Yarey

[Ida]

Hello,

How do you read the Somali name "Yarey" in Arabic?

Thanks.

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

Soomaali words are usually pronounced as it is written. So yareey is yar'eey. Yareey means the little one (female). Male version is yaroow.

It is usually a nickname given to the younger one of relatives who share a same name. Like two Mohamed boys who are cousins and might live in same houshold, the younger one might be called Mohamed Yaroow or Yare.

It is also a nickname given to short people.

By the way, may I suggest to use this thread for all your inquiries, instead of starting a new one each.

[Ida]

Thank you Miskiin

So, what about "Shiriye"?

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

Shiriye = meeting facilitator. Comes from the root shir, meaning organized meeting. A male nickname as well.

Shir'iye is the pronunciation.

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

Since you are a Persian, you reminded me reading One Thousand and One Nights (Alifu Leyl wa Leyla) translated into Somali back in 1991.

[Ida]

Yeah, it is also a wonderful book

[Ida]

Hello,

in the context below from Gifts, by Nuruddin Farah, what does "alool-bed" mean?

The day after she gave birth to a son, the boy’s father left, to stow away on the first ship that called at this abandoned littoral. His parents were kind to the poor woman and the boy, named after his grandfather. Until he was five, Mohamoud shared an alool-bed with his mother, who was an asset to her in-laws, boasting a variety of talents unusual in a town like G. She showed no interest in other men, most of whom were fishermen down on their luck and surviving on remittances from relatives slaving away in petrodollar Arabia.

 

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

I think he just means a bed.

Calool in Somali means stomach. Since the 'c' - 'ayn/ع in Arabic - in Somali does not exist in English, it becomes alool. I don't think there is a word 'alool' per se. I hadn't heard it before.

[Ida]

Hello,

How do you read the Somali name "Gallayr" in Arabic?

And also this one: Xiddigta Oktooher.

Thanks.

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

Hi there.

Galeyr (or gallayr as you wrote it), which means the falcon bird, is pronounced as gal-eyr, not jal-eyr. G in Somali alphabet is like hard G in English words, like how you say 'game' or 'great' in English. The 'g' letter in Somali does not exist in Arabic.

Xiddigta Oktoober (not Oktooher), which means October's Star, was the main newspaper of Somalia in the '70s and '80s, published by the then revolutionary government. X in Somali alphabet is ح in Arabic, like 'hamza.' In Somali, we write Xamsa.

Xiddigta can therefore be called Hiddigta Oktoober.

[Ida]

Hi Miskiin,

Thank you for all your help.

Could you please take a look at this post and help me with the mentioned questions too?

I'd be very grateful.
 

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

I checked it and it just seems like an idiom. That last part of the sentence does not even make sense to me.

I guess you don't have to translate like that or since you are reading the book, you might detect the meaning from the wider context of the chapter. 

[Ida]

Then, what about "Huda"?

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

Huda is an Arabic name. Or you spell it like Hoda?

The story might have a character called Huda, that is my thinking.

[Ida]

And, How do you read the Somali name "Kaahin " in Arabic?