The English word "the" is the definite article. It marks a noun as one particular thing that speaker and listener both know about: "a house" is any house, and "the house" is the one we mean. Bambara has no word that does exactly this job. It has no definite article ("the") and no indefinite article ("a, an"). A bare noun such as so can mean "a house", "the house", "houses" or "the houses", and the context decides. Den bɛ so kɔnɔ is "The child is in the house" if we have just been talking about a child, and "A child is in the house" if we have not.
When the speaker wants to say "this one, the one we both know", Bambara puts the demonstrative nin ("this") after the noun, usually in its short form in: so in is "this house" and, very often, simply "the house". This is the nearest thing Bambara has to "the", and it is the word this lesson teaches. The house list gives "the" as an article. The Bambara equivalent chosen here is nin (in after a noun, ninnu in the plural), because the dictionaries and grammars of Bambara describe it as the demonstrative that does the work of a definite article, and because it is the word by which a Bambara speaker tells a noun already known from a noun that is new. Its neighbours are:
- o (/o/, "that, the one mentioned") is the pronoun for something far away or already spoken of: O ye so ye, "That is a house". - dɔ (/dɔ/, "a, a certain, some") is put after a noun to introduce something new: cɛ dɔ, "a man". It is the Bambara way of saying "a". The new noun is then picked up with in. - -w is the plural ending written on a noun: den, "child", and denw, "children". With ninnu the plural is usually shown by the demonstrative alone: den ninnu, "the children, these children".
The first thing to learn about in is its position. It comes after the noun, and after everything that belongs to the noun: so kura in, "the new house", cɛ kɔrɔ in, "the old man". Placed before the noun it is not an article at all: nin on its own is the pronoun "this", as in Nin ye so ye, "This is a house".
The second thing to learn is that in is not obligatory. Bambara does not mark every definite noun, as English does. Muso dɔ bɛ tiga feere is "A woman is selling peanuts", with nothing before or after the noun, and So kura in bɛ dugu kɔnɔ is "The new house is in the village", where dugu "the village" is left bare and the speaker simply means the village we are in. Bambara adds in when it wants to point at the noun or to say "the one we mean"; where there is nothing to point at, the bare noun is enough.
The third thing is that there is no verb "to be" in the English sense. Bambara uses small markers in its place: ye joins two nouns (Nin ye so ye), tɛ is its negative (Nin tɛ so ye), bɛ says that someone is at a place (Den in bɛ so kɔnɔ), and ka goes before a quality (Ji in ka ɲi, "The water is good").
Orthographic points: in and nin are always written as separate words in lower case, and in is written after the noun with a space. Bambara is written with 27 letters; the lesson uses ɛ (an open "e"), ɔ (an open "o") and ɲ (like "ni" in "onion"). A long vowel is written doubled (taa, feere, bɛɛ). Tone is not written. This course teaches the standard Bambara of Mali; Section E notes where Jula differs.
FAQ: How do you say "the" in Bambara?
Q: What is "the" in Bambara? A: Bambara has no article. A bare noun is enough, as in Muso dɔ bɛ tiga feere, "A woman is selling peanuts". To point at a particular noun, put in after it: so in, "the house".
Q: Where does in go? A: After the noun and after any adjective that belongs to it: so kura in, "the new house".
Q: How do I say "a" or "an"? A: With dɔ after the noun: cɛ dɔ, "a man"; sugu dɔ, "a market".
Q: What is the difference between nin and in? A: They are the same word. In is the short form that follows a noun (so in), and nin stands alone as "this" (Nin ye so ye, "This is a house").
Key Takeaways
- Bambara has no articles: a bare noun can be "a", "the" or neither. - In (short for nin) after a noun is the nearest Bambara has to "the": so in, "the house". - In goes after the whole noun phrase: so kura in, cɛ kɔrɔ in. - In is not compulsory: Muso dɔ bɛ tiga feere has no in and is still "The woman is selling peanuts" in the right context. - "A" is dɔ after the noun: cɛ dɔ. The plural of in is ninnu.
