Chapter 4. Sentence particles in proverbs and proverbial phrases
4.1. Some peculiarities of Somali paremias
The Greek word paremia, which means ‘saying’, ‘parable’, is used in naming different types of proverbs and sayings. In their own designation the Somalis used only two words: maahmaah – ‘a proverb’ and oraah – ‘a saying’. Some researchers into the national folklore affirm that these differ as to alliteration (qaafiyad in Somali)[26], the first supposedly having it and the second not. Others call maahmaah a “classical” proverb “which contains wisdom or instruction”, and regard oorah as something “akin to a figure of speech” (Aden, 1995). In fact, one of the features of many Somali proverbs and proverbial phrases is the occurrence of a minimum of two words beginning with the same sound. Consonants alliterate more often than vowels; all the vowels are regarded as one sound, and a, for example, can make up an alliterative sequence with o, e, etc. In the proverb Far keliya fool ma dhaqdo – One finger cannot wash a face, two words have the alliterative sound f, and in the proverb Oohin iyo aroos ammaah weeye – A funeral means debt and a wedding means debt, there are three words, the initial vowel of one being a long oo, while the other two begin with a short a. It should be noted that only full-fledged words, that is nouns, verbs, numerals and proper names, are recognized as alliterative ones, and grammatical words, such as sentence particles, are not included. This is why, in the phonetically very beautiful proverb Biyo badan bar baa calow ah, hadal badanna bar baa been ah – Much water is half turbid, much talk is half lies, almost all members of which begin with the consonant b, a Somali “hears” not eight, but only six, alliterative phonemes, ignoring b in two sentence particles.
4.1.1. In several paremias there is also a partial or complete metrical parallelism. To understand this it has to be pointed out that Somali has a system of quantitative scansion where short vowels are always short, including in close syllables, while diphthongs may be either short or long.
In the above mentioned proverb it can be seen that the two halves scan in the following way:
◡ ◡ ◡ ◡ ◡ │ — ◡│ — ◡
◡ ◡ ◡ ◡ ◡ │ ◡ — │ — ◡
The first five syllables and the last two are metrically identical, while the middle ones are reversed.[27]
4.1.2. A disposition toward syntactic parallelism can also be detected: Nin aan talin jirin hadduu taliyo, nin aan tegi jirin ayaa taga; nin aan qaybin jirin hadduu qaybiyo, nin aan qadi jirin ayaa qada – If a man who has never governed starts to govern, a man who has never gone away will go away, and if a man who has never divided (food) starts to divide, a man who has never failed to receive (his part) will not receive it.
Although these are important and interesting features of Somali paremias, they cannot serve as a basis for classification. It is enough to look at any extended list of Somali proverbs and proverbial phrases to be convinced of the merely incidental importance of such features: paremias with deep meaning but no alliterated words (Quraanyo aruurtay bulac bay jiiddaa – Together ants can carry even a lizard), and well-turned but essentially trivial maxims (Intaadan falin ka fiirso – Think before you do anything) will immediately reveal themselves. As for syntactic harmony, it is demonstrated mainly by the binomial paremiological structures.
4.2. Types of Somali paremias
According to the theory of cliché elaborated by Permyakov (1970, 1979 and others), the closeness and openness of clichés and the patterns that express their general meaning are relevant for the classification of any paremiological stock, including that of the Somalis.
From the syntactic point of view Somali paremias are divided into two categories: one-phrase clichés and supra-phrase clichés, the former consisting of one sentence and the latter of two (or more) sentences. At the same time one-phrase clichés can be divided into closed sentences, which consist of permanent members only (the proverb class), and open sentences, which are replenished from the speech context (the proverbial phrase class). Supra-phrase clichés are divided into wellerisms[28] where a character delivers an aphorism, and scenes which consist of a dialogue between characters.
Somali paremias express their meaning in three different ways: indirectly (through an image), directly, and through the context from which they were originally taken. In other words, some paremias are clichés with imaged motivation of the general meaning (i.e. sayings with a transferred meaning, which demand a broader interpretation); others are clichés with direct motivation of the general meaning (i.e. sayings with a direct meaning which do, however, allow a broader interpretation); and yet others are clichés without immediate motivation of the general meaning (i.e. sayings, the meaning of which stems neither directly, nor through the image, from the meaning of their components, but is determined by the context from which the sayings were originally taken and which they recall).
Different combinations of the types of syntactic structure and of the character of the motivation of the general meaning result in twelve types of Somali paremiological clichés (six of one-phrase clichés and six of supra-phrase clichés).
I. Proverbs
1) Proverbs proper (clichés in the form of closed sentences with imaged motivation of the general meaning): Maroodigu takarta saaran ma arkee kan kale tan saaran ayuu arkaa – An elephant does not see the gadfly which is sitting on it but sees the one sitting on another elephant.
2) Folk aphorisms (clichés in the form of closed sentences with direct motivation of the general meaning): Been sheeg, laakiin been run u eg sheeg – Tell lies, but let your lies resemble the truth.
