Grammar: Is sac|saca🐄🐄 feminine or masculine? She wants to know

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I’m puzzled too. I’ll think about it and posted my thoughts later. Meanwhile share your thoughts.

 

[𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒔𐒖𐒕𐒈]

Of the examples, the lady offered:
i) 'Saca caanihiisa' instead of 'Saca caanaheeha'
ii) 'Saca waysha uu dhalo' instead of 'Saca waysha ay dhasho'

In both of these examples, whilst 'sac' is the female cow, it is also the generic term for all cows, with similar meaning as ' lo' '. To demonstrate, when used in the derogatory sense, 'sac' is a person with a questionable fortitude, esp. for males.

Having said that, the question is still valid, and the first time I came upon it in:

• 'Suugaan da' weynoo, diiwaan galaa tidhi,
• Nugaal duduf laga waa, Docmana aroor qabay, dad ma qaadan karayaa'.

I then considered it a flaw, where in the first verse, 'Suugaan da' weynoo, diiwaan galaa tidhi' with 'galaa' following 'Suugaan', which is feminine, therefore in my mind, grammatically it should have read 'Suugaan da' weynoo, diiwaan gashaa tidhi' in its feminine form; I sensed there was an erratum either by the singer, or the mu'allif. I enquired with a couple of poets, with both concluding, in contemporary songs, mu'allifiin take literary liberty at departing from the grammatical syntax for convenience, just to follow its 'siiqadah', which has become acceptable, just like by other poets in other languages incl. English with Shakespeare being a prime example.

With its being a common literary erratum accepted in contemporary literature, I also observed it in Masri Arabic, where a male singer would say 'habibi' in addressing a lady instead of 'habibti', which has since become the norm, and now even Sudanese, who sing with fusha adopted it.

Most famous is in 'زي الهوا', as sang by Abdelhalim Hafez courtesy of poet Mohamed Hamza, and composition by Baleegh Hamdy.
زي الهوا يا حبيبي زي الهوا
وآه من الهوى يا حبيبي آه من الهوى
وخذتني من إيدي يا حبيبي ومشينا
تحت القمر غنينا وسهرنا وحكينا

There are many other deviations observed in Arabic, and Somali. One could not possibly be a purist, and just registers them.

 

[Liban89]

Sac is masculine.

Sacu wuu dhalay.
Sac ayaa geeska ku dhuftay.
Saca carrabkiisa.

 

[Liban89]

'Saca waysha uu dhalo'

*Sacu

 

[𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒔𐒖𐒕𐒈]

Sac is masculine.

Sacu wuu dhalay.
Sac ayaa geeska ku dhuftay.
Saca carrabkiisa.

Valid point, but think about the following:
sac & dibi - where sac is for both*
awr & hal - halo (geel) is for both, pl.
ri' & orgi - riyo(h) is for both, pl.
sabeen & sange
faras & baqal

* Could you think about what the female be called? I could not, perhaps we could ask 'lo'ley'.

*Sacu

Correct; I was merely going by what the lady said.

 

[Yibir_]

Dibi
Sac
Lo’

sacu = this/the cow Singular.
sacaas = that cow
Sacuud = their cow
Saca = the cow (implied ownership in conversation)

 

[Yibir_]

Valid point, but think about the following:
sac & dibi - where sac is for both*
awr & hal - halo (geel) is for both, pl.
ri' & orgi - riyo(h) is for both, pl.
sabeen & sange
faras & baqal

* Could you think about what the female be called? I could not, perhaps we could ask 'lo'ley'.


Correct; I was merely going by what the lady said.

Female cows can have horns. Male cows for the most part are killed whilst their young or castrated to plough fields. You only need 1 or 2 bulls to increase the size of the herd.

 

[Liban89]

Loc

It is Lo'

 

[Poets]

There is a difference between the word being feminine, and the meaning of the word to be feminine. Sac is a masculine noun because it has the characteristic marker of a masculine noun when used in a definite manner "The cow" becomes "Saca". If it where to be a feminine word, it would have the marker "da" at the end and would thus become "Sacda", but that is not how the somalis say. Note, however, that the meaning of the word is still feminine, because it is the cow that is alluded to and not the bull.

A few other examples where this is at play:

1) When using the feminine plural for the masculine singular. For example "Caalim" becomes "culimo" meaning "scholars". When used in a definite manner it becomes "culimada" which is the characteristic ending for nouns that are feminine. Therefore you can both say "Culimadu waxay tiri" in a feminine format and "Culimadu waxay dheheen" in a neutral plural format depending if you allude to the word it self (which is feminine) or the meaning of the word (which is masculine as it relates to learned men i.e. scholars).

