Kapchits, Georgi

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Towards the Lexicographical Description of Somali Nouns with the Word “Road” as an Example

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?????????????????52Towards the Lexicographical Description of Somali Nouns with the Word “Road”  as an Example*Georgi KapchitsBefore the adoption of the Somali script, I knew of only two Foreign-Somali Dictionaries: Somali-English Dictionary and English-Somali Dictionary, by R. C. Abraham, published in 1964 and 1967, correspond-ingly. Their Somali parts are printed in Latin graphic slightly different from the Somali orthography accepted in 1972, which, however, does not hamper the use of these dictionaries.Since then more than a dozen dictionaries have appeared in Soma-lia, Europe, and the United States. They include several defining Somali dictionaries: Qaamuus kooban ee Af Soomaaliga (1976); Qaamuuska af-Soomaaliga, by Yaasiin Cismaan Keenaadiid (1976); Qaamuus, by Saa-lax Xaashi Carab (2004); Qaamuuska Af-Soomaaliga, by Khaalid Cali-Guul-Warsame (2008); Qaamuuska af-Soomaaliga, by Annarita Puglielli and Cabdalla Cumar Mansur (2012); and Qaamuus Af Soomaali, edited by Aadan Xasan Aadan (2013).Among the bilingual (Somali-Foreign) dictionaries of the gen-eral type, one should mention Robles Wörterbuch der deutschen und somalischen Sprache, by A. Roble and Elke Mähner (1989); Somali-Eng-lish Dictionary, by R. David Zorc and Madina M. Osman (1993); and Abwaan cusub oo af-Soomaali iyo af-Ingriisi ah/A Modern Somali-English Dictionary, by Abdiraxmaan A. Farah “Barwaaqo” (1995). In addition, A Dictionary of Somali Verbs in Everyday Contexts, by Liban A. Ahmad, was issued in 2012.As to the Foreign-Somali dictionaries published in the West (apart from the aforementioned Abraham’s dictionary), I know only three: Dizionario Italiano-Somalo, edited by Giorgio Banti, Cabdinasser Shek 53Georgi KapchitsMohamed, and Annarita Puglielli (1985); English-Somali Dictionary/Qaamuus Ingriisi-Soomaali, published by Haan Associates (1993); and Advanced English-Somali Dictionary, by Ahmed Hussein Mire (2008).In Russia, the first lexicographical experiment in relation to the Somali language was abortive. The Short Somali-Russian and Rus-sian-Somali Dictionary, issued in 1969 by two journalists, Dmitry Ste-panchenko and Mohamed Hadji Osman, contained so many mistakes that its use was not possible.1In 1977, the anonymous Somali-Russian and Russian-Somali Mil-itary and Technical Dictionary was published, followed in 2012 with Somali-Russian Dictionary/Eraykoobka Soomaali-Ruush ah, compiled by V. Oleynikov. A Russian-Somali dictionary which would translate the common Russian lexicon and phraseology into Somali has not been created yet. *****Although the above-mentioned Somali-Foreign dictionaries differ in the completeness and accuracy of the lexical material, all of them serve their purpose well. With their help, a person familiar with the gram-mar of the Somali language can read and understand Somali texts. In contrast to these dictionaries, English-Somali Dictionary, by Abraham; Dizionario Italiano-Somalo; English-Somali Dictionary/Qaamuus Ingriisi-Soomaali; and Advanced English-Somali Dictionary meet the declared objectives only partially. One can learn Somali words with them, but cannot translate into Somali any coherent texts. The fact is that all of them ignore one important feature of the Somali syntax, which dictates a non-trivial way of lexicographical description of Somali nouns. Here is what was written about this by the pioneer of Somali studies in Rus-sia, Alexander Zholkovsky: “… the particles that convey in Somali the prepositional and case meanings of European languages can accom-pany only the predicative members of the sentence, i.e., verbs and adjectives,2 hence they are called preverbs. Accordingly, a Somali noun practically cannot govern other nouns and