3) Non-divided sentences (clichés in the form of closed sentences without immediate motivation of the general meaning): Timirtii horaba dab loo waa – There is not yet a fire for the first dates [i.e. until one job is completed one should not start another one]. This refers to a story about a man who was given some dates, and not knowing that they are eaten raw decided to fry them; before he had had time to kindle the fire he was given another handful of dates, and he said these words, which became a proverb.
II. Proverbial phrases
4) Proverbial phrases proper (clichés in the form of open sentences with imaged motivation of the general meaning): Markii geel loo heeso yuu dameerro u heesaa – When all (the people) sing for camels, he sings for donkeys [i.e. not to the point].
5) By-words (clichés in the form of open sentences with direct motivation of the general meaning): Camalkaa xeero buuxduu kaa qadiyaa – With your obstinacy you can lose a basin of food [i.e. with such a character as yours you can harm yourself].
6) Non-divided phrases (clichés in the form of open sentences without immediate motivation of the general meaning): “Yax” lahaydaa! – I should have said “Whoa!” This refers to a story about a herdsman whose herd strayed into a forest while he was sleeping, and all were torn to pieces by wild beasts. When he awoke and realized what had happened he grieved for a long time, saying to himself “I should have said “Whoa!” [i.e. stopped the herd in time].
III. Wellerisms
7) Wellerisms with transferred meaning (clichés with imaged motivation of the general meaning; where a character delivers an aphorism): Goroyo waxay tiri: “Cayaarta lug baan gashanayaa. Haddii ay fiicnaatana waan la soo wada geleyaa, haddii ay xumaatana waan kala wada baxayaa.” – An ostrich said: “I’ll put only one leg in this game. If it’s good, I’ll put another one in; if it’s bad, I’ll take back the first one”.
8) Wellerisms with direct meaning (clichés with direct motivation of the general meaning; where a character delivers an aphorism): Shabeel baa beri libaax ku yidhi: “Libaaxow, bal ama boqol nin la xoog noqo, ama boqol nin la xirrib noqo” – Once a leopard said to a lion: “Oh lion, either be as strong as a hundred men or as cunning as a hundred men”.
9) Contextual wellerisms (clichés without immediate motivation of the general meaning; where a character delivers an aphorism): Abeeso waxay tidhi: “Aadane abaal ma leh” – A snake said: “A human being is ungrateful”. This refers to a story about a man who was lying asleep when a snake crept up to him, and when he awoke, although it had done him no harm, he tried to kill it.
IV. Scenes
10) Fablettes (clichés with transferred meaning containing dialogue):
– Raahow, biyo maxay taraan?
– Dabadayda baa laga arki lahaa.
– Oh frog, is it good to be in water?
– If it had been good I would have had (a fat) bottom.
11) Instantly told (one scene) anecdotes (clichés with direct meaning containing dialogue):
– Geeriyey, maxaad ka daawo tahay?
– Nin meel waayay baan meel u banneeyaa.
– Oh, death, who needs you [lit.: whom do you help]?
– He, who is not yet born [lit.: someone who has no place on earth yet].
12) Non-divided scenes (clichés without immediate motivation of the general meaning containing dialogue):
“Sagaaro biyo waa cabta” iyo “Ma cabto”.
– Dik-dik drinks water!
– No, it does not!
The meaning is that a trifle can start a big quarrel, and it refers to two friends who disagreed and nearly killed each other over the question of whether the dik-dik drinks water or not.
4.3. Preliminary notes on research into the sentence particles in proverbs and proverbial phrases
Paremias are an indispensable source of materials for the study of the processes connected with the diachronic development of a language. The clichéized form of the paremias guarantees the trustworthiness of the information concerning the state of the language at the moment they entered the speech practice of its bearers, and their preservation is secured by their constant functioning which, in its turn, is explained by their signal nature.
As signs and models of certain situations, or certain relationships between objects, paremias are necessary and convenient elements of any language, including Somali. Instead of having to describe in one’s own words some everyday situation, or relationship between objects, such as for example ‘if a man acts alone, he cannot do much, and his efforts will not be effective’ it is enough to bring out from the memory a set form of words (a cliché) and say: One finger cannot wash a face (if you are a Somali), One finger cannot catch a fly (if you are an Oromo) or One man on the battlefield is not a warrior (if you are a Russian).
4.3.1. Paremias occupy a special place in the Somali culture, which has only recently become written. One well-known Somali proverb goes: Rag waa raggii hore, hadalna waa intuu yidhi – Real men are the men of old, and real words were those they pronounced. Eloquence based on a deep knowledge of folklore is valued as highly as courage is by the Somalis, and the ‘truthfulness’ of paremias is considered to be beyond doubt: Soomaalidu been waa sheegtaa, beense ma maahmaahdo – Somalis can lie, but their lie will never become a proverb.
