-iyaa

Causing an Action

Level 5

A causer becomes the subject and an affected participant becomes the object.

How It Works

Many causatives add -i- to an attested verb or noun base. They introduce a subject causing an object to undergo an event or state. Compare buuxaa “is full” with buuxiyaa “fills,” and karaa “boils” with kariyaa “boils or cooks something.”

The citation ending -iyaa includes present inflection: an i-final stem takes buffer y before -aa. Class-two forms include buuxiyaa I/he, buuxisaa you singular/she and buuxinnaa we. The derived verb is transitive, although context can supply an unexpressed third-person object.

Derivation can change the base: galaa → geliyaa, baxaa → bixiyaa and joogaa → joojiyaa. The g/q-to-j alternation occurs before causative i; a-to-e and l-to-j changes occur only in particular roots. Learn established pairs and meanings rather than applying every alternation universally or inventing a causative from spelling alone.

Examples (4)

  1. Koobku wuu buuxaa.

    The cup is full.

    The base describes a state without introducing a causer.

  2. Hodan waxay buuxisaa koobka.

    Hodan fills the cup.

    The causative introduces a causer and object; feminine agreement gives buuxisaa.

  3. Waxaan geliyaa buugga boorsada.

    I put the book into the bag.

    The causative of entering uses the changed stem geli-.

  4. Waxaan joojiyaa baabuurka.

    I stop the car.

    Joogaa–joojiyaa illustrates the g-to-j change.

How It Connects

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

-iyaaLevel 5Causing an Action

Learn This First

Recognize -i-class inflection before learning attested causative formation in -iyaa.