-o

A Common Plural Ending

Level 2

Compare bisad → bisado, gacan → gacmo, and baabuur → baabuurro.

How It Works

Regular feminine nouns outside the singular -o class commonly form plurals in -o, with definite forms in -aha. A singular ending in i inserts y: mindi → mindiyo. Some singulars contain a supporting vowel absent from the plural. In gacan → gacmo, the plural also reveals stem-final m, represented by n word-finally.

Many masculine nouns strengthen their final consonant before -o and have definite plurals in -ada, as in baabuurro → baabuurrada. Other masculine nouns use -o/-aha. Compare bisadaha and baabuurrada: both are plural, but their articles differ. Learn the noun-specific pattern. Plural high tone remains unmarked in ordinary spelling. Ordinary plural subjects take plural agreement; numeral phrases can require counting forms.

Examples (3)

  1. bisado hurdaya

    sleeping cats

    Noun-phrase fragment with a reduced subject-relative predicate.

  2. gacmo yaryar

    small hands

    Noun-phrase fragment showing the changed stem.

  3. Baabuurradu waa cusub yihiin.

    The cars are new.

    Consonant strengthening, definite subject marking, and plural agreement.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

-oLevel 2A Common Plural Ending

Learn This First

Place the attested -o patterns within the wider noun-by-noun plural system.