For this reason, in Somalia there is a carefully-preserved, though unwritten, ‘copyright’ of authorship which applies not only to passages of poetry but also to items of folklore. It goes without saying that the names of the creators of the main stock of Somali proverbs are not known, but the originators of ‘literary quotations’, that is well-turned lines of poetry and witty remarks (indistinguishable sometimes from paremias) of fairly recent origin are known well. It is no wonder that, unlike the indefinite personal construction Waxaa la yidhi – It was said, which, as was mentioned in 3.4, opens every proverb and proverbial phrase, the formula when introducing such a “quotation” includes the name of its author: Hebel baa yidhi, or Hebel wuxuu yidhi – So-and-so said. The clichés of this type which are also present in my collection are not included in the material investigated in Chapter 4.
4.3.2. It is known that paremias are divided into two communicative types, depending on the aim of the utterance. Proverbs and proverbial phrases in the form of affirmative sentences belong to the first type (Af macaan gacan macaan baa dhaanta – A sweet [i.e. generous] hand is better than a sweet [i.e.generous with promises] mouth), while those in the form of negative sentences make up the second (Doqon iyo naag nimay legdaan kama kacaan – A fool and a woman will not get off the man they have brought down).
Because I have limited this study to affirmative sentences, paremias which belong to the second type will not be analysed. Although the SP baa can participate in the formation of negative constructions (Calool cir weyn way dheregtaa e indho cir weyn baan (baa+aan) dhergin – A gluttonous stomach can be sated, gluttonous [i.e. covetous] eyes cannot), in the majority of them there are no sentence particles. This is also true with regard to paremias in the form of interrogative sentences.
As for the variety of paremiological types demonstrated in 4.2, it is possible to limit myself to an investigation of the first six in the list of proverbs and proverbial phrases, that is the closed and open phrase clichés which constitute, according to my calculation, about 90% of the Somali paremiological stock.
Wellerisms and scenes also contain sentence particles, but their function in the separate components of these types of clichés does not differ from what can be observed in proverbs and proverbial phrases. Moreover, due to the relatively large size of their syntactic structures (which is doubled by the translations), these paremias are not the best illustrative material.
4.3.3. Since the following parts of this chapter deal precisely with proverbs and proverbial phrases the coincidence of the significatum (of these two types of clichés) with the significant (with these two terms usually used for the designation of all types of paremias) turns out to be absolute. In other words I use the terms ‘proverb’ and ‘proverbial phrase’ in their exact meaning, the deciphering of which was given in 4.2. The further subdivision of these paremias into their sub-types seems to be superfluous for the declared goals of the investigation.
4.3.4. The next three parts of this chapter are devoted to particularities of the usage of the sentence particles waa and baa in proverbs and proverbial phrases, and of waxaa in different types of paremias, or to put it another way, to particularities of proverbs, proverbial phrases and some other paremias dependent on the type of sentence particles used in them. In the last part of the chapter I shall discuss paremias without sentence particles.
4.4. The particle waa in proverbs and proverbial phrases
In proverbs and proverbial phrases the SP waa is met with more rarely than is baa; to judge by my collection, it is contained in only about a hundred out of a thousand paremias. Practically all are proverbs, i.e. clichés of the closed type which occur in speech in an invariable form:
(312) Dameertu geela ha iga didisee waa sii ‘qururuf’ leedahay – It is not enough that the she-donkey has dispersed my camels, but she is snorting as well. [Said about a person who has not only made a bad action but is also expressing his discontent];
(313) Atoor sagaaro intiisa waa ku duq – Even though a male dik-dik is small, he is old;
(314) Beeni marka hore waa malab, marka dambana waa malmal – At first a lie is honey, then it is myrrh [i.e. bitterness].
4.4.1. Proverbial sentences are divided into two classes, particular and general; the former narrates events of a particular, occasional or unique nature, while the latter deals with a certain regularity, a constantly repeated phenomenon, or a stable rule or habit (Permyakov, 1970, p.10).
According to the observations of paremiologists, proverbs possess a higher degree of generalisation than do proverbial phrases, and this is true of the subjects of my research. Somali proverbs are realized in both definite-personal and indefinite personal constructions (with the indefinite personal pronoun la). If the predicate of a proverbial sentence is a verb it is as a rule in the Present General Tense.
Somali proverbs, in particular those which include the SP waa, belong mainly to generalised paremias. I have ascertained that the level of their generalisation depends on the function fulfilled by the SP waa. If it is a focus marker (as in 312) the level of generalisation is lower, if it introduces a nominal predicate (as in 313 and 314) it is higher. Because in the overwhelming majority of paremias the SP waa plays precisely this latter role, it can be considered, firstly, as a marker of a proverb and secondly, with a high degree of probability, as a marker of a generalised, not a particular, paremia.