nominal phrases such as ‘actants’ and ‘circumstants,’ i. e., words that denote participants and circumstances of the situation it names.”3 It means that the direct trans-lation into Somali of such phrases as the road to Mogadishu, for example, is not possible. In Somali there is no preposition to (or other prepositions either), but there are prepositional particles (or preverbs) which precede verbs. ?????????????????54There are four: ‘u,’ which means to, towards, for, on behalf of; ‘ku,’ mean-ing in, on, at, to, into, onto, upon, with, by means of; ‘ka,’ meaning at, from, off, away, out of, against, across, about; and ‘la,’ denoting with, together ????? And one of them, together with the so-called empty verb ‘Vo’4 (its role is purely syntactical), which is absent in English phrases, should be used for its translation. To do this the phrase must be transformed into the construction with the relative clause in which the road is an object, the indefinite pronoun ‘la,’ or somebody (3M person, grammati-cally), is the subject, the ‘Vo mari’ (to pass, go) is the predicate, and then to place the preverb ‘u’ (to) in front of it: ‘Waddada [Waddo + fem. def. article -da] loo [la+u] maro Muqdisho’ means The road to Mogadishu (lit-erally, The road somebody to goes Mogadishu). There are two types of relative clauses with ‘Vo’: (1) the relative clause in which the attributive word is an object (as in our example) and (2) the relative clause in which the attributive word is the subject, for example, ‘Waddada u baxda Muqdisho’ — The road to Mogadishu (literally, The road [which] for leaves Mogadishu). As we see, in this con-struction another ‘Vo’ (to leave) with the same preverb ‘u’ (for) is used. The empty verbs are different for different nouns, therefore they should be learned separately with each noun. As estimated by Zholkovsky, the number of the verbs “able to act as … Vo” does not exceed forty.5 However, in my experience, they are more numerous.‘Mari’ and ‘bixi’ from the previous examples are far from being the only ‘Vo’ used with the word ‘waddo’ (road), which, by the way, in Somali has a lot of synonyms or words with close meaning (see para-graph 3).Below there are the examples of the use of all “empty verbs” with the noun ‘waddada” (hereafter ‘w’) the road, the way of which we are aware. Under the heading A, there are the sentences in which this word is an object and under the heading B, those in which it is the subject:A.(u) mari to go; W. Muqdisho loo [la + u] maro6 The road to Mogadishu (literally: The road [which] Mogadishu somebody to goes);7(ka) bixi to go (out of); Waddada Muqdishu looga/lagaga baxo [la + ku by means of + ka out of] The road from Mogadishu (lit.: The road by means of [which] Mogadishu somebody out of goes).55Georgi KapchitsB.tegi/aadi/8mari to go; W. Muqdisho takta/aadda/marta  The road to Mog-adishu (lit.: The road [which] Mogadishu [to] goes);(u) socon to go (to); W. Muqdisho u socota The road to Mogadishu (lit.: The road [which] Mogadishu to goes);geli to enter; W. Muqdisho gasha The road to Mogadishu (lit.: The road [which] Mogadishu enters); (u) bixi to leave (for); W. Muqdisho u baxda The road to Mogadishu (lit.: The road [which] Mogadishu for leaves);qaban to take; W. Muqdisho qabata The road to Mogadishu (lit.: The road [which] Mogadishu [towards] takes);geyn/(ku) ridi to bring/put (in); W. Muqdisho geysa/ku ridda The road to Mogadishu (lit.: The road [which] [to] brings/in puts Mogadishu)?