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nin /nĩ/ is an n followed by a clear i said through the nose: "NEEN", with the final n only a nasal colour on the vowel and not a separate consonant. in /ĩ/ is the same vowel by itself. In Bambara an n at the end of a syllable, after a vowel, is not a separate consonant: it makes the vowel nasal. The plural ninnu /nĩnu/ keeps the nasal vowel and adds nu.
IPA in this lesson is a simple transcription of each word on its own. Bambara has two tones, high and low, and they matter for the meaning of some words; ordinary writing does not show them, and neither does this lesson. Learn the tone of each word by listening to a speaker. The tones are not marked in the IPA either.
Sounds in this lesson that English lacks or treats differently:
- ɛ is an open vowel /ɛ/, like the vowel of English "bed": bɛ /bɛ/, tɛ /tɛ/, cɛ /tʃɛ/. e is a closer vowel /e/, like the vowel of French "été": den /dẽ/, feere /feːre/. ɔ is an open /ɔ/, like the vowel of English "thought" in some accents: kɔnɔ /kɔnɔ/, dɔ /dɔ/, mɔgɔ /mɔgɔ/. o is a closer /o/: so /so/, ko /ko/. - c = /tʃ/ ("ch"): cɛ /tʃɛ/, caman /tʃamã/. j = /dʒ/ ("j"): ji /dʒi/. - ɲ = /ɲ/ (like "ni" in "onion"): ɲi /ɲi/. - y = /j/ (as in "yes"): ye /je/. w = /w/: wari /wari/. - g is always hard, /ɡ/: sugu /suɡu/, tiga /tiɡa/, dugu /duɡu/. - r is a quick tap of the tongue, as in Spanish "pero": wari, kura /kura/. - A doubled vowel is a long vowel: taa /taː/, feere /feːre/, bɛɛ /bɛː/. The vowel is the same sound, held about twice as long. - A vowel followed by n at the end of a syllable is nasal: in /ĩ/, nin /nĩ/, den /dẽ/, kalan /kalã/, caman /tʃamã/, san /sã/, dun /dũ/. The n is not said as a separate stop. - N on its own, the word for "I", is a syllabic nasal /n̩/, said as a hum before the next word. It is written with a capital N at the start of a sentence. - Stress is light, and every syllable is said clearly. English speakers should avoid reducing unstressed vowels to "uh".
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Examples 1.1–1.15 are pedagogical constructions built from vocabulary and patterns attested in the standard references consulted for this lesson. They are not quotations, and they have not been read by a native speaker. In line a, in is glossed the, because the "the" and "this" readings are one word in Bambara. Line b uses these abbreviations: DEM (postposed demonstrative in), DEM.PRO (the pronoun nin), DEM.PL (plural ninnu), COP (equative ye), NEG.COP (negative tɛ), IPFV (imperfective bɛ), PFV.TR (perfective transitive marker ye), PFV (perfective suffix -ra, -na), NEG.PFV (negative perfective ma), QUAL (qualitative marker ka), LOC (the postposition la, na), PP (postposition), INDEF (dɔ), QUOT (quotative ko), 1SG, 2SG and 3SG (first, second and third person singular), 3PL (third person plural), POSS (possessor).