4.4.2. The not very numerous exclusions are represented by comparative phrases in the form of by-words:
(315) Waa awr heeryadiisii cuneya oo kale – Like a burden camel which chews its own pack-pad. [Said about a man who harms himself];
(316) Waa biyo sare tegey – Like water which flows upward. [Said about an incredible event];
(317) Waa sidii waraabe waxartii laysay, oohinna ku dartay – Like a hyena which ate a kid and (then) mourned over it. [Said about a hypocrite].
Comparative phrases consist of the SP waa and a noun in the role of a predicate with the attached relative clause. It is worth noting that in almost all structures of this type the subject of the relative clause is the determinated word itself (a burden camel which chews, water which flows or a hyena which ate), which explains the absence of short subjective pronouns. But such pronouns are omitted even where they should have been used, for example, in the following paremia of the same meaning as (316):
(318) Waa calaacashoo timo ka baxaan – Like a palm on which hairs are growing.
In the relative clause to the word calaacasha – the palm (in the proverb it adjoins the conjunctive oo – which) there is its own subject, timo – hairs, which should have been echoed by the short subjective pronoun ay – they. But in the spoken language such a pronoun is often omitted if it is not the single subject of a subordinate syntagm. Its absence from the example under observation is explained by this; in speech, paremias acquire a certain perfection of form characterised by laconicism.
Not all phrases of this type end in the conjunction oo and the quantifier adjective kale with the meaning of ‘like’ (315). If there is no such link it is either implied (316, 318) or substituted by the noun sida (= sidii) with the same meaning (317).
Being a comparison phrase, this paremiological type is, in fact, an independent syntactic structure. Two factors allow its attribution to by-words: firstly, the openness of its syntactic structure, implying the possibility, even necessity, of being broadened at the expense of the subject (Moxamed waa awr heeryadiisii cunaya oo kale – Mohamed is like a burden camel which chews its own pack-pad) and secondly, the direct motivation of the general meaning, which does not cease to be so despite the fact that almost all the words of this cliché are used as metaphors.
4.4.3. The SP waa in proverbial structures demonstrates at least two special peculiarities:
1) It mainly introduces a nominal predicate:
(319) Af daboolan waa dahab – A closed mouth is gold;
(320) Adduunyo waa hooska labadiisa gelin – The world is like a shadow: in the morning it is turned in one direction, in the evening in the opposite one [i.e. it is changeable];
(321) Ninkii reerkiisa kaa sooraa waa nin, ninkii reer kale kaa sooraana waa nimanyaal – He who fed you in his house is a man, but he who fed you in somebody else’s house is twice a man [lit.: men].
2) It almost never adjoins short subjective pronouns:
(322) Been waa ku qadeysiisaa, kumase cashaysiiso – A lie will give you a dinner, but will not give you a supper [i.e. you will not be able to cheat people twice];
(323) Hugaagu waa kula baryo tagaa – A beggar is treated according to his clothes [lit.: Your clothes go begging with you];
(324) Hadal aadan filayn iyo fallaarba waa ku aammusiyaan – An unexpected word is like an arrow – it will force you to remain silent.
The explanation of the first peculiarity seems to be concealed in the capacity of these particular structures to create clichés of the general type, which in fact these proverbs are. The second peculiarity is connected with the fact that in proverbs a substantive subject is almost inevitable. As was shown in 1.3 and 1.6.2, with such a subject the usage of waa with short subjective pronouns is either optional (where the role of the predicate is played by a verb), or prohibited (where the dominant element of the predicate is represented by a noun). The non-standard behaviour of the SP waa in proverbs reveals itself in the omission of the subjective pronouns even in those positions in which their usage is allowed.
4.4.4. The shaping of the subject in proverbial structures with the SP waa also differs from that described in Chapter 1.
Firstly, it seldom adjoins the morphological markers of a subject:
(325) Aammusnaan waa oggolaansho barkeed – Silence is half a consent;
(326) Dhagax taabasho iyo tuujin waa isugu mid – It is all the same to a stone whether you touch it or squeeze it [i.e. it does not matter];
(327) Aqoonla’aan waa iftiinla’aan – The absence of knowledge equals the absence of light.[29]
Secondly, and most strikingly, the subject in proverbs with the SP waa is almost always used without the definite article (cf.1.2).
(328) Laf kaa weyni waa ku jebisaa – If a bone is bigger than you it will crush you [i.e. if somebody is stronger than you he will defeat you];
(329) Calool rag waa webi xagaa – The brain [lit.: stomach] of a man is like a river-bed in the dry season[30];
(330) Hadal waa mergi hadba meel u jiidma – A word is like sinew: it stretches in every direction.
4.4.5. It was said in 0.3.6 that the compound conjunction ama…ama – either …or links verbs. A closer look at proverbs:
a) confirms this observation:
(331) Ama buur ahow, ama buur ku tiirsanow – Either be a mountain or lean on a mountain;
b) widens it by revealing examples of the binomial syntactic structures in the second part of which a verb can be omitted:
(332) Ama afeef hore lahaw, ama adkeysi dambe – Either refuse (to do something) at once or put up with it later;
c) changes the conception of the limits of the usage of this conjunction which, it becomes clear, can link even independent sentences:
(333) Nin salaan badani waa sabool ama waa wadaad, ama waa ciidan, ama waa beenaale – He who is too affable is either a beggar, a mullah, a servant, or a liar;
(334) Ama waa la muuqdaa, ama waa la maqan yahay – Either be visible or be absent [lit.: either somebody is visible or somebody is absent, i.e. either do a job well or not at all].