(ka) iman to come (from); W. Muqdisho ka timaadda The road from Moga-dishu (lit.: The road [which] Mogadishu from comes);(ka) bixi to go (out of); W. Muqdisho ka baxda The road from Mogadishu (lit.: The road [which] out of Mogadishu goes);(ka) soo geli to enter (from); W. Muqdisho ka soo gasha The road from Mogadishu (lit.: The road [which] Mogadishu from enters);(ka) mari to pass (??? ???? ????????????? ?????? ??); W. waqooyi/koonfur ka marta Muqdisho The road to the North of Mogadishu (lit.: The road [which] North/South by passes Mogadishu);(dhex) mari to go (through); W. dhex marta Muqdisho The road in Moga-dishu  (lit.: The road [which] through goes Mogadishu);(ag/dhinac/hareer) mari to pass (near/beside/around); W. ag/dhinac/hareer marta Muqdishu  The road near Mogadishu (lit.: The road [which] near goes Mogadishu);?????????????????56(ku) oolli to be situated (in a place); W. ku taalla Muqdisho The road in Mogadishu (lit.: The road [which] is in situated Mogadishu);(ka) dhisan to be built (in); W. ka dhisan Muqdisho The road in Mogadi-shu (lit.: The road [which] is in built Mogadishu);(isku) xiri to bind (together several things); W. isku xirta Muqdisho iyo Kismaayo The road between Mogadishu and Kismayo  (lit.: The road [which] together binds Mogadishu and Kismayo);(u/ka) dhexeyn/dhex mari to be/go between; W. u/ka dhexeysa/ dex marta Muqdisho iyo Kismaayo The road between Mogadishu and Kismayo (lit.: The road [which] between is/goes Mogadishu and Kismaayo).Obviously, not all ‘Vo’ should be placed in the entry road way; how-ever, the most common of them must accompany this noun without fail. In addition, it is useful to know (and to reveal in the dictionary) some other (not empty) verbs associated with the noun ‘waddo’ (here-inafter in the examples ‘w’) road/way:w. raaci/haysan/(ku) socon/geli to go along the road: w. (ka) fali/yeeli/sameyn to make a road in;w. (ka) dhisi to build a road in;w. (ka) gudbi to cross the road;w. (ka) leexan/bayri to swing off the road;w. cagta saari to set off/out (lit.: to set one’s foot on the road);w. ku dhici to set off/out (lit.: to fall on the road);w. qaadi to set off/out (lit.: to take the road);w. gudbin to cause somebody to set off ;w. (ka) dhumi/lumi to lose one’s way;57w. istaagi ????????????????????????????????????????????w. (ku) wadi to proceed with one’s way;w. (ku) joogi/jiri to be on the way; w. dhexe joogi to be halfway;w. bannayn to clear the road; laba w. meel ay iska gooyaan a cross-roads  (lit.: two roads the place in which they intersect); jiiro-da ???????????????????*****In Somali the meaning of the English words road and way is conveyed in many words. Apart from ‘waddo-da,’ which is used mainly in the northern and the Darood dialects, and ‘jid-ka,’ which is used chiefly in the Benaadir or southern dialects, there are also ‘dhabbe-ha,’ ‘marin-ka,’ ‘hilin-ka,’ ‘daw-ga,’ ‘dariiq-a,’ ‘dil-sha,’ ‘tub-ta,’ and ‘majare-ha.’ Moreover, ‘waddo-da’ and ‘jid-ka’ also mean street, while ‘hilin-ka,’ ‘daw-ga,’ ‘dil-sha,’ and ‘tub-ta’ also mean ?????Besides, there are words for the main road ‘xagaaf-ka’; a straight road ‘toobiye-ha’ and ‘bogox-da’; a straight and wide road ‘haloosi-da’/ ‘haloodi-ga’; an earth road ‘shag-ga,’ ‘jidcadde-ha’; a beaten track ‘wad-doohiye-ha’; a road trodden by animals and people ‘jebis-ka’; an off-shoot road ‘bogdoox-da’; and a dangerous road ‘maaro-da.’ In Somali a highway is ‘rasto-da’ or ‘waddo-da/jid-ka laami-ga ah.’It is difficult to enumerate all Somali words meaning a path, a foot-path, or? ?? ??????? Apart from the above-mentioned words there are also ‘wadiiqo-da,’ ‘surin-ka,’ ‘budul-sha,’ ‘dardar-ta,’ ‘dhigdhig-ta,’ ‘diqdiqo-da’/ ‘diqdiq-da,’ ‘gudmo-ha,’ ‘jiqjiq-a,’ ‘luuq-a,’ ‘gurood-da,’ ‘mur-ta,’ ‘qallaal- sha,’ ‘suryo-da,’ and ‘araari-da.’ ‘Doqosh-ka’ means a path between two buildings, ‘dhabbaggacal-ka’  is a foot-path between two neighboring houses, ‘tafaal-ka’ is a track connecting two roads, ‘qoode-ha’ means a cow trail, ‘falfal-ka’ and ‘sud-da’ mean a path in the opening, ‘waddo/jid-caanood-ka/hunguri-ga’ is a path between the house and  the Georgi Kapchits?????????????????58camel enclosure (lit.: a milk-path), ‘waddo-dhaan-ta’ means a path to the well, and so on.*I am grateful to my Somali informants Mohamed Hassan “Alto” and Abdiraxman Farah “Barwaaqo” for their help and patience. Notes1.  