VERBAL MORPHOLOGY IN THE GARISSA DIALECT OF SOMALI

Abstract: The essay investigates Garissa dialect, aiming to examine how far it is different from, or similar to, the standard Somali when it comes to verbal morphology. There are only very general studies of Somali dialects, and no study has ever focused specifically on this particular topic due to security reason among other things. The study relies mainly on field research conducted in Garissa town by recording participants who discuss about topics at their choice without researcher’s intervention or manipulation. What the essay has discovered is that Garissa dialect is slightly different from standard Somali regarding verbal morphology, but not as much as one imagines at the first encounter with the speaker of that dialect and what they themselves believe. The differences are mainly found in past tense areas, and in some irregular verbs. Other than that, there is no major difference between the Garissa dialect and the standard Somali. The essay, thus, suggests that there is a need for further investigations to explore whether the conceivable differences lie in other linguistic areas such as phonology, noun morphology syntax and so on.