Af Mexee

Af Mexee is a Lowland East Cushitic language.

Introduction

Af Mexee dhehti (or Af Mexee for short) is a Somali condialect. Af Mexee means "language of 'What (did you say)?'" and is used to distinguish it from dialects such as Af Maxaa (the main form of Somali) and Af Maay. It contains features inspired by various Somali dialects, including Af Maay and Af Ashraaf. Since it is a Somali dialect, Af Mexee speakers refer to their language simply as Af Soomaali.

Phonology

Orthography

Consonants

' b p t j ch x kh d th r s sh dh c g gh f q k l m n ny w h y

Vowels

a e i o u

aa ee ii oo uu

Diphthongs

ay aw ey oy ow

aay aaw eey ooy oow

Consonants

Af Mexee consonant phonemes

		Labial	Dental/ Alveolar	Postalveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Pharyngeal	Glottal
Nasal		m	n		ny /ɲ/
Stop consonant	voiceless	(p)	t /t̪/			k	q		' /ʔ/
	voiced	b	d /d̪/	dh /ɖ/		ɡ
Affricate	voiceless			ch /tʃ/
	voiced			j /dʒ/
Fricative	voiceless	f	s	sh /ʃ/			kh /x̠~χ/	x /ħ/	h
	voiced	p /β/	th /ð/			gh /ɣ/	(gh) /ɣ̠~ʁ/	c /ʕ/
Approximant			l		y /j/	w
Trill			r /r~ɾ/

Vowels

Af Mexee has five vowel articulations that all contrast frontness/backness and vowel length. There is little change in vowel quality when the vowel is lengthened.

There are five diphthongs that also occur in front and back, long and short versions.

Af Mexee monophthongs

	Front series		Back series		Orthography
	short	long	short	long	short	long
Close front unrounded / Near-close near-front unrounded	i	iː	ɪ	ɪː	i	ii
Close-mid front unrounded / Open-mid front unrounded	e	eː	ɛ	ɛː	e	ee
Near-open front unrounded / Open back unrounded	æ	æː	ɑ	ɑː	a	aa
Open-mid central rounded / Open-mid back rounded	ɞ	ɞː	ɔ	ɔː	o	oo
Close central rounded / Close back rounded	ʉ	ʉː	u	uː	u	uu

Af Mexee diphthongs

First element is front		First element is back		Orthography
short	long	short	long	short	long
æi	æːi	ɑɪ	ɑːɪ	ay	aay
æʉ	æːʉ	ɑu	ɑːu	aw	aaw
ei	eːi	ɛɪ	ɛːɪ	ey	eey
ɞi	ɞːi	ɔɪ	ɔːɪ	oy	ooy
ɞʉ	ɞːʉ	ɔu	ɔːu	ow	oow

Phonotactics

Syllable structure is (C)V(C), where V is any vowel or diphthong.

The consonants that can be geminated at syllable boundaries are: m, n, l, and r.

The consonants ', b, x, kh, d, r, s, sh, c, g, f, q, l, n, and h occur syllable-finally. The consonants p, ch, t, th, gh, k, m and ny cannot occur syllable-finally (although there are exceptions for t, k, and m). They undergo the following neutralizations:

p → b (or, in some cases, w)

t, th → d

k, gh → g

ny → yn, sometimes y

non-geminated m → n (m before b)

J and dh may occur in coda in a loanwords, although they are usually replaced with sh and r respectively. For example, xaj "Hajj", ogsaydh "oxide". T, k, and m may also occur in a few words, mostly of Arabic origin. In almost all cases, variants with the expected d, g, or n exist. For example, xikmad "wisdom" (also xigmad), fitno "trial, temptation" (also fidno), muslim "Muslim" (also muslin).

The consonants p, th, gh, and ch do not occur word-initially in native words. They come from intervocalic -b-, -d/t-, -g/k-, and -lt- respectively (the modern intervocalic b, d/t, and g/k come from geminated consonants). When word-initial in loanwords, p and gh are pronounced /p/ and /ɣ̠~ʁ/ instead of the regular /β/ and /ɣ/.

Vowels cannot occur in hiatus. Instead, epithetic consonants such as ', y, and w are inserted in between.

Morphophonology

Sandhi

At morpheme boundaries, the following changes occur:

t (2nd person/feminine endings, middle voice, definite article/modifiers):

• dropped after -d, dh – Exception: -d assimilates to -t- of the middle voice to form -t- (instead of the expected -d-)
• l + t → ch
• t → th after underlying -a, aa, e, ee, o, oo (note that -o and -e become a before th)

k (definite article/modifiers):

• dropped after -', x, kh, c, g, q, h
• k → h after final -a, e, o (which then assimilate to the following vowel)

s (middle causative)

• l + s → sh

Vowels

• An a or e followed by one of the "guttural" consonants (', x, c, or h) assimilates to the following vowel. This also applies to word-final -o.

Morphology

Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

	Independent		Clitic		Possessive3	With locative particles
	Stressed	Unstressed	Subject1	Object2		+ ún	+ ká	+ kú	+ lá
1S	aní	an(i)	an	i	key	íin	iká	ikú	ilá
2S	athí	ad/athi	ad	ku	kaa	kúun	kuká	kukú	kulá
3SM	usú	us(u)	us	(su)	kiis	súun	suká	sukú	sulá
3SF	ishí	ish(i)	ish	(shi)	kishi	shíin	shiká	shikú	shilá
1P	unú	un(u)	an/un	nu	keen	núun	nuká	nukú	nulá
2P	isín	isin	ad/isin	sin	kiin	síin	sinká	sinkú	sinlá
3P	ishó	isho	ish/isho	(sho)	kisho	shóon	shoká	shokú	sholá
IMP4	–	–	la	–	–	lóon	laká	lakú	lalá

¹ Clitic subject pronouns are optional and are often dropped unless needed for clarity or emphasis. For further emphasis, the independent forms may be used. In the plural, the clitic forms un, isin, and isho are formal; the more commonly used forms are an, ad, and ish respectively.

