Word of the Day: How to Say 'special needs' in the Somali Language?

[backgroundISneeded]

How to Say 'special needs' in the Somali Language?

In Somali language, special needs is called ‘Baahiyaha gaarka ah ’.

Pronunciation / ku dhawaaqa

sources/Ilaha:
Somaliland oo sheegtay in ardayda qabo baahiyaha gaarka ah ay caawineyso

Somaliland oo ardayda qabo baahiyaha gaarka u fidisay waxbarasho bilaash ah - BBC News Somali

Agaasimaha waaxda dugsiyada ardayda baahiyaha gaarka ah qabo ee wasaaradda waxbarashada Somaliland Cabdishakuur Maxamed Cabdi ayaa soo bandhigay in ay ilaa 700 oo arday oo la'a araga iyo maqalka iyo meelo kale ay u fidiyaan waxbarasho bilaash ah

www.bbc.com

 

[𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒔𐒖𐒕𐒈]

Thanks again.
I think the correct form is: 'Baahiya khaas ah / gaar ah' instead of 'Baahiyaha gaarka ah', because 'Baahiyaha gaarka ah' translates to 'The special needs'.

I would use 'khaas' instead of 'gaar', for 'khaas' denotes particularities, and customisation, which is what is being sought in 'special', of which denotation speaks of 'particular, or characteristic' properties of the target object, or person.

And if we are referring to 'people with specific needs', then it should be 'people with distinctive or specific needs' i.e. with disabilities in its many forms.

We shall let students of etymology, and linguistics to further explore.

Postscript:
Good of you for adding the pronunciation. Nicely done.

Food for thought.

 

[backgroundISneeded]

Thanks again.
I think the correct form is: 'Baahiya khaas ah / gaar ah' instead of 'Baahiyaha gaarka ah', because 'Baahiyaha gaarka ah' translates to 'The special needs'.

I would use 'khaas' instead of 'gaar', for 'khaas' denotes particularities, and customisation, which is what is being sought in 'special', of which denotation speaks of 'particular, or characteristic' properties of the target object, or person.

I think 'khaas' might be regional. 'Gaar' seems to fit perfectly in that phrase. Additionally, I have searched it on the internet and found that all major news stations use this phrase 'Baahiyaha gaarka ah.' Even children activists are using it. Therefore, I would say that it is an established phrase and we do not need to correct it.

And if we are referring to 'people with specific needs', then it should be 'people with distinctive or specific needs' i.e. with disabilities in its many forms.

We shall let students of etymology, and linguistics to further explore.

The student of etymology and linguistics have failed Somali language. where are they at ?

Postscript:
Good of you for adding the pronunciation. Nicely done.

Food for thought.

 

[convincation]

Most Somalis I come across say special needs as “walax baa si ka ah”

 

[Liban89]

Special needs = laxaadka la' , baahiyaha gaarka ah is a direct translation and doesn't convey the intended meaning well.

 

[𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒔𐒖𐒕𐒈]

Most Somalis I come across say special needs as “walax baa si ka ah”

I think that is more of a slang, or spoken, than the written form.

Special needs = laxaadka la' , baahiyaha gaarka ah is a direct translation and doesn't convey the intended meaning well.

I agree, it does fall short, yet I want to think 'Laxaad la' ' more directly speaks to the general senses, as in the 6 senses, of a person, but what would you say if it is more psychological, emotional, or developmental? For example, dyslexic, someone of the spectrum etc?

 

[Buufin]

Thanks again.
I think the correct form is: 'Baahiya khaas ah / gaar ah' instead of 'Baahiyaha gaarka ah', because 'Baahiyaha gaarka ah' translates to 'The special needs'.

Baahiya is grammatically incorrect.
The plural of baahi is baahiyaha(needs/the needs)

Khaas and gaar are describing the same thing. There's gooni too. "Baahiyaha gooniga haysta"

 

[𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒔𐒖𐒕𐒈]

Baahiya is grammatically incorrect.
The plural of baahi is baahiyaha(needs/the needs)

Khaas and gaar are describing the same thing. There's gooni too. "Baahiyaha gooniga haysta"

I want to disagree on the plural form. In 'baahiyaha' the 'ha' at the end does not signify plurality, but specificity, for 'ha' is a definitive article just like 'ka', meaning 'the'.

Therefore the plural form of 'baahi' is 'baahiya || baahiyo', and not 'baahiyaha', which woud mean 'the needs'.

For example, 'Waxaa jira baahiya (baahiyo) badan'; you would not say 'Waxaa jira baahiyaha badan' (there are the needs), would you?

Examples:
Dheg -Dhego (pl); if I said 'dhegta', or 'dhegaha', it would mean 'the ears'.
Cag - cago (pl); if I said 'cagta' or 'cagaha - 'the foort || the feet'
Film - aflaam (pl), if I said 'aflaamta' - 'the movies'.
Buug - buugaag (pl); if I said 'buugaagta' - 'the books'.
Dhagax - dhagxaan; if I said 'dhagxaanta' - 'the rocks'.

