic intuition.

In Somali, the grammatical gender is reflected in the morphology of the noun. Masculine nouns usually end in a consonant, while feminine nouns usually end in -o or -a. Here are some examples:

Somali	Pronunciation	Gender	Meaning
Wiil	wiil	Masculine	Boy
Garoowe	garoowe	Feminine	Garowe (the capital city of Puntland)
Raaxo	raaxo	Feminine	Love
Carrabka	carrabka	Masculine	Paper

As you can see, some feminine nouns end with -a, while others end with -o. The endings -aha, -ahaan, and -ahaana are sometimes used to indicate feminine gender, but not always.

To form the plural of nouns in Somali, different morphological rules apply depending on the gender. In general, masculine nouns form the plural by adding the suffix -o, while feminine nouns use an -aha or -ooha suffix. Here are some examples:

Singular	Plural
Wiil	Wiilo
Garoowe	Garaaca
Raaxo	Raaxeeye
Carrabka	Carrabo

Gender Agreement

In Somali, gender agreement is an important aspect of the language. In a sentence, every adjective, determiner, and pronoun must agree with the gender of the noun it modifies or refers to. For example:

• Dagmada Muqdisho waa magaalada > The city of Mogadishu is a city (feminine noun).
• Dhulkaada tirada ahaa ma aha dhul tix gaar ah > The land that is of great number is not a land (masculine noun).
• Wiilka odayaasha ayaa kufsaday > The young man of the elders rebelled (masculine noun).
• Hantiida hadhka ah ayey la qodayso > The land of the palm trees was destroyed (feminine noun).

Sometimes the gender agreement is not obvious and could potentially create ambiguous or confusing sentences. Therefore, it is important to have a good grasp of which determiners, adjectives, and pronouns agree with which gender.

Cultural Notes

Gender differences in language are often shaped by cultural norms and values. In Somali society, traditional gender roles and social expectations influence the way people use language. For example, some occupations and activities are typically associated with a particular gender, and this may be reflected in the nouns used.

In general, women are thought to be the caretakers of the home and the children, which is reflected in some of the feminine nouns used in Somali. For example, the word for mother is hooyo (feminine noun), while the word for father is aabe (masculine noun). Similarly, the word for sister is hooyo (feminine noun), while the word for brother is wiil (masculine noun).

Practice Dialogue

Here is a dialogue to give a practical example of gender agreement:

• Person 1: Hargeysa waa magaalada beerta ah. (Hargeysa is a coastal city.)
• Person 2: Naagaha caanka ah ayaa ka filayaa taariikhda. (The beautiful women are interested in history.)

In this dialogue, the adjective caanka ("beautiful") agrees with the feminine noun naagaha ("women"), while the determiner taariikhda ("history") agrees with the masculine noun noun waa magaalada beerta ah ("coastal city").

Sources

• Somali grammar - Wikipedia
• The Gender System of Somali
• BEGINNER'S SOMALI GRAMMAR

---

➡ If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments section below.
➡ Feel free to edit this wiki page if you think it can be improved. 😎

Other Lessons

• Possession
• Adjectives
• Prepositions
• Time
• Adverbs
• Negation
• How to Use Be
• Questions
• Conditional Mood