yiraahdaa

Forms of Saying

Level 5

Connect present yiraahdaa, past yiri, imperative dheh and infinitive oran.

How It Works

The southern irregular present series is iraahdaa I, tiraahdaa you singular/she, yiraahdaa he, niraahnaa we, tiraahdaan you plural and yiraahdaan they. Northern equivalents include idhaahdaa, tidhaahdaa, yidhaahdaa. These are valid regional forms, written without doubled dh digraphs.

Singular past forms are iri/tiri/yiri, with northern idhi/tidhi/yidhi; first-person plural is niri/nidhi. Commands use dheh, plural dhaha. Infinitives include oran/odhan; corresponding progressives include oranayaa/odhanayaa. A parallel regular dhahaa paradigm also exists.

The addressee takes ku. Direct speech supplies content and retains independent clause grammar: a quoted command is imperative, whereas a quoted statement has its own particle. In the future example, wuxuu refers to the narrator's subject and quoted waan refers to the person speaking.

Examples (4)

  1. Waxaan iraahdaa, “Waan nasanayaa.”

    I say, “I am resting.”

    First-person iraahdaa introduces an independently framed quoted statement.

  2. Hodan waxay ku tiri Xasan, “Kaalay.”

    Hodan said to Hassan, “Come.”

    Tiri agrees with Hodan; ku links the addressee.

  3. Dheh, “Waa buug.”

    Say, “It is a book.”

    A singular command introduces a quoted noun predicate.

  4. Wuxuu oran doonaa, “Waan tagayaa.”

    He will say, “I am leaving.”

    Oran precedes the future auxiliary; the quotation has its own first-person viewpoint.

How It Connects

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

yiraahdaaLevel 5Forms of Saying

Learn This First

Use ordinary verb classes as a contrast before learning the lexically irregular yiraahdaa paradigm.