You get the gist.

Again, I neither a linguist, nor etymologist.
Your turn, take it away.

 

[Liban89]

I think that is more of a slang, or spoken, than the written form.


I agree, it does fall short, yet I want to think 'Laxaad la' ' more directly speaks to the general senses, as in the 6 senses, of a person, but what would you say if it is more psychological, emotional, or developmental? For example, dyslexic, someone of the spectrum etc?

I actually don't have a definitive word for it, but af soomaali is large and rich in descriptive language, experts can find/coin an all encompassing term for it.

 

[𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒔𐒖𐒕𐒈]

I actually don't have a definitive word for it, but af soomaali is large and rich in descriptive language, experts can find/coin an all encompassing term for it.

Indeed, rich, poetic, and vast in its depth.

Dare I suggest (Let me be a tad bit controversial with the 'say wallaahi' fish & chips crowd): it shares with, derives its beauty from its sister language 'Arabic'.

 

[Liban89]

Indeed, rich, poetic, and vast in its depth.

Dare I suggest (Let me be a tad bit controversial with the 'say wallaahi' fish & chips crowd): it shares with, derives its beauty from its sister language 'Arabic'.

Indeed the two languages are rich af.
Af soomaali has been influenced - although very recently- by Arabic, it is a fact. Why would anyone think it is controversial?

 

[Buufin]

I want to disagree on the plural form. In 'baahiyaha' the 'ha' at the end does not signify plurality, but specificity, for 'ha' is a definitive article just like 'ka', meaning 'the'.

Therefore the plural form of 'baahi' is 'baahiya || baahiyo', and not 'baahiyaha', which woud mean 'the needs'.

For example, 'Waxaa jira baahiya (baahiyo) badan'; you would not say 'Waxaa jira baahiyaha badan' (there are the needs), would you?

Examples:
Dheg -Dhego (pl); if I said 'dhegta', or 'dhegaha', it would mean 'the ears'.
Cag - cago (pl); if I said 'cagta' or 'cagaha - 'the foort || the feet'
Film - aflaam (pl), if I said 'aflaamta' - 'the movies'.
Buug - buugaag (pl); if I said 'buugaagta' - 'the books'.
Dhagax - dhagxaan; if I said 'dhagxaanta' - 'the rocks'.

You get the gist.

Again, I neither a linguist, nor etymologist.
Your turn, take it away.

Baahi is an adjective, so baahi is just "baahi".
That's like saying hungry has a plural form. Since baahi is not a noun unlike the english "need", it works in a different way. I'll explain below why the, "the" part is necessary.

Again, there's no such thing as "baahiya", it's a word you made up. Baahiyo is sometimes used in spoken/informal language, but it's incorrect in written/formal language.

"Somaliland oo sheegtay in ardayda qaba baahiyaha gaarka ah ay caawinayso"

You missed the "da" part in ardayda hence why the "the" part in baahida.
"Arday(plural) baahi gaar ah qabta"
"Ardayda baahiyaha gaarka ah qaba"

Special needs: Baahiyaha gaarka ah
Basic needs: Baahiyaha asaasiga ah
etc.

As for why it's baahiyaha(masculine) and not baahidaha(feminine) it's because both asaasiga and gaarka are masculine.
Baahidaha bulshada(feminine)
Etc.

I would say "Waxa jirta baahi badan" not "baahiyaha/baahiyo badan"

 

[𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒔𐒖𐒕𐒈]

Baahi is an adjective, so baahi is just "baahi".

How is 'Baahi' a 'sifeeye', and not an 'issim'? Kindly see if you could further elaborate.

That's like saying hungry has a plural form. Since baahi is not a noun unlike the english "need", it works in a different way. I'll explain below why the, "the" part is necessary.

I beg to differ, but shall come back to it, but first let us settle 'Baahi' being an adjective, if you may.

You missed the "da" part in ardayda hence why the "the" part in baahida.
"Arday(plural) baahi gaar ah qabta"
"Ardayda baahiyaha gaarka ah qaba"

In this example, I would say 'Arday baahiya gaar ah leh', for 'Ardayda' might be acceptable in suuqi, but not in its written form, with 'Arday', emphasis being upon the tail end to distinguish it from its singular form, where the emphasis would be upon its front, or light, in its plural form, as in the case in 'inan (boy), and 'inan (girl)'.

I would say "Waxa jirta baahi badan" not "baahiyaha/baahiyo badan"

Again, here I would say 'Waxaa jira baahiya/baahiyo (regional)', but would never say 'baahiyaha', for Somali being a sounding language, it sounds rather flawed, at least to my good ear. I think the late ustaad Gaariye would have agreed with me.