1.1a So house in the
1.1b So /so/ house in /ĩ/ DEM
1.2a Cɛ man in the
1.2b Cɛ /tʃɛ/ man in /ĩ/ DEM
1.3a Muso woman in the nana came
1.3b Muso /muso/ woman in /ĩ/ DEM nana /nana/ come.PFV
1.4a Nin this ye is so house ye as
1.4b Nin /nĩ/ DEM.PRO ye /je/ COP so /so/ house ye /je/ PP
1.5a Nin this tɛ is-not so house ye as
1.5b Nin /nĩ/ DEM.PRO tɛ /tɛ/ NEG.COP so /so/ house ye /je/ PP
1.6a Den child in the bɛ is-at so house kɔnɔ inside
1.6b Den /dẽ/ child in /ĩ/ DEM bɛ /bɛ/ IPFV so /so/ house kɔnɔ /kɔnɔ/ inside.PP
1.7a Ji water in the ka is ɲi good
1.7b Ji /dʒi/ water in /ĩ/ DEM ka /ka/ QUAL ɲi /ɲi/ good
1.8a Cɛ man in the taara went sugu market la to
1.8b Cɛ /tʃɛ/ man in /ĩ/ DEM taara /taːra/ go.PFV sugu /suɡu/ market la /la/ LOC
1.9a So house kura new in the bɛ is-at dugu village kɔnɔ inside
1.9b So /so/ house kura /kura/ new in /ĩ/ DEM bɛ /bɛ/ IPFV dugu /duɡu/ village kɔnɔ /kɔnɔ/ inside.PP
1.10a Cɛ man kɔrɔ old in the bɛ is taa go sugu market la to
1.10b Cɛ /tʃɛ/ man kɔrɔ /kɔrɔ/ old in /ĩ/ DEM bɛ /bɛ/ IPFV taa /taː/ go sugu /suɡu/ market la /la/ LOC
1.11a N I ye did so house in the ye see
1.11b N /n̩/ 1SG ye /je/ PFV.TR so /so/ house in /ĩ/ DEM ye /je/ see
1.12a Cɛ man dɔ a nana came muso woman in the fɛ to
1.12b Cɛ /tʃɛ/ man dɔ /dɔ/ INDEF nana /nana/ come.PFV muso /muso/ woman in /ĩ/ DEM fɛ /fɛ/ at.PP
1.13a Cɛ man in the ye did wari money di give muso woman in the ma to
1.13b Cɛ /tʃɛ/ man in /ĩ/ DEM ye /je/ PFV.TR wari /wari/ money di /di/ give muso /muso/ woman in /ĩ/ DEM ma /ma/ to.PP
1.14a Den child ninnu these bɛ are kalan study kalanso school la at
1.14b Den /dẽ/ child ninnu /nĩnu/ DEM.PL bɛ /bɛ/ IPFV kalan /kalã/ study kalanso /kalãso/ school la /la/ LOC
1.15a Muso woman in the ma did-not taa go sugu market la to
1.15b Muso /muso/ woman in /ĩ/ DEM ma /ma/ NEG.PFV taa /taː/ go sugu /suɡu/ market la /la/ LOC
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1.1 So in. → "The house." (or "This house.")
1.2 Cɛ in. → "The man." (or "This man.")
1.3 Muso in nana. → "The woman came."
1.4 Nin ye so ye. → "This is a house."
1.5 Nin tɛ so ye. → "This is not a house."
1.6 Den in bɛ so kɔnɔ. → "The child is in the house."
1.7 Ji in ka ɲi. → "The water is good."
1.8 Cɛ in taara sugu la. → "The man went to the market."
1.9 So kura in bɛ dugu kɔnɔ. → "The new house is in the village."
1.10 Cɛ kɔrɔ in bɛ taa sugu la. → "The old man is going to the market."
1.11 N ye so in ye. → "I saw the house."
1.12 Cɛ dɔ nana muso in fɛ. → "A man came to the woman."
1.13 Cɛ in ye wari di muso in ma. → "The man gave the woman money."
1.14 Den ninnu bɛ kalan kalanso la. → "These children are studying at school."
1.15 Muso in ma taa sugu la. → "The woman did not go to the market."
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1.1 So in.
1.2 Cɛ in.
1.3 Muso in nana.
1.4 Nin ye so ye.
1.5 Nin tɛ so ye.
1.6 Den in bɛ so kɔnɔ.
1.7 Ji in ka ɲi.
1.8 Cɛ in taara sugu la.
1.9 So kura in bɛ dugu kɔnɔ.
1.10 Cɛ kɔrɔ in bɛ taa sugu la.
1.11 N ye so in ye.
1.12 Cɛ dɔ nana muso in fɛ.
1.13 Cɛ in ye wari di muso in ma.
1.14 Den ninnu bɛ kalan kalanso la.
1.15 Muso in ma taa sugu la.
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These are the grammar rules for nin in Bambara:
1. Bambara has no article. A bare noun can be "a", "the" or neither, and the context decides. Den bɛ so kɔnɔ is "The child is in the house" or "A child is in the house", and so, den and kɔnɔ carry no marker of definiteness at all. So kura in bɛ dugu kɔnɔ (1.9) has in on so kura but not on dugu, "the village", which is known from the situation. English needs "the" in both places; Bambara needs it in neither.
