Cuntada Hindida

Markaan Japan joogey oo ardeyga ahaa,  aad baan u tegi jirey makhaayaddan la oran jiray 'Kerala'. Cuntada Hindida aad iyo aad baan u jeclahay! Markaan tegi jiray makhayaaddan, waxaan dalban jiray 'Vegetable Lunch'. 'Vegetable Lunch' waxaa weeye 'naan', sambuuse, bariis, salad, laba baaquli oo suugo ah oo hilib lahayn, baaquli yogurt ah iyo shaah xawaash leh. 

Vocab
tegi jirey - used to pass by
la oran jirey - used to be called
makhaayad(da) - restaurant
dalban jirey - used to order
baaquli - bowl
suugo - soup/curry
hilib lahayn - without meat
sambuuse - samosa
shaah xawaash leh - spicy tea (chai)

Yeelkiisa - It's up to him

Maybe this is not so useful, but I often hear this phrase in my house.  'Yeelkiisa' means 'It's up to him'. 'Yeelkeeda' means 'It's up to her'. 'Yeelkayga' means 'It's up to me'.


Wuxuu ii sheegay inuu tegayo Mareykanka - He told me that he's going to America
Yeelkiisa - That's up to him (I don't care)

Adaa mudan - You're welcome

In Somali, the word for 'Thanks' is 'Mahadsanid'. You can also say, 'Waad mahadsantahay'. If someone thanks you, and you want to say 'You're welcome', the most common phrase is 'Adaa mudan'. This literally means 'You deserve it/ You are deserving (of it)'.


Person A: Aad baad u mahadsantahay, walaal - Thanks so much 
Person B : Adaa mudan - You're welcome/Don't mention it


This is a very nice polite phrase, please use it.

Definite articles - a video

Here is a (very basic) video that explains a few things about definite articles in Somali. I might have mentioned these things before, but I wanted to make a video and see how it would turn out. Also, originally I wanted to show how the words are pronounced, but I'm not a native speaker, and I could find anyone at hand who was willing. In any case, here it is(by the way, the video stops at around 4:15 mins).

Heer sare! - Great! Excellent!

When someone has achieved something great, and you want to congratulate them, you can say 'Heer sare!'. It literally means, 'high class', but is equivalent to the English word 'excellent'.


Berrito, waan qalinjebin doonnaa - Tomorrow, I'm going to graduate.
Ma run baa? Heer sare! - Is that so? That's great!


Laba iyo laba ku dar - Add two plus two.
Waa afar - It's four
Heer sare! - Excellent!

Excellent Somali website

ka...(adjective) - is more (adjective) than...

... ka (adjective) ... - is more (adjective) than...

Baabuurkaagu waa jabanyahay - Your car is cheap
Baabuurkaaga ka jaban baabuurkayga - Your car is cheaper than mine

Wiilkaagu waa asluubwacanyahay - Your son is well behaved
Wiilkaaga ka asluubwacan wiilkayga - Your son is better behaved than my son

Gurigiisu waa weynyahay - His house is big
Gurigiisa ka weyn kayga - His house is bigger than mine

Telefishonkeedu waa yaryahay - Her T.V. is smaller
Telefishonkeeda ka yar - Her T.V. is smaller

Fadumo wejigeedu waa quruxsanyahay - Fadumo's face is beautiful
Fadumo wejigeeda ka guruxsan Marian keeda - Fadumo's face is more beautiful than Marian's

Cabdi timihiisu waa badanyahay - Abdi's hair is big
Cabdi timihiisa ka badan kuwa Mohamed - Abdi's has more hair  than Mohamed(lit: Abdi's hair is more than those of Mohamed)
(In Somali, 'timo'  is kind of like a plural, like 'chevaux' in French.  So, you don't say that someone's hair is bigger than someone else's, you say that there are more of them than someone else's)


Af Soomaaligu waa adagyahay - The Somali language is difficult
Af Soomaaliga ka adag Af Ingriisiga - The Somali language is more difficult than English

markaan ... When I ...

Markaan cunayo, si aayar ah baan u cunaa - When I eat, I eat slowly 
Markaan cabbayo, si aayar ah baan u cabbaa - When I drink, I drink slowly
Markaan lugeeyo/socdo, si aayar ah baan u lugeeyaa/socdaa - When I walk, I walk slowly
Markaan qorayo, si aayar ah baan u qoraa - When I write, I write slowly
Markaan akhriyo, si aayar ah baan u akhriyaa - When I read, I read slowly

Markaad cunayso, si aayar ah baad u cuntaa - When you eat, you eat slowly
Markaad cabayso, si aayar ah baad u cabtaa- When you drink, you drink slowly
Markaad lugeeyso/socoto, si aayar ah baad u lugeeysaa/socataa - When you walk, you walk slowly
Markaad qorayso, si aayar ah baad u qortaa - When you write, you write slowly
Markaad akhriso, si aayar ah baad u akhrisaa - When you read, you read slowly


Markuu cunayo, si aayar ah buu u cunaa - When he eats, he eats slowly 
Markuu cabbayo, si aayar ah buu u cabbaa - When he drinks, he drinks slowly
Markuu lugeeyo/socdo, si aayar ah buu u lugeeyaa/socdaa - When he walks, he walks slowly
Markuu qorayo, si aayar ah buu u qoraa - When he writes, he writes slowly
Markuu akhriyo, si aayar ah buu u akhriyaa - When he reads, he reads slowly


Markay cunayso, si aayar ah bey u cuntaa - When she eats, she eats slowly
Markay cabayso, si aayar ah bey u cabtaa- When she drinks, she drinks slowly
Markay lugeeyso/socoto, si aayar ah bey u lugeeysaa/socataa - When she walks, she walks slowly
Markay qorayso, si aayar ah bey u qortaa - When she writes, she writes slowly
Markay akhrinayso, si aayar ah bey u akhrisaa - When she reads, she reads slowly

Markaannu cunayno, si aayar ah baannu u cunnaa - When we eat, we eat slowly 
Markaannu cabayno, si aayar ah baannu u cabnaa - When we drink, we drink slowly
Markaannu lugeeyno/soconno, si aayar ah baannu u lugeeynaa/soconnaa - When we walk, we walk slowly
Markaannu qorayno, si aayar ah baannu u qornaa - When we write, we write slowly
Markaannu akhrinayno, si aayar ah baannu u akhrinaa - When we read, we read slowly

Somali dictionary

Here is a free online Somali-English dictionary, which will tell you the meaning of Somali words in English, and show if the nouns are masculine or feminine

http://www.afmaal.com/dictionary/
If you want to translate basic English words into Somali, you can use another site that I've found, but it won't tell you the noun gender.

http://www.freelang.net/online/somali.php

If you really want to know, you can take the Somali word, and use the above dictionary site to find out.