² Third person object pronouns are only used for humans and (anthropomorphized) animals.

³ Masculine forms are shown (the corresponding feminine forms begin in t-). Possessives may be used as modifiers, in which case they attach to the noun, or independently as possessive pronouns.

⁴ Used for impersonal passive. Although it is technically a subject pronoun, it behaves as an object pronoun (but always comes before any true object pronouns).

K/T Pronouns

The k/t determiners (including possessives and the definite article) can be used independently as pronouns. They pluralize by inserting the infix -uw- after the k of the masculine singular.

e.g. kan "this (one), m.", tan "this (one), f.", kuwan "these (ones)"

ki "the one, m.", ti "the one, f.", kuwi "the ones"

There is an additional k/t pronoun with no determiner equivalent:

• ko, to, kuwo: one/ones (indefinite) - e.g. ko kale "another one"

Nouns

Plural is formed with -ooyn (definite: -ooyki) or -yaal (definite: -yaalki). The ending -yaal is used for nouns (mostly masculine) ending in -e or -i, e.g. tuke "crow" → tukeyaal. All other nouns take the ending -ooyn. For feminine nouns ending in -o, the -o becomes a and an epithetic th is added before the ending. For example, maghaalo "city" + -ooyn → maghaalathooyn "cities". Masculine nouns assimilate the -o to the ending.

Some words (mostly body parts) have a "short" plural in -o (definite: -ihi) in addition to the "long" plural in -ooyn/yaal. In the case of body parts, the short plural is when they belong to one person.

e.g. Gacantisho taagheen. = They raised their hand (i.e. each person raised a hand; hand is in singular).

Gacmihisho taagheen. = They raised their hands (i.e. each person raised both hands; hand is in short plural).

Gacmihi la taaghi. = The hands (of a single person; hand is in short plural) were raised.

Gacmooyki la taaghi. = The hands (of multiple people; hand is in long plural) were raised.

For other words, the short plural is used as a pseudo-collective noun.

Particles

K/T Determiners

The definite article attaches to the noun and is subject to sandhi rules.

• Masculine/Plural: -ki
• Feminine: -ti

There is also a remote definite article. It has a high tone, but does not affect the tonation of the rest of the word.

• Masculine/Plural: -kíi
• Feminine: -tíi

Other determiners that behave similarly to the definite article:

• Possessives (see Personal Pronouns)
• Demonstratives:
  • -kan/tan: this, these
  • -kaas/taas: that, those
• Interrogative:
  • -kée/tée: which
    • Causes any high tones in the word to be dropped

Negation Particles

The negation particles are ma, an, ha, and ya. Each of these serves a different function.

• ma is the default negation particle in main clauses and is used for the indicative. e.g. ma qapi "I do not have".It can combine to clitic subject pronouns:
  • ma + an(an) → maan(an) (for (an), see the next point)
  • ma + ad/athan → maad/maathan
  • ma + us(an) → maws(an)
  • ma + ish(an) → maysh(an)
  • ma + un(an) → mawn(an)
  • ma + isin(an) → maysin(an)
  • ma + isho(n) → maysho(n)
• an has two functions:
  • It is used to form negative subject pronouns, which replace clitic subjects in negative clauses. e.g. ma anan qapin "I did not have", compare an qapi "I had". In this usage, an is optional and may be dropped - e.g. ma an qapin. It combines to clitic subjects:
    • ad + an → athan
    • isho + an → ishon
    • The rest simply add -an - i.e. anan, usan, ishan, unan, isinan
  • It is also used as the sole negation particle in subordinate clauses. Since negation is shown on the verb, it is also optional here. e.g. ninkii (an) af soomaali aqiin "the man who does not know Somali". Note that in this usage, an prefers clause-initial position (although something like ninkii af soomaali an aqiin would not be incorrect).
• ha is used in the negative imperative. e.g. ha bixin "don't leave".
• ya is used to negate the jussive. e.g. ya usan bixin "don't let him leave"

Adjectives

Adjectives are not declined for gender. However, they may optionally be conjugated for time (following the stative conjugation).

e.g. min yar "a small house", min yaraay "a house that was small"

Adjectives can be reduplicated or take stative endings to show plurality, or the singular forms may be used.

e.g. minooyn yaryar/yaraan "small houses" (also minooyn yar)

Verbs

There are three main classes of verbs: the suffix, prefix, and stative conjugations.

Suffix Conjugation

The suffix conjugation is the most common and productive verb class.

Syntax

Constituent order

The most common (and underlying) word-order is SOV.

Noun phrase

• Cardinal numbers come before the noun. If a cardinal number is present, the singular form of the noun is used.

nimooyn "men" BUT afar nin "four men" (afar nimooyn is also acceptable)

• Adjectives and determiners other than cardinal numbers come after the noun.
• The definite article and other suffixed determiners attach to the noun unless it is preceded by a cardinal number, in which case they attach to the number.

nimooyki "the men" BUT afarti nin "the four men"

• Possessive phrases can be formed in two ways:

a) Genitive construction

minki Shariif = Shariif's house (lit. the house (of) Shariif)

b) Possessive determiner

Shariif minkiis = Shariif's house (lit. Shariif his house)

Verb phrase

(Subject Pronoun) + Object Pronoun + Locative Particle + Negation (+ Clitic Subject Pronoun) + Relational Particle + Verb

Clitic subject pronouns come after the negation particle if present. Otherwise, they go at the beginning (in which case either the clitic or non-clitic forms may be used).