2. In after the noun marks it as known. The demonstrative in follows the noun, and it follows the adjectives that belong to the noun:
- so in (1.1), cɛ in (1.2), muso in (1.3), den in (1.6), ji in (1.7) - with an adjective: so kura in (1.9), cɛ kɔrɔ in (1.10)
It does not change for the noun's gender, because Bambara has none. Whether in is best translated "the" or "this" depends on the context. If you are pointing at something, "this"; if it is a thing already mentioned, "the". Section B gives the natural English for each sentence.
3. Nin, in and ninnu. Nin is the full form. On its own it is the pronoun "this": Nin ye so ye (1.4), Nin tɛ so ye (1.5). After a noun it is shortened to in. The plural is ninnu, which follows the noun: den ninnu (1.14), and in the Genre Section tiga ninnu (1.19, 1.26, 1.28). The noun itself usually stays unmarked when ninnu follows it.
4. Dɔ introduces something new. Dɔ ("a, a certain, some") follows the noun: cɛ dɔ (1.12), sugu dɔ (1.16), tiga dɔ (1.21). Once the noun is in the story it is picked up with in: cɛ dɔ (1.12) becomes cɛ in (1.13). Part D of the Genre Section shows this movement over a whole text.
5. In is not obligatory. Where the noun is clearly known, or where nothing is being pointed at, it stays bare (rule 1). Muso dɔ bɛ tiga feere (1.18) is "A woman is selling peanuts", and the peanuts are not marked at all.
6. Plural. Bambara marks the plural with -w on the noun when no demonstrative does the work: den, "child", and denw, "children". When ninnu is used (rule 3) the plural is already shown. Numbers also take the singular noun: tiga fila, "two peanuts".
7. No verb "to be"; predicate markers instead. A small word between the subject and what follows says what kind of sentence it is: - ye … ye joins two nouns: Nin ye so ye (1.4), "This is a house". The second ye is part of the pattern and closes the sentence. - tɛ … ye is the negative: Nin tɛ so ye (1.5). - bɛ says where someone or something is: Den in bɛ so kɔnɔ (1.6), "The child is in the house". - ka goes before a quality: Ji in ka ɲi (1.7), "The water is good".
8. Verbs and aspect. A Bambara verb does not change for person or tense. A marker before it shows whether the action is complete or in progress: - Perfective, intransitive: the ending -ra (or -na after a nasal syllable) is added to the verb: taa + -ra is taara (1.8), "went"; na + -na is nana (1.3, 1.12), "came". - Perfective, transitive: the marker ye stands between the subject and the object: N ye so in ye (1.11), "I saw the house"; Cɛ in ye wari di muso in ma (1.13), "The man gave the woman money". - Imperfective: bɛ before the verb: Cɛ kɔrɔ in bɛ taa sugu la (1.10), "The old man is going to the market"; Den ninnu bɛ kalan kalanso la (1.14). - Negative perfective: ma replaces the marker: Muso in ma taa sugu la (1.15), "The woman did not go to the market".
9. Word order and postpositions. The usual order is subject, object, verb (SOV): N ye so in ye (1.11), "I house-the saw". The words that English puts before the noun ("in, to, at") come after it: so kɔnɔ (1.6), "house in", sugu la (1.8), "market to", muso in fɛ (1.12), "woman the at". Di … ma (1.13) means "give … to". The postposition la becomes na after a nasal syllable, so sugu la but sugu in na (1.17, 1.29).
10. Adjectives and possessors. Adjectives follow the noun, and in follows the adjective: so kura in (1.9). The possessor comes before the thing possessed: a ba (1.25), "his (or her) mother", literally "his mother". The word a means "he, she, it, his, her, its"; Bambara does not mark gender.