4.4.6. Judging by the material which is at my disposal the rules of the usage of the particle weeye in proverbial clichés do not differ from those described in 1.6.4:
(335) Gowrac hal weeye, halka geelse gooni weeye – It is one thing to slaughter (cattle in general), quite another to slaughter camels.
The presence of the two particles can be explained by the structure of this cliché, which consists of two independent sentences linked by the conjunction -se (geelse – lit.: camels-but).
4.5. The particle baa in proverbs and proverbial phrases
The SP baa is used in paremias far more often than are other sentence particles. Baa (and its variants ayaa/yaa) is found in all proverbs and proverbial phrases in the form of independent affirmative sentences, with the exception of the relatively small class of paremias with the SP waa, the not very numerous clichés with the SP waxaa and the even less widespread structures without sentence particles. Baa can be seen in all the types of paremias which were defined in 4.2.
4.5.1. Word order in proverbs and proverbial phrases with the SP baa is fairly strictly regulated in comparison with the similar non-clichéized structures (see 2.4). If in a paremia there is a subject, an object and a predicate and the subject is the rheme (i.e. the subject is immediately followed by the SP baa), the object occupies the initial position:
(336) Sir-ma-qabe saab baa biyo u celiya – For an honest man even a saab[31] holds water.
(337) Dad nin u taliyey iyo nin tuugay baa yaqaan – People are known to the man who governs them and to the man who begs from them;
(338) Rag qabri iyo qawl baa ka hara – Of a man, a tomb and (good) fame [lit.: a word] remain.
When the subject precedes the object the following word order is allowed:
(339) Dimbil baa duur wada gubta – One spark burns a whole forest;
(340) Bir baa bir goysa – Iron cuts iron.
The clipped form of the verb with the final short -a indicates that the word which precedes the SP baa is the subject here, not the word which follows it (see 2.5.2).
(341) Fakhri baa duco ku bara – Poverty will teach you to bow [lit.: to bless].
However, of the paremias that I know, not a single one demonstrates another permitted order of the components of a threefold structure (not counting the SP baa which fulfils an auxiliary function) with the subject occupying the first position and the object the final one:
(342) *Fakhri baa ku bara duco.
Thus the considerable difference between paremias of this type, in which the SP baa marks the subject, and similar non-clichéized structures, lies in the position of the predicate: in proverbs and proverbial phrases it is always in the final position. The other distinctive sign (less significant but perceptible) reveals itself in the ‘behaviour’ of the object: in paremias it strives for the first place.
4.5.2. Results which are no less interesting can be obtained by observation of the paremias in which an object, or any other DFR except the subject, is the rheme, i.e. of the proverbs and proverbial phrases in which the SP baa is used with short subjective pronouns:
(343) Diqsi biyo ku dabaal bartay fuud buu ku gubtaa – A fly which has got used to bathing in water will be boiled in soup;
(344) Baqal fardo la daaqday faras bay is moodda – A mule which grazes with horses thinks it is a horse too;
(345) Belaayo ama ‘guur’ ama ‘guurso’ bay ku tiraahdaa – Misfortune tells you either to move on or to get married.
In all these typical examples the word order is the same: the cliché begins with a subject (in 343 and 344 followed by a relative clause) which is followed by an object and the SP baa with a corresponding short subjective pronoun, and ends with a predicate. Thus, out of the three possible interpositions of the components demonstrated in 2.4.3 for the ‘parallel’ non-clichéized structures, in practice only one is realized in proverbs and proverbial phrases. We have not found a single paremia in which a subject would follow a predicate (as in 194), and paremias in which a subject follows an object (as in 193) are very rare:
(346) Ninba dhuuniguu cuno buu dhiiggiisa leeyahay – What a man eats gets into his blood [lit.: Blood of every man has that food which he eats]. This means that if a man has good food he looks good and if he has bad food he looks bad.
In this proverb, with a rather complicated syntactic structure, including inversion (Ninba dhuuniguu cuno – Every man the food which he eats, but not Dhuuniga uu ninba cuno – The food which every man eats), the subject of the main sentence (the blood) is bound up, by the relation of possessiveness, with the subject of the relative clause (every man) which determines the object (food). The place of the possessed, which here plays the role of the subject, seems to be determined by the structure of the text itself. At any rate, in another proverb with exactly the same syntax, the possessed (this time in the role of the object) also occupies the position between the SP baa with a short subjective pronoun and the predicate:
(347) Ninba coodkuu dhaqdo buu caanihiisa dhamaa – Every man drinks the milk of the cattle he looks after.
