Abstract
Abstract The Somali verb is traditionally presented as having a quite large number of inflectional paradigms with, e.g., special negative forms and several kinds of subordinate clause forms. The complexity of traditional descriptions tends to overshadow important generalisations that would otherwise reflect a relative simplicity of the Somali verb system. The most important reasons for the abundance of paradigms are that forms, periphrastic constructions and their functions are not systematically differentiated, but also that the tonal accent and case marking are treated as parts of the inflection, instead of phrasal marking of syntactic or pragmatic functions. The aim of this article is therefore to suggest a simplified analysis and to define the minimal set of synthetic forms and analytical constructions that are necessary for the description of Somali verb inflection as well as the basic syntactic functions of these forms and constructions.
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