Saturday 29 October 2011

BBC Obituary article

Dissecting a Somali obituary article on the BBC Somali website,


Ilaahay ha u naxariisto  Faadumo Qaasim (Faadumo Qaasim, God rest her soul)




Faadumo Qaasim Hilowle ayaa xalay ku geeriyootay London. Faadumo waa fannaanad caan ah oo Soomaaliyeed. Waxay ka tirsanaan jirtay Waaberi.


'ayaa' works exactly the same as 'baa'. It is a Focus Word. 'xalay' means last night. 'geeriyootay' means 'she passed away/died'. 'Ku' corresponds to the English preposition 'in'. Therefore, the sentence reads, 'Fadumo Qasim Hilowle passed away in London last night'. 'Fannaanad' means a female singer. 'caan' means 'fame/famous'. Therefore, 'fannaanad caan ah' means 'a famous singer. Remember, 'oo' joins together two or more adjectives. 'Faadumo waa fannaanad caan ah oo Soomaaliyeed' - 'Fadumo was a famous Somali (female)singer'. Strictly speaking there is no verb here, so it could read as 'Fadumo is a ...' but we know from the context that she died, so we use the past tense. 'ka tirsan' is a verb which means 'to be part of'.  The sentence in English means 'She was part of (the singing group) Waaberi'.




Waxaa dhalay Abwaankii caanka ahaa Hilowle Qaasim, oo ahaa abwaan qeyb weyn ka soo qaatay halgankii gobannimo doonka.

'Abwaan' means a 'wise, distinguished person' like a poet, author etc. 'qeyb weyn ka soo qaatay' means 'to play a big part in'. 'Halgan' means a 'struggle/movement'. 'Gobannimo doonka' means 'to want (your) dignity/independence'. Therefore, the sentence in English is, 'She was born to the famous distinguished scholar Hilowle Qaasim, who played a great role in the independence struggle'. 

Faadumo waxay iyaduna ka mid ahayd fannaaniinta ugu waaweyn ee Soomaaliya, codkeedana si aad ah ayaa loo jeclaa.

'Iyaduna' = 'and she' , Waxay ka mid ahayd = 'she was one of', 'ugu waaweyn' = ' the biggest', 'codkeeda' = 'her voice', 'si aad ah ayaa loo jeclaa' = 'was much loved'. Sentence = 'Fadumo herself was one of the biggest singers in Somalia, and her voice was much loved'.


Waxay ahayd, marwo iyo hooyo.


'Waxay ahayd'(she was) is the past tense of 'waxay tahay'(she is). 'Marwo' means a dignified, honourable lady. 'Hooyo' you should know. The sentence therefore is, 'She was a honourable lady and mother'.


Waxay dhashay Fadumo carruur iyaguna ah xiddigo fanka xag music garaacid iyo xag heesba la jecel yahay.


'Waxay dhashay...carruur' literally means 'She gave birth to children'. 'Xiddigo' ='stars', 'xag....iyo xag....' means 'both ... and ....'. 'La jecel yahay' = 'popular'

Fadumo had children who were stars in the entertainment world, both in percussion music and singing, who were popular. 

Faadumo Qaasim waxa lagu aasayaa London maalinta Sabtida.

'aasay' means 'to bury'. 'la' means the phrase passive. 'gu' is the preposition 'ku' (in), which changes to 'gu' because it is attached to 'la'. 'lagu aasayaa' = 'will be buried in'.

'Fadumo Qaasim will be buried in London on Saturday'. 


Here is the original article,  http://www.bbc.co.uk/somali/maqal_iyo_muuqaal/2011/10/111006_faadumo.shtml.





Friday 21 October 2011

Dhib ma leh - No problem

'Dhib ma leh'  means 'No problem'. A very useful phrase. 'Dhib' means 'problem'. The plural is 'dhibaato'. 'leh' means 'to own/possess'. Literally it means 'I've got no problem (with that)'.