THE SOMALI CONJUNCTIONS EE AND OO - Coordination of Main Clauses

Abstract

This study examines the use of Somali conjunctions ee and oo, the coordination of main clauses, and their functional and structural differences. It also considers how both markers connect main clauses and appear to be interchangeable, raising questions about their roles in grammar and semantics. The research involves linguistic analysis based on data collected through online questionnaires, including a Facebook survey, a Google Forms survey (with 74 respondents), and a separate group of 30 participants addressing regional variation. The findings show that ee mainly relates to functions and is often used to introduce causes, effects, clarifications, or additional information. In contrast, oo has a broader range of functions than other coordinating conjunctions and depends on the context. Although ee and oo can sometimes be used interchangeably, they are not functionally identical; rather, they are distinct conjunctions with different roles in structuring and coordinating main clauses. The results suggest that ee and oo are not interchangeable for coordinating main clauses. However, further research is needed to clarify the functional differences between them.