See G. Kapchits’ review, “The Short Somali-Russian and Russian-Somali Dictionary,” Folia Orientalia, 16 (Kraków, 1975).2.  Actually there are no adjectives in Somali. Instead there are so-called adjectival verbs, like cas (be red) or wanaagsan (be good), etc.3.  A. Zholkovsky, “Materiali k russko-somaliyskomu slovariu” (Some materials for Russian-Somali dictionary), Voprosi afrikanskoi filologii. M. 1974, p. 171.4.  Such a designation of the empty (functional) verb was used by A. Zholkovsky and I. Mel’chuk  in a series of publications related to the development of the “meaning-text” model.5.  Ibid., p. 176.6.  Here and further another order of words is possible (see above the same example).7.  It seems that this sentence can also be translated into Somali by the combination of the indefinite subject la with some other Vo: (u) qaadi  to take (for); W. Muqdisho  loo qaado The road to Mogadishu (lit.: The road (which) Mogadishu somebody for takes; (ku) tegi to go (by means of); W. Muqdisho lagu [la + ku] tago The road to Mogadishu (lit.: The road (which) ?????????????????????????????????????The possibility of the use of these Vo has been con-firmed by the informant speaking in one of the Darood dialects, but has been called into question by the informant speaking in one of the Northern dialects. The answer to the question whether the use of these Vo is connected with certain dialects requires further study. 8.  Tegi (to go) is used in Northern dialects and the dialects of the Darood group, while aadi (to go) is used in the Benaadir (i.e., southern) dialects.ReferencesAadan, Aadan Xasan, ed. Qaamuus Af Soomaali. Djibouti, 2013.Abraham, R. C. Somali-English Dictionary. London, 1964. ?????English-Somali Dictionary. London, 1967.  Ahmad, Liban A. A Dictionary of Somali Verbs in Everyday Contexts. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2012.Alejnikov, V. Somali-russkij slovar/Eraykoobka Soomaali-Ruush ah. Moscow, 2012.Banti, Giorgio, Cabdinasser Shek Mohamed, and Annarita Puglielli (caporedattori). Dizionario Italiano-Somalo. Roma, 1985.  Cali-Guul-Warsame, Khaalid. Qaamuuska Af-Soomaaliga. Nairobi, 2008.Carab, Saalax Xaashi. Qaamuus. Djibouti, 2004. English-Somali Dictionary/Qaamuus Ingriisi-Soomaali. London, 1993. 59Farah, Abdiraxmaan A. “Barwaaqo.” Abwaan cusub oo af-Soomaali iyo af-Ingriisi ah/ A Modern Somali-English Dictionary. Ottawa, Canada, 1995.Kapchits, G. “Sentence Particles in the Somali Language and their Usage in Proverbs.” Aahen, 2005.Kapchits, G., D. Stepanchenko, and Mohamed Haji Osman. “Short Somali-Russian and Russian-Somali Dictionary.” Folia Orientalia, 16. Krakow, 1975. Keenaadiid, Yaasiin Cismaan. Qaamuuska af-Soomaaliga. Firenze, 1976.Mire, Ahmed Hussein. Advanced English-Somali Dictionary. China, 2008.Puglielli, Annarita, and Cabdalla Cumar Mansur. Qaamuuska af-Soomaaliga. Roma. 2012.???????????????????????????????? Xamar, 1976.Roble, A., and Elke Mähner. Robles Wörterbuch der deutschen und somalischen Sprache. Bonn, 1989.Somalijsko-russkij i russko-somalijskij voennij i tekhnicheskij slovar (Somali-Russian and Rus-sian-Somali Military and Technical Dictionary). Moscow, 1977.Stepanchenko, D., and Mohamed Haji Osman. Kratkij Somali-russkij i russko-somalijskij slovar (Short Somali-Russian and Russian-Somali Dictionary). Moscow, 1969. Zholkovsky, A. “K leksikograficheskomu opisaniyu somalijskikh sushchestvitel’nikh” (Towards the Lexicographical Description of Somali Nouns). Narodi Azii i Afriki, 1967, ????????????????????? ?? ?????????????????????????????? ???????????????? ???? ????????????Somali dictionary). Voprosi afrikanskoi filologii. Moscow, 1974.Zorc, R. David, and Madina M. Osman. Somali-English Dictionary. Kensington, 1993.Georgi Kapchits

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Towards the Lexicographical Description of Somali Nouns with the Word “Road” as an Example

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