Articles & Papers on Kapchits.Online

Some results of the Somali paremiological experiment in Berlin and Arhus

Thu, 10 Apr 2003 00:00:00 +0000

Paper read at the 4th International Conference of Cushitic and Omotic Languages, Leiden, 10–12 April 2003.

Paremia is a Greek word which means saying, parable; paremiology refers to the philological branch of science dealing with proverbs, proverbial phrases and so on. The youngest branch of the science concerning proverbs, empirical paremiology, which operates statistical methods of analysis, is directed at the establishing of paremiological minima of different cultures. The paremiological minimum is a minimal set of proverbs, sayings and other paremias, the learning of which is necessary for the understanding of any language, whether native or foreign. The fact is that paremias not only decorate speech, but also serve as a convenient means of expressing typical real or thinkable situations, the signs and model of which they are.

Kinship Terms in Somali and Oromo: A Comparative Study

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Originally published in Исследования по языкам Африки, Выпуск 2 (2008)

Abstract

This study presents the first comprehensive comparison of kinship terminology systems in Somali and Oromo, two major Cushitic languages. Through systematic field research and analysis of 38 Somali kinship terms and corresponding Oromo equivalents from Borana and Arsi dialects, we establish both shared features and distinctive innovations that illuminate the historical relationships and cultural adaptations within the Cushitic language family.

Variants and Variations of Somali Proverbs

Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 +0000

Paper read at the 9th Congress of the Somali Studies International Association, Aalborg, 2004, subtitled “Some results of the paremiological experiment in Berlin and Aarhus”.

Paremia is a Greek word which means “saying”, “parable”; paremiology refers to the philological branch of science dealing with proverbs, proverbial phrases and other proverbial clichés. Between 1999 and 2001 a Somali paremiological experiment was accomplished by me in Berlin and the Danish city of Aarhus. The experiment had two major goals:

Paremias without sentence particles

Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 +0000

Paper read at the 7th International Semito-Hamitic Congress, Berlin, 2004.

In his review of my first book Andrzejewski attracted the attention of linguists to

“archaic grammatical forms which, paradoxically enough, form part of everyday language and are commonly used in conversations and in the mass media. A good example of this are those verbal and verbal-adjectival forms which exclude the occurrence of focus indicators (baa, ayaa, waxaa and waa) in declarative sentences such as for example Ayax teg eelna reeb — Locusts go away but leave damage behind and Tuug wax ka tuhun badan — A thief is more suspicious than anyone else. In Kapchits’ collection 7 per cent of all the items contain such grammatical forms, while normally focus indicators are obligatory in all declarative sentences.”¹

Introduction to Aliqeyr Mohamed Nur's "Dhibkii Dheef Baa Ka Dambaysay"

Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Kapchits’s introduction to the book Dhibkii Dheef Baa Ka Dambaysay («Well-being after suffering») by the Somali writer Aliqeyr Mohamed Nur — Caliqeyr Muxumed Nuur in Somali orthography. Published by Omhassan Publisher, Spånga, Sweden; ISBN 91-976661-3-0.

On the old site this introduction existed only as a scanned image, which means it could not be read by search engines, quoted or cited. It is transcribed here from that scan, which is reproduced below. The text carries no date of its own; the scanned file dates from February 2014.

Drought in Somali Folklore

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

A column (“Kolumni”) by Dr. Georgi Kapchits, first published in “Afrikan Sarvi / Horn of Africa Journal”, No. 1/2012, issued by Suomen Somalia-verkosto ry (Finnish Somalia Network).

‘From where rain was expected mist has come’, said one of the Somali ancestors, first looking at the pale sky and then at the herd of camels which he had just brought from the half empty Well of the Last Hope. ‘A she-camel which has not drunk water for thirty days will endure three days more’, answered his brother, trying to soothe him. ‘But what shall I do with them’, asked he, pointing at his sheep and goats which were hiding themselves under the tree from the hot rays of the Sun at its zenith. ‘A drought is coming’, uttered the first one.

The Country of Poets and Pirates

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000

In May 2009 the Voice of Russia observer Georgi Kapchits returned from Somalia where he served as an interpreter and consultant for a Russian television crew. He visited numerous parts of this formerly integrated country, met with political leaders and cabinet members, as well as fishermen, pirates, city residents and rural villagers.

In recent years, the fractured nation-state of Somalia, which occupies a vast territory on the Horn of Africa, has become notorious for the scandalous activities of local pirates who have captured dozens of trade vessels in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean, then received millions of dollars in ransom money to relinquish the cargo ships and their crews. The amounts of money received by such marauders and their collaborators sometimes exceed the annual operating budgets of the current governments of Somaliland, Puntland and a shrunken “Somalia.”

Lamberti's Maps of Somali Dialects and the Current Socio-Linguistic Situation in South Somalia

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +0000

A study of Somali dialectology and its application to the language analysis of asylum seekers. The typescript bears no date; since it refers to an applicant who left Somalia in 2007, it cannot be earlier than that year — the dating given here is approximate.

I

In 1981 Marcello Lamberti undertook a scale research work in Somalia which resulted in a series of pioneering publications on Somali dialects. In “The linguistic situation in the Somali Democratic Republic” (1984), “Map of Somali dialects in the Somali Democratic Republic” (1986) and “Die Somali-Dialekte” (1986) he drew, as justly mentioned by Andrzej Zaborski, “a clear picture of dialect differentiation and dialect spread of the Somali language.”

Men and Women in the Somali Narrative Folklore

Sat, 03 Mar 2007 00:00:00 +0000

The paper for the Buranbur conference in San Diego — 3 March 2007.

I am going to remind you of some Somali proverbs about women, their role in the traditional society and their relationships with men. Each proverb carries a message of the Somali ancestors to the present generation of the Somalis. Some of them are very funny and I hope you will enjoy them.

According to the following proverb, men are desperate about women. They say: Naago ama u samir, ama ka samir — Either suffer from women or suffer without them. But men understand that they badly need them: Naag waa belaayo loo baahan yahay — Woman is a disaster one cannot do without.

On Some Peculiarities of the Somali Language, Proverbs and Folktales

Sat, 03 Mar 2007 00:00:00 +0000

The paper for the Buranbur conference in San Diego — 3 March 2007.

I

Somali is a very rich language from the point of view of phonetics, syntax and vocabulary. In its “Northern variant” (maxaad tidhi) it is a tonal accent language. The main classes of words in Somali are nouns and verbs.

Some words with attributive meanings belong to the class of verbs: dheer — to be long, cad — to be white, etc. The majority of words with adverbial meaning belong to the class of nouns: hoos-ta — bottom, si-da — mode, mean.