[12] These examples have been taken from Warsama, Abraham (1951), with the exception of (76).
[13] In modern dictionaries (Zorc and Osman, 1993 and others) they are written together.
[14] In Somali there are no perfect forms, therefore waan sameeyey may mean 'I made' and 'I have made'.
[15] Zholkovsky (1971) calls this the Past Short Tense.
[16] Because the SPs ayaa and baa can freely substitute each other in all contexts, the patterns of the usage of ayaa are investigated only in exceptional cases, in particular in chapter 3.
[17] As was noted in 0.3.1 the Somali system of writing does not use diacritical marks, hence the ambivalence of sentences like these and of structures which include words which differ only by tone, e.g. Inan buu dhalay – A boy was born to him/A girl was born to him [lit: He gave birth to a boy/girl].
[18] A short but pithy article on this subject was written by Banti (1984).
[19] In fact this is only one of the three possible interpretations of the meaning of this paradigm, the other two being (depending on the logical accent) It was Ali who brought a book for Farah and What Ali brought for Farah was a book.
[20] In oral communication the SP baa usually merges with the preceding emphatic pronouns, making the forms anigaa, adigaa, isagaa, iyadaa, annagaa, innagaa, idinkaa and iyagaa. It is appropriate to remind the reader that in the position before the SP baa, the subjects, including those which are expressed by the emphatic pronouns, do not assume case suffixes (morphological markers)].
[21] This may also mean ‘again’: Warqaddii dib buu u akhristay – He re-read the letter.
[22] It is interesting to note that Andrzejewski (1964) who also used to share this point of view, changed it after he had come to know the work of Zholkovsky (1971) – see Andrzejewski (1975).
[23] A mora is a short vowel sound; a long vowel is equal to two moras and is marked by the reduplication of the corresponding letter: a-aa, e-ee, i-ii etc.
[24] For weeye see the chapter dealing with the SP waa.
[25] A literary translation would be ‘(When) they attacked (our) house we were in another place’.
[26] Alliteration is also typical for Somali poetry.
[27] This metrical analysis was made by G.Banti.
[28] Named after Sam Weller, a character in Dickens’s “Pickwick Papers”.
[29] We do, however, know a variant of this proverb in which the subject is used with the marker of nominative case: Aqoonla’aani waa iftiinla’aan.
[30] According to Somali ideas the stomach, with the chest, is the main depository of the intellect. During the dry season heavy rains sometimes fall and fill the dry river-beds.
[31] Saab is an openwork wicker frame for holding a water-jar.
[32] According to Muslim ideas a dog is a dirty animal, so after having touched one, the ‘defiled’ spot needs repeated ablutions.
[33] A twig used by Somalis to clean the teeth.
[34] Here: clan, tribe.
[35] See Andrzejewski (1956), p.126.
[36] See also ibid., p. 129.
[37] i.e. attributive verbs.
[38] What is meant is the dictionary form (wanaagsan – be good, daran – be bad, tough) which these verbs assume in relative clauses without subjects of their own: Nin wanaagsan – a good man [lit.: A man who is good], Abaar daran – A severe drought [lit.: A drought which is severe] in contrast to a compound form in which they appear in the role of the predicate of the main sentence, for example with the SP waa: Ninku waa wanaagsan yahay – ‘This man is good’ or of the predicate in the relative clause with its own subject: Inuu daran yahay waa la ogsoon yahay – It is known that he is bad.
[39] In the original the idiom ‘to take one’s tooth’ which means ‘to eat before someone’s eyes’.
[40] The coincidence of this verbal form with the SP waa is purely graphical. In fact they differ by the quality of the vowel: in the verb it is closed (fronted) and in the particle it is open (retracted).
[41] For their meaning see in 0.3.5.
[42] Somalis usually go to remote and often almost inaccessible places to gather these very nutritious nuts.
[43] This refers to the important and laborious task of bringing water to a nomadic encampment, which is charged to the strongest and most sturdy men.
[44] A person of a high caste.
[45] Kismayo – a Somali coastal city.