4.5.3. The word order in those not very numerous paremias which have the subject as rheme and two objects (or other DFRs), is the same, in general, as those with only one: objects occupy the first place, with sometimes an indirect object preceding a direct one and sometimes the other way round, then come the subject, marked by the SP baa without a short subject pronoun, and the predicate:
(348) Dheriga karka kulayl baa ka keenay – It was heat that made the cooking-pot boil [lit.: The heat brought boiling from the cooking-pot]. This means that there was a certain reason which made someone angry.
The disposition of the components in paremias which have two objects (or other DFRs), one of which bears the logical accent and is therefore marked by the SP baa with a short subjective pronoun, resembles what was said in 4.5.2 about clichés with one object.
The second object, direct or indirect, is usually placed between the sentence particle and the predicate:
(349) Beenlow nin dhintey iyo nin dheer buu markhaati u qabsadaa – A liar calls as witness one who is either dead or far away.
But exceptions can also occur; in at least one proverb the subject and the first object change places:
(350) Nin wuxuu xarrago moodaa nin kale xumaan moodaa – What one man is proud of another is ashamed of [lit.: A thing which one man considers to be good another considers to be bad].
It seems that here the canon has been broken for the sake of achieving the maximum phonetic, lexical and syntactic balance between the two parts of the proverb. This is due to the obvious possibilities of inversion (Nin wuxuu – ‘One man a thing which’ instead of the more natural Wuxuu nin – ‘A thing which one man’), the dropping of the short subjective pronoun (as was shown in 2.3.2 and 2.4, its usage in such structures is optional), and the fusion of the SP baa with the last word of the relative clause (moodo + baa = moodaa), which results in a form indistinguishable from the verbal predicate of the main sentence (moodaa).
4.5.4 The word order in those quite widespread paremias with the impersonal pronoun la is determined by its fixed position relative to the sentence particle and the predicate (la stands between them, adjoining the preverbs of governance). In this case objects and other DFR are placed only before the SP baa:
(351) Cadowgaaga caano mac baa la siiyaa – An enemy should be treated to fresh milk [i.e. should be treated as a valued guest so as to lessen his vigilance];
(352) Hadal been ah dheg been ah baa lagu dhegeystaa – False speech is listened to with a false ear;
(353) Dantaada maqaar ey baa loogu seexdaa – In striving for gains one will sit even on a dogskin[32].
4.5.5. Among Somali proverbs there are some structures, by no means rare, which are composed of two syntactically independent parts, both including the SP baa, which are linked by the conjunctions na or se with the meaning of ‘and’, ‘but’:
(354) Cid wax ku siisa in badan baad aragtaa, cid wax kuu sheegtase in yar baad aragtaa – People who can give you a (necessary) thing you meet often, but people who can give you (necessary) advice you meet seldom [this is why good advice is so highly appreciated];
(355) Ciil sokeeye kaa galay carrabkaa (carrabka + baa) lagu baxshaa, ciil shisheeye kaa galayna cududdaa (cududda + baa) lagu baxshaa – One gets rid of an offence caused by one’s own people with a word [lit.: tongue], but one gets rid of an offence caused by other people with force [lit.: hand];
However, very often the SP baa and the verbal predicate in the second part of such paremias are omitted:
(356) Dhagax meel dhow buu ku dhacaa, dhawaaqna meel dheer – A stone flies [lit.: falls] near, a word [lit.: a sound] far off.
This happens even when the subjects of the two parts of a proverb are not of the same gender, and the missing verb would not have been identical to the one present:
(357) Dhib dheef baa ka dambeysa, abaarna aaran – A poor life is followed by a prosperous life, a drought – by green grass;
(358) Hadal run baa lagu caddeeyaa, ilkana rummay – Truth makes to shine speech, rummay[33]– teeth.
4.5.6. As was seen in examples (350) and (355), the SP baa can merge with the preceding word which is either the rheme itself (355) or which finalises a subordinate clause attached to the rheme (350). The sentence particle loses its initial consonant b, and the contracted word its final short vowel.
That these phonemes are dropped is evident from the following examples of contractions using the SP baa together with the short subjective pronoun in the 3rd person masculine singular – buu:
(359) Dagaal gondahaaguu (gondahaaga + buu) ka dhashaa – A war can jump out from under your feet [lit.: can be born under your feet]. This means: get ready for unexpected troubles.
Bell (1953, p.35) observed this phenomenon in oral communication and ascertained that a contraction does not occur if the word preceding the SP baa ends in a long vowel or in any consonant. Moreover, if the last phoneme of this word is a short -i, the contraction is not obligatory.
The study of paremias confirms and widens these observations. Firstly, in proverbs and proverbial phrases, contraction of the SP baa, with or without a subjective pronoun with the stressed words, is always optional. This becomes evident:
1) When variants of the same paremia are compared:
(360) Beentaada hore runtaada danbay (danbe + baa + ay) u baas baxdaa;
(361) Beentaada hore beentaada danbe bay baas u noqotaa – Your previous lie damages your present truth.