Common Mistakes
- In before the noun. Wrong: in so, meant as "the house". Right: so in. - In on every noun, as English puts "the". Wrong: Muso in bɛ tiga in feere, meant as "The woman is selling peanuts" (it means "this woman is selling this peanut"). Right: Muso in bɛ tiga feere, or with no in at all. - Putting the adjective before the noun. Wrong: kura so in. Right: so kura in. - A verb "to be". Wrong: Ji in bɛ ɲi, meant as "The water is good". Right: Ji in ka ɲi. The marker bɛ is for place, and ka for quality. - The wrong negative. Wrong: Nin ma so ye. Right: Nin tɛ so ye. Ma negates a completed action (Muso in ma taa), and tɛ negates ye and bɛ. - Prepositions before the noun. Wrong: la sugu. Right: sugu la. - Marking the plural twice. Say den ninnu, "these children", and not denw ninnu. - Saying in as English "in". In is /ĩ/, a nasal vowel with no separate final n.
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Frequency and register. Nin and its short form in are everyday words that belong to ordinary speech and to print alike. The word is the same in both.
Everyday phrases.
- I ni ce is the usual greeting at any time of day, and it is also how one says "thank you". It is a fixed phrase whose parts are not translated word for word. - Nin ye mun ye? "What is this?" asks the name of a thing, in the pattern of Section D, rule 7: nin is "this" and mun is "what". - O is the far or already-mentioned pronoun, "that": O ye so ye, "That is a house".
Standard Bambara and Jula. The variety taught here is the standard Bambara of Mali, the language of Bamako, of the schools and of the radio. Jula (Dioula), spoken in Côte d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso, and Maninka, spoken in Guinea and western Mali, belong to the same Manding group and are largely mutually intelligible with it. The postposed demonstrative works the same way in all of them, but the spelling of words differs in places. Lessons will give both words where it helps.
Scripts. Bambara is written today in the Latin alphabet, whose spelling was standardised for Mali in the later twentieth century and is the one taught in schools. Bambara and the other Manding languages are also written in N'Ko, an alphabet written from right to left, invented in 1949 by Solomana Kanté and used in publishing in West Africa. The Declaration of Section F is given in the Latin alphabet.
The name of the language. Bamanankan is Bamana ("the Bamana people") plus kan ("language, voice"). The English name "Bambara" is the older, French-derived form of Bamana, and both are in use.
Regional variety. The forms taught here are standard Bambara. In ordinary speech vowels are often shortened and particles run into the neighbouring word, and a written apostrophe marks this (b'u, for bɛ u); the lessons will teach these as they appear.
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United Nations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights (General Assembly, Paris, 10 December 1948), in the Bambara translation Hadamaden josiraw dantigɛkan, published by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and reproduced on Wikisource, "Hadamaden josiraw dantigɛkan". The two passages are the opening clause of Article 2 and the whole of Article 3. The Bambara is given as printed there; the English translation is ours.
The Declaration is a document of the United Nations, and the Bambara text is a translation of it, not an original work in Bambara. It is chosen because it is published written Bambara, it can be checked against the English original, and it shows ninnu doing the work that English gives to "the" in Article 2.
F-A: Interlinear Construed Text
F.1a Bɛɛ everyone ka QUAL kan fit josira right ni and hɔrɔnɲasira freedom dantigɛlen defined ninnu these bɛɛ all la in
F.1b Bɛɛ /bɛː/ all ka /ka/ QUAL kan /kã/ fit josira /dʒosira/ right ni /ni/ and hɔrɔnɲasira /hɔrɔɲasira/ freedom dantigɛlen /dantiɡɛlẽ/ defined ninnu /nĩnu/ DEM.PL bɛɛ /bɛː/ all la /la/ LOC
F.2a Hadamaden human-being bɛɛ all ka QUAL kan fit ni with kisi survival ni and tanga protection ni and hɔrɔnɲa freedom ye for
F.2b Hadamaden /hadamadẽ/ human.being bɛɛ /bɛː/ all ka /ka/ QUAL kan /kã/ fit ni /ni/ with kisi /kisi/ survival ni /ni/ and tanga /taŋɡa/ protection ni /ni/ and hɔrɔnɲa /hɔrɔɲa/ freedom ye /je/ PP
F-B: Original → Translation
Bɛɛ ka kan josira ni hɔrɔnɲasira dantigɛlen ninnu bɛɛ la. Hadamaden bɛɛ ka kan ni kisi ni tanga ni hɔrɔnɲa ye.