Again, let us at first settle whether 'Baahi' is 'sifeeye', or an 'issim'? Pick any example you desire, and we shall perform traditional 'i3raab'.

I have got the following in mind, but shall await your response:
'Waxaa looga digayaa dadka nugul ee baahiya caafimaad lehi (lihi), in aanay iman (imaan) cisbitaalka'.

Unto you now good sir.

 

[𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒔𐒖𐒕𐒈]

Postscript:
One of these days, if we get a chance, let us discuss the confusion between 'dhama ُ
' vs 'fatha َ, at the tail of 'issims', as in the cases of 'Layla' vs 'Laylo', 'Xalima' vs 'Xalimo', 'Magaala' vs 'Magaalo' etc.

 

[KinsiHilaac]

I want to disagree on the plural form. In 'baahiyaha' the 'ha' at the end does not signify plurality, but specificity, for 'ha' is a definitive article just like 'ka', meaning 'the'.

Therefore the plural form of 'baahi' is 'baahiya || baahiyo', and not 'baahiyaha', which woud mean 'the needs'.

For example, 'Waxaa jira baahiya (baahiyo) badan'; you would not say 'Waxaa jira baahiyaha badan' (there are the needs), would you?

Examples:
Dheg -Dhego (pl); if I said 'dhegta', or 'dhegaha', it would mean 'the ears'.
Cag - cago (pl); if I said 'cagta' or 'cagaha - 'the foort || the feet'
Film - aflaam (pl), if I said 'aflaamta' - 'the movies'.
Buug - buugaag (pl); if I said 'buugaagta' - 'the books'.
Dhagax - dhagxaan; if I said 'dhagxaanta' - 'the rocks'.

You get the gist.

Again, I neither a linguist, nor etymologist.
Your turn, take it away.

this is interesting because in my region we say "Dhagaxyo " not "Dhagxaan" and "Buugo" not "Buugaag"

 

[𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒔𐒖𐒕𐒈]

this is interesting because in my region we say "Dhagaxyo " not "Dhagxaan" and "Buugo" not "Buugaag"

I could imagine 'Dhagaxyo' or even 'Dhagaxyaal', but not 'Buugo'. Is this in Somali Galbeed region? If so, there might be some Oromo influence afoot; could that be?

 

[AfranQallo]

I could imagine 'Dhagaxyo' or even 'Dhagaxyaal', but not 'Buugo'. Is this in Somali Galbeed region? If so, there might be some Oromo influence afoot; could that be?

No Oromo influence.

I don’t think we have a native word for book, just kitaba.

Your word for ear is similar to our word for hear. We say Dhaagayu and for ear it’s Gurra.

 

[Garaad diinle]

No Oromo influence.

I don’t think we have a native word for book, just kitaba.

Your word for ear is similar to our word for hear. We say Dhaagayu and for ear it’s Gurra.

Interesting but we also use the word for ear as hear too. We say dhag for ear and dhageyso for hear. If we talk about similarities i found out that the word for angry in oromo is in some dialects aaraa while in others is dhakam. We have similar word for aaraa which is caro or 'aro but what about dhakam.

In somali we have dakane which means grudge or anger and in arabic you would find dhaghina ضغينة which also means roughly the same thing which is hatred all probably steming from the same afro-asiatic origin.

 

[AfranQallo]

Interesting but we also use the word for ear as hear too. We say dhag for ear and dhageyso for hear. If we talk about similarities i found out that the word for angry in oromo is in some dialects aaraa while in others is dhakam. We have similar word for aaraa which is caro or 'aro but what about dhakam.

In somali we have dakane which means grudge or anger and in arabic you would find dhaghina ضغينة which also means roughly the same thing which is hatred all probably steming from the same afro-asiatic origin.

One of the main reasons I’m on this site is the see the similarities in language. So many similarities we don’t know about.

Aara is the common word for angry. It’s used by all Oromo dialects, at least the majority. The other word listed I have never heard before.

Im not sure if we actually have a word for grudge, we usually just say aara qaabe or qaaba which just means keeping anger.

within my dialect, it’s borrowed a lot of Harari and Arabic word so some word may seem foreign to me. People from the rural areas have more pure Afan Oromo within this dialect and would know the words.

 

[Garaad diinle]

One of the main reasons I’m on this site is the see the similarities in language. So many similarities we don’t know about.

Aara is the common word for angry. It’s used by all Oromo dialects, at least the majority. The other word listed I have never heard before.

Im not sure if we actually have a word for grudge, we usually just say aara qaabe or qaaba which just means keeping anger.

within my dialect, it’s borrowed a lot of Harari and Arabic word so some word may seem foreign to me. People from the rural areas have more pure Afan Oromo within this dialect and would know the words.

I remember hearing dhakam from some language challenges so i can't point to a source right now. If you're interested in looking for similarities between languages i have a good video for you, at least when it comes to somali and oromo.