(362) Ri’ waliba shillalkay is dhigtaa (digto + baa) lagu qalaa;
(363) Ri’ walba shillakay is digato baa lagu qalaa – Every she-goat is slaughtered where she is standing on the board [i.e. everyone gets what he merits].
(364) Geed walba in gubtaa (gubta + baa) hoos taal;
(365) Geed walba in gubta baa hoos taal – Under every tree there is something which hampers its growth [lit.: burns it].
2) When separate proverbs are examined:
(366) Ammaano kugu raagtay yeddaa baad moodda – Property deposited with you for safekeeping a long time ago feels like your own;
(367) Ballan habeen kallah arooryo buu leehayay – What was promised in the evening should be fulfilled [lit.: set off] in the morning;
(368) Deeqsi baa loo duceeya – A generous man is prayed for.
It also becomes apparent that the SP baa can be adjoined by words which end in:
1) The glottal consonant h, which is reduced in the final position in the verbal forms ah – ‘being’ and leh – ‘having’:
(369) Baruur keliyaa (keli ah + baa → keli + aa → keliyaa) baruuro qurmisa – One piece of fat spoils many pieces;
(370) Ninkii xoog laa (leh + baa → l + aa → laa) xaq leh – He who has strength has right.
2) The semi-vowal sonant y:
(371) Meel lagaa jecel yahay haddaad ka tagto, meel lagaa neceb yahaad (yahay + baa + aad → yahaad) tagtaa – If you leave a place where you are loved you will come to a place where you are hated.
It is also worthy of mention that in (369) and (370) h is “ignored” and the preceding phonemes, a and e, participate in the contraction, and in (371) the phoneme b of the sentence particle interacts with the diphthong ay of the verb yahay – (he) is.
Contractions with the SP ayaa, a variant of baa, with the preceding word have not been observed:
(372) Dhubuq-dhubuq hore dhabanno-hays dambay (dambe + bay) leedahay – He who makes haste at the beginning will hold his head in his hands at the end.
(373) Dhubuq-dhubuq hore dhabanno-hays dambe ayay leedahay.
4.6. The particle waxaa in proverbs and proverbial phrases
Of the sentence particles, waxaa is the one most seldom used in proverbs. This can be explained by the specificity of the sentence particle itself, which serves mainly for the creation of complex sentences, and by that of paremias which, with some exceptions, represent simple syntactical structures. Inasmuch as functionally the SP waxaa is similar to the SP baa (they both realize the same types of focus – actantial and circumstantial), the place it might have taken in paremias is, as a rule, occupied by baa. In the preference which is given to the SP baa a part is also played by the above-mentioned ability of this particle to disappear, as it were, by merging with the marked words, a process which saves the “building material” of the proverbial structures.
Typical sayings with the SP waxaa contain one or several dependent clauses:
(374) Belaayo waxay u daran tahay marka reer aad mijihiisa tahay ay madax kaaga dhigto – Misfortune is when a reer[34] in which you are a leg [i.e. occupy a subordinate position] makes you a head [i.e. a chief];
(375) Rag waxaa ugu xun saddex: nin maqan oon la tebin, nin jooga oon la tirin iyo nin tegeya oon la celin – Of all men, three types are the worst: he who is not remembered when absent, he who is ignored when present, and he who is not stopped when departing;
(376) Maalintii col loo joogo labo nin lalama tashado – fuley iyo geesi ee waxaa lala tashadaa nin caaqil ah – When the (attack of) an enemy is expected one does not seek advice from a coward or a brave man, but from a wise man.
As we see, in proverbial sentences the SP waxaa is used with a short subjective pronoun (example 374 in which the subject is not the rheme), without a short subjective pronoun (example 375 in which the subject is the rheme) and with the indefinite personal pronoun la which is never the rheme (example 376).
4.6.1. Among the items of Somali folklore there is a number of “numerical” clichés traditionally attributed to proverbs. A careful observation of the so-called labaley, saddexley, afarley (clichés based on numbers ‘two’, ‘three’, ‘four’) and so on, reveals that they are not homogeneous. Some are typical proverbs (375), others are riddles (often with answers), or fablettes etc. Without going into the problem of the classification of the “numerical” clichés I shall only mention that some are one-phrase and others supra-phrase structures, and that both are rather complicated syntactical formations in which, however, the SP waxaa is almost never used:
(377) Laba waa la dhibaa, labana waa la dhowraa, labana waa la dheefiyaa. Hadday lugaha wax ka gaaraan waa la dhibaa, labada gacmood hadday wax gaaraan waa la dhowraa, labada indhoodna hadday wax gaaraan waa la dheefiyaa – Two (things) are not spared, two are cared for and two are gratified. When legs are tired they are not spared [i.e. they are forced to go on], when hands are tired they are cared for [i.e. they are given rest], when eyes are tired they are gratified [i.e. they are cured];
(378) Saddex baa maskiin ah, saddex baase ka sii maskiinsan. Meyd baa maskiin ah, ninkii maro u waayo baa ka sii maskiinsan; tuugsade baa maskiin ah, ninkii taano u waayo baa ka sii maskiinsan; naag baa maskiin ah, ragannimo ninkii u waayo baa ka sii maskiinsan – Three (things) gain sympathy, three gain pity. A dead man gains sympathy, the man [i.e. kinsman] who is not able to get a shroud for him gains pity; a beggar gains sympathy, the man who is not able to give him anything [lit.: a five cent coin] gains pity; a woman gains sympathy, the man who is not able to satisfy her gains pity.