"Everyone is entitled to all these rights and freedoms (here) set out. Every human being is entitled to life, security and liberty."
F-C: Original Only
Bɛɛ ka kan josira ni hɔrɔnɲasira dantigɛlen ninnu bɛɛ la. Hadamaden bɛɛ ka kan ni kisi ni tanga ni hɔrɔnɲa ye.
F-D: Grammar and Literary Commentary
- josira ni hɔrɔnɲasira dantigɛlen ninnu bɛɛ la: the lesson in one phrase. The noun phrase is "rights and freedoms, defined, these, all", and ninnu closes it just before bɛɛ and the postposition la. The English original has "all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration", and the "the" of English is ninnu in Bambara, "these". It refers back to the rights the Declaration has set out, and so it is a definite marker in the way Section D, rules 2 and 3, describe. Only the first clause of Article 2 is quoted here; the article goes on, and the rest of it is not part of this lesson. - ka kan: ka kan is an idiom, "is fitting, ought, is entitled", and the two words are glossed separately for the reader's benefit. The ka is the qualitative marker of Section D, rule 7. The idiom is followed by the thing the person is entitled to: in F.1 by the noun phrase and the postposition la, and in F.2 by ni … ye. - dantigɛlen is a participle formed from a verb whose meaning is "to define, to set the limits of"; here it describes the rights as "defined, set out". The English gloss follows the sense of the English original. - josira "right(s)" and hɔrɔnɲasira "freedom(s)": hɔrɔnɲasira is hɔrɔnɲa "freedom" with sira ("road, way"), and F.2 has hɔrɔnɲa without it. We give the senses the Declaration requires and do not analyse josira further. - ni kisi ni tanga ni hɔrɔnɲa ye: ni … ye here means "to have, to be entitled to" and ni also joins the three nouns "and": life, security, liberty. English lists them as "life, liberty and security of person"; the Bambara order is kisi (survival, safety), tanga (protection) and hɔrɔnɲa (freedom), and the translation follows the Bambara order. - Hadamaden bɛɛ: "every human being", with bɛɛ "all" after the noun. A quantifier follows its noun, as in does. Bambara uses no article here, and English "every human being" needs none either.
The first clause makes the point of the lesson: where English says "the rights and freedoms", Bambara points with "these", as at a list already laid out before the reader.
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A short narrative written for this lesson, on a morning at a village market. It is a pedagogical text built from attested patterns, and it has not been read by a native speaker. Each new person or thing enters with dɔ (sugu dɔ, muso dɔ, cɛ dɔ), and from then on is picked up with in or ninnu.