2) Haweeney is a feminine noun but becomes masculine in plural "Haweenka". You do not say "Haweenkii sidaas samaysa waxaas bay leeyihiin", instead you say "Haweenkii sidaa sameeya waxaas bay leeyihiin" despite that those referred to are women.

3) Xaas is a masculine word but referring to a married woman.

4) Dumar is a masculine noun referring to a group of women, i.e. it is feminine in meaning.

This same phenomenon is present in the arabic language at there are numerous instances in the Qur'aan where the words refers to masculine objects/persons but the word itself is feminine and vice versa.

 

[Liban89]

Valid point, but think about the following:
sac & dibi - where sac is for both*
awr & hal - halo (geel) is for both, pl.
ri' & orgi - riyo(h) is for both, pl.
sabeen & sange
faras & baqal

* Could you think about what the female be called? I could not, perhaps we could ask 'lo'ley'.


Correct; I was merely going by what the lady said.

Cattle: Lo'
----------------
Singular: Sac/Dibi (adult)

Different stages in age:
Male:
•Weyl = calf (emphasis on the y), plural is weylo
•Teen equivalent male cow= Qaalin (hard pronunciation like male inan)
•Dibi (full grown), pronounced softly compared to when referring to Oxen.

Female:
•Weyl (soft y),
•Qaalin (pronounced like female inan)
•Sac. Weirdly, I always heard their plural referred to as Qaalmo

The unit of 100 is the standard measurement of Somalis when it comes to their livestock.
100 Lo' is called Fadhi Lo' ah.

Camel
-------------
Male: Awr
Female: Hal
Plural: Geel

Males go through the stages of:
•Nirig •Qurbac •Qaalin •Awr

Females go through the stages of:
•Nirig •Qaalin •Hal

pronunciation of nirig is different of course, also I don't know the female equivalent of qurbac.

Aaran is the collective noun for calves off both sex.
100 camels are Kadin Geel ah

Adhi/Ari:
--------------
Divided into Adhi (Goats) and I'do (sheep)

Adhi consists of: Riyo (nanny) and Orgi (billy)
Males go through the stages of:
•waxar •ceesaan •orgi
Females are the same only the pronunciation is different as expected. Waxaro is the collective noun for very young goats.

I'do consist of: Lax and Wan
Male stages: •Nayl •Sabeen •Wan
Female stages: •Nayl •Sabeen •Lax

Naylo or baraar is the collective name of very young sheep.

100 goats or sheep or a mix of both is called: Tiro adhi ah

Maqal is the collective noun of both young goats (waxaro) and young sheep (naylo/baraar). It is my favourite group of animals to herd. They are playful, energetic, and you can carry them easily. Plus their naaaa sound is cute, but you have to be careful the occasional angry lax or ri' mom might headbutt you.

Collective noun of sheep & goat = Adhi

Collective noun of Cattle & Camels= Ishin

Collective noun of Horses & Donkeys = Gammaan

Reer miyi refer to each species of livestock reared for their meat and milk as Meesi hence Somalis have Afar Meesi (Adhi, I'do, Lo', Geel).

 

[Liban89]

There is a difference between the word being feminine, and the meaning of the word to be feminine. Sac is a masculine noun because it has the characteristic marker of a masculine noun when used in a definite manner "The cow" becomes "Saca". If it where to be a feminine word, it would have the marker "da" at the end and would thus become "Sacda", but that is not how the somalis say. Note, however, that the meaning of the word is still feminine, because it is the cow that is alluded to and not the bull.

A few other examples where this is at play:

1) When using the feminine plural for the masculine singular. For example "Caalim" becomes "culimo" meaning "scholars". When used in a definite manner it becomes "culimada" which is the characteristic ending for nouns that are feminine. Therefore you can both say "Culimadu waxay tiri" in a feminine format and "Culimadu waxay dheheen" in a neutral plural format depending if you allude to the word it self (which is feminine) or the meaning of the word (which is masculine as it relates to learned men i.e. scholars).

2) Haweeney is a feminine noun but becomes masculine in plural "Haweenka". You do not say "Haweenkii sidaas samaysa waxaas bay leeyihiin", instead you say "Haweenkii sidaa sameeya waxaas bay leeyihiin" despite that those referred to are women.

3) Xaas is a masculine word but referring to a married woman.

4) Dumar is a masculine noun referring to a group of women, i.e. it is feminine in meaning.

This same phenomenon is present in the arabic language at there are numerous instances in the Qur'aan where the words refers to masculine objects/persons but the word itself is feminine and vice versa.

Horumarinta afka soomaaliga screeched to a halt since the collapse of the nation, who knows where the language would've been if things stayed ok in 91. Here in Hargeysa nearly every single billboard/official document is in English/Arabic and it makes me irrationality angry.

 

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A Somali language teacher has answered. He has YouTube channel. He teaches Somali language in a university in America.

part one:

Part 2