Reporting a Question

Level 5

In can correspond to ‘whether’ or ‘that’, depending on the larger construction.

How It Works

Somali indirect yes/no questions usually begin with in. After an asking predicate, the clause supplies the issue being asked about. The same introductory word also occurs in statement complements meaning ‘that’; it does not independently mean uncertainty.

An in-clause requires a subject expression, commonly a short pronoun such as uu, ay, or aad. It has no independent question particle ma or affirmative focus particle. Present and future events generally use full subjunctive forms; earlier events use past forms. Compare joogto, the feminine subjunctive of joogaa ‘be present’, with copular tahay, whose dependent form matches its ordinary present form.

English embedded wh-questions commonly have noun-based counterparts: meesha uu joogo identifies where he is, whereas in uu joogo can supply the issue of whether he is present. Nominal waxa similarly introduces content corresponding to ‘what’.

Examples (3)

  1. Waxaan weydiiyay in uu Cali joogo.

    I asked whether Ali was present.

    Joogo presents presence as simultaneous with the asking.

  2. Macallinku wuxuu weydiiyay in ay Maryan diyaar tahay.

    The teacher asked whether Maryan was ready.

    The dependent copular form tahay matches the ordinary present form.

  3. Waxay i weydiisay in aan buugga akhriyay.

    She asked me whether I had read the book.

    The embedded past presents reading as earlier than the question.

How It Connects

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

Reporting a QuestionLevel 5

Learn This First

Recognize in-clause embedding and an independent yes-no question before interpreting an embedded whether-question without interrogative ma.

Words in This Pattern

in