Part A: Interlinear Construed Text
1.16a Sugu market dɔ a bɛ is-at dugu village kɔnɔ inside
1.16b Sugu /suɡu/ market dɔ /dɔ/ INDEF bɛ /bɛ/ IPFV dugu /duɡu/ village kɔnɔ /kɔnɔ/ inside.PP
1.17a Mɔgɔ person caman many bɛ are-at sugu market in the na at
1.17b Mɔgɔ /mɔɡɔ/ person caman /tʃamã/ many bɛ /bɛ/ IPFV sugu /suɡu/ market in /ĩ/ DEM na /na/ LOC
1.18a Muso woman dɔ a bɛ is tiga peanut feere sell
1.18b Muso /muso/ woman dɔ /dɔ/ INDEF bɛ /bɛ/ IPFV tiga /tiɡa/ peanut feere /feːre/ sell
1.19a Tiga peanut ninnu these ka are di tasty
1.19b Tiga /tiɡa/ peanut ninnu /nĩnu/ DEM.PL ka /ka/ QUAL di /di/ tasty
1.20a Cɛ man dɔ a taara went muso woman in the fɛ to
1.20b Cɛ /tʃɛ/ man dɔ /dɔ/ INDEF taara /taːra/ go.PFV muso /muso/ woman in /ĩ/ DEM fɛ /fɛ/ at.PP
1.21a Cɛ man in the ye did tiga peanut dɔ some san buy
1.21b Cɛ /tʃɛ/ man in /ĩ/ DEM ye /je/ PFV.TR tiga /tiɡa/ peanut dɔ /dɔ/ INDEF san /sã/ buy
1.22a A he ye did wari money di give muso woman in the ma to
1.22b A /a/ 3SG ye /je/ PFV.TR wari /wari/ money di /di/ give muso /muso/ woman in /ĩ/ DEM ma /ma/ to.PP
1.23a Muso woman in the ko said I you ni and ce thanks
1.23b Muso /muso/ woman in /ĩ/ DEM ko /ko/ QUOT I /i/ 2SG ni /ni/ and ce /tʃe/ greeting
1.24a Cɛ man in the taara went so home
1.24b Cɛ /tʃɛ/ man in /ĩ/ DEM taara /taːra/ go.PFV so /so/ home
1.25a A his ba mother bɛ is-at so house in the kɔnɔ inside
1.25b A /a/ 3SG.POSS ba /ba/ mother bɛ /bɛ/ IPFV so /so/ house in /ĩ/ DEM kɔnɔ /kɔnɔ/ inside.PP
1.26a A he ye did tiga peanut ninnu these di give a his ba mother ma to
1.26b A /a/ 3SG ye /je/ PFV.TR tiga /tiɡa/ peanut ninnu /nĩnu/ DEM.PL di /di/ give a /a/ 3SG.POSS ba /ba/ mother ma /ma/ to.PP
1.27a A his ba mother ko said a it ka is ɲi good
1.27b A /a/ 3SG.POSS ba /ba/ mother ko /ko/ QUOT a /a/ 3SG ka /ka/ QUAL ɲi /ɲi/ good
1.28a U they bɛ are tiga peanut ninnu these dun eat so house in the kɔnɔ inside
1.28b U /u/ 3PL bɛ /bɛ/ IPFV tiga /tiɡa/ peanut ninnu /nĩnu/ DEM.PL dun /dũ/ eat so /so/ house in /ĩ/ DEM kɔnɔ /kɔnɔ/ inside.PP
1.29a Sini tomorrow cɛ man in the ni and a his ba mother bɛ is taa go sugu market in the na to
1.29b Sini /sini/ tomorrow cɛ /tʃɛ/ man in /ĩ/ DEM ni /ni/ and a /a/ 3SG.POSS ba /ba/ mother bɛ /bɛ/ IPFV taa /taː/ go sugu /suɡu/ market in /ĩ/ DEM na /na/ LOC