The usage (though seldom) of the SP waxaa can be explained by the desire to avoid the frequent repetition of other sentence particles at least in one part of a “numerical” cliché:
(379) Raggu waxay u kala baxaan afar: nin af garad ah oo is mooda nimaan wax garad ahayn – kaasi waa caaqil ee gar siiya; nin jaahil ah oo is og inuu jaahil yahay – kaas wax bara; nimaan wax garad ahayn oo is mooda inuu wax garad yahay – kaasi waa badow madax adag ee ka dheeraada; nin wax garad ah oo is og inuu wax garad yahay – kaasi waa caaqil ee qaddariya – Men are of four types: one knows much but thinks that he knows little – he must be given his dued; another knows little and understands that he knows little – he must be taught; the third knows little but thinks that he knows much – this stubborn ignoramus must be avoided; the fourth knows much and understands that he knows much – he must be respected.
4.6.2. Among the printed sources of paremias which are at my disposal there is an eclectic collection by Abdurahman Aden (1995) which rather stands apart. It mainly contains a number of previously published proverbs existing in the Maxaad-tiri dialects, supplemented with others collected in Mogadishu, the inhabitants of which speak the Ashraf dialect (see 0.1.1). The noticeable syntactical peculiarity of the original part of the material is a frequent usage of the SP waxaa. For example, the only one out of a great number of variations of the proverb ‘It was heat that made the cooking-pot boil’ (see 348) which contains the SP waxaa was recorded in the main Somali city:
(380) Dheriga karkarka waxaa ka keenay kulaylka.
The same source provides further examples in which the necessity of the usage of the SP waxaa from the point of view of the above-described “paremiological norm” is not evident:
(381) Dhallinyaro waxaa ah ruux aan rafaad arag – A young man [lit.: youth] is one who has not learnt suffering;
(382) Gef waxaa u weyn gefafka dadka kale – The most unpardonable [lit.: the biggest] mistake is that of other people;
(383) Beenlow waxaa sira xasuus-xumi – A liar is betrayed by a bad memory.
It is necessary to point out the somewhat “bookish” nature of the urban paremias, the majority of which are sayings with a direct meaning, i.e. are not proverbs proper, but folk aphorisms (see 4.2).
4.7. Paremias without sentence particles
In his review of “Somali Proverbs and Sayings” (Kapchits, 1983) Andrzejewski (1986) attracted the attention of linguists to “archaic grammatical forms which, paradoxically enough, form part of everyday language and are commonly used in conversations and in the mass media. A good example of this are those verbal and verbal-adjectival forms which exclude the occurrence of focus indicators (baa, ayaa, waxaa and waa) in declarative sentences such as for example Ayax teg eelna reeb – ‘Locusts go away but leave damage behind’ and Tuug wax ka tuhun badan – ‘A thief is more suspicious than anyone else’. In Kapchits’ collection 7 per cent of all the items contain such grammatical forms, while normally focus indicators are obligatory in all declarative sentences.”
Teg and reeb in the first proverb are the forms of the 3rd person masculine singular of verbs tag – ‘go’ and reeb – ‘leave’ in the so-called Past Independent Tense and badan in the second proverb is the form of the 3rd person masculine singular of the attributive verb badan – ‘be numerous’ in the Present Comparative Tense (the terminology of Andrzejewski, 1969).
4.7.1. Personal verbal forms in the Past Independent Tense, now found mainly in folklore texts (see, however, 118) differ from the corresponding forms in the Past General Tense either by tone or by a combination of tone and suffixes. This can be clearly seen by the following example of the conjugations of verbs from the three main verbal classes which have already been mentioned: keen – bring, samee – make and qabo – take:
Past General Tense
Singular
1st pers. keenay/ sameeyey/ qabtay
2nd pers. keentay/ sameysey/ qabatay
3rd pers. masc. keenay/ sameeyey/ qabtay
3rd pers. fem. keentay/ sameysey/ qabatay
Plural
1st pers. (excl.) keennay/ sameynay/ qabannay
1st pers. (incl.) keennay/ sameynay/ qabannay
2nd pers. keenteen/ sameyseen/ qabateen
3rd pers. keeneen/ sameeyeen/ qabteen