1.30a Sugu market in the ka is ɲi good
1.30b Sugu /suɡu/ market in /ĩ/ DEM ka /ka/ QUAL ɲi /ɲi/ good
Part B: Natural Sentences
1.16 Sugu dɔ bɛ dugu kɔnɔ. → "There is a market in the village."
1.17 Mɔgɔ caman bɛ sugu in na. → "Many people are at the market."
1.18 Muso dɔ bɛ tiga feere. → "A woman is selling peanuts."
1.19 Tiga ninnu ka di. → "These peanuts are tasty."
1.20 Cɛ dɔ taara muso in fɛ. → "A man went to the woman."
1.21 Cɛ in ye tiga dɔ san. → "The man bought some peanuts."
1.22 A ye wari di muso in ma. → "He gave the woman money."
1.23 Muso in ko: "I ni ce." → "The woman said, 'Thank you.'"
1.24 Cɛ in taara so. → "The man went home."
1.25 A ba bɛ so in kɔnɔ. → "His mother is in the house."
1.26 A ye tiga ninnu di a ba ma. → "He gave these peanuts to his mother."
1.27 A ba ko a ka ɲi. → "His mother said that it is good."
1.28 U bɛ tiga ninnu dun so in kɔnɔ. → "They are eating the peanuts in the house."
1.29 Sini, cɛ in ni a ba bɛ taa sugu in na. → "Tomorrow the man and his mother will go to the market."
1.30 Sugu in ka ɲi. → "The market is good."
Part C: Target Language Only
1.16 Sugu dɔ bɛ dugu kɔnɔ.
1.17 Mɔgɔ caman bɛ sugu in na.
1.18 Muso dɔ bɛ tiga feere.
1.19 Tiga ninnu ka di.
1.20 Cɛ dɔ taara muso in fɛ.
1.21 Cɛ in ye tiga dɔ san.
1.22 A ye wari di muso in ma.
1.23 Muso in ko: "I ni ce."
1.24 Cɛ in taara so.
1.25 A ba bɛ so in kɔnɔ.
1.26 A ye tiga ninnu di a ba ma.
1.27 A ba ko a ka ɲi.
1.28 U bɛ tiga ninnu dun so in kɔnɔ.
1.29 Sini, cɛ in ni a ba bɛ taa sugu in na.
1.30 Sugu in ka ɲi.
Part D: Grammar Notes for the Genre Section
- New, then known. Each person or thing enters with dɔ and is then picked up with in. Sugu dɔ (1.16) becomes sugu in (1.17, 1.29, 1.30); muso dɔ (1.18) becomes muso in (1.20, 1.22, 1.23); cɛ dɔ (1.20) becomes cɛ in (1.21, 1.22, 1.24, 1.29); tiga (1.18) becomes tiga dɔ "some peanuts" (1.21) and then tiga ninnu "these peanuts" (1.26, 1.28). Read each in and ninnu as "the one we already know". - The plural is not marked twice. Tiga ninnu (1.19) is "these peanuts", with tiga unmarked and the plural carried by ninnu (Section D, rule 3). - Bare nouns that are known. Dugu (1.16, "the village") and so (1.24, "home") are not followed by in; nothing is being pointed at. In 1.25 and 1.28, by contrast, so in is "the house" we have been told about. - La and na. The postposition is la after sugu (1.8), and na after in: sugu in na (1.17, 1.29). In ends in a nasal vowel, and the postposition becomes na after it (Section D, rule 9). - Pronouns. A (1.22, 1.26, 1.27) is "he, she, it", and u (1.28) is "they". The English translation says "he" and "his" because the text is about the man, but a itself has no gender. - Possession. A ba (1.25, 1.26, 1.27) is "his mother", the possessor first. In 1.27 a ba ko a ka ɲi, the second a is "it" (the peanuts). - Quoted and reported speech. Ko introduces both. In 1.23 the words follow ko after a colon and are put in quotation marks; in 1.27 the words follow ko directly and are reported. I ni ce is a fixed formula (Section E). - Time. Sini (1.29) "tomorrow" is a time word placed at the start; the verb does not change, and bɛ taa is read as the future from the time word.
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Check these in every sentence:
- in /ĩ/ and nin /nĩ/: a nasal vowel, with no final consonant. They are said as part of the noun phrase: so in, cɛ in. - ninnu /nĩnu/: nasal vowel, then nu. The doubled n in the spelling is part of the plural ending. - ɛ and ɔ are separate letters from e and o, and the difference changes words. Check each: cɛ "man", bɛ, tɛ, kɔnɔ, dɔ, mɔgɔ, fɛ, kɔrɔ. - ɲ is one letter and one sound, /ɲ/: ɲi. - Doubled vowels are long, not two syllables: taa /taː/, feere /feːre/, bɛɛ /bɛː/. - Vowel + n at the end of a syllable is a nasal vowel: den, kalan, caman, san, dun, in, nin. - La after an oral syllable, na after a nasal one: sugu la, sugu in na. - N alone ("I") is a syllabic nasal /n̩/: N ye so in ye. - Tone is not written in ordinary Bambara, and it is not marked in this lesson. - Punctuation is as in English: the comma, full stop, colon and quotation marks. No other punctuation is changed by the language. - Capitals begin sentences and names. Sugu, so, cɛ are lower case in the middle of a sentence. - Special letters used in this lesson: ɛ ɔ ɲ. The letter ŋ is also in the alphabet and appears in later lessons.
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