The English word "be" is the verb that says what someone or something is, where it is, or that it exists: "I am here", "the market is in the village", "there is water". English uses one verb for all of these. Bambara has no such verb. It uses small words that stand between the subject and what follows, and each one does a separate job. The one that is closest to "be" is bɛ, and it is the word this lesson teaches.
The house list gives "be" as a verb, with the note "copula/existence". The Bambara equivalent chosen here is bɛ, together with its negative tɛ, because bɛ is the word the grammars describe as the predicate of existence and location (Wiktionary: "there is, it is"), and because it also carries possession and the present tense. Lesson 1 met its neighbours, and this lesson shows where each one stops:
- ye joins two nouns and needs a second ye at the end: Mali ye jamana ye, "Mali is a country". It says what something is, never where it is. - ka goes before a quality: A ka kɛnɛ, "He is well". Its negative is man: A man surun, "He is not short". - bɛ says where something is, that it exists, or that someone has it: Madu bɛ misiri kɔnɔ, "Madu is in the mosque". - tɛ is the negative of bɛ, and also of ye.
The first thing to learn about bɛ is its position. It comes after the subject and before the place: N bɛ yan, "I am here"; Den in bɛ kalanso la, "The child is at school". There is no word for "there" in "there is". Bambara simply says that the thing is, and where: Sugu bɛ yan, "There is a market here".
The second thing is that bɛ has four jobs, and the sentence shows which one is meant:
- Location: a person or thing and a place. A bɛ yen, "He is there". - Existence: the same pattern, with an indefinite thing. Wari tɛ yan, "There is no money here". - Possession: the owner's name or pronoun, followed by fɛ ("at"), after bɛ. Wari bɛ n fɛ, "I have money", literally "Money is at me". Bambara has no verb "to have". - Present tense: before a verb, bɛ marks an action in progress or habitual. N bɛ baara kɛ, "I am working"; N bɛ na, "I am coming".
The third thing is the negative. To negate bɛ, replace it with tɛ and change nothing else: Cɛ in tɛ so in kɔnɔ, "The man is not in the house"; Den tɛ n fɛ, "I have no child".
Orthographic points: the vowel in bɛ and tɛ is the letter ɛ, an open vowel, and not e. A learner who writes be has written a different letter. The word bɛɛ with a doubled vowel means "all" and is not the same word as bɛ. When bɛ stands before the pronoun u ("they"), the two are written together with an apostrophe: b'u. Tone is not written. This course teaches the standard Bambara of Mali; Section E says what is, and is not, known about the variants.
FAQ: How do you say "be" in Bambara?
Q: What is "to be" in Bambara? A: There is no single verb. For place and existence use bɛ (negative tɛ): N bɛ yan, "I am here". For "X is a Y" use ye … ye. For "X is [quality]" use ka.
Q: How do you say "there is" or "there are"? A: Say that the thing is, and where: Sugu bɛ yan, "There is a market here". There is no word for "there" in the English sense. The words yan ("here") and yen ("there") are places.
Q: How do you say "I have"? A: With bɛ and fɛ, the owner coming last: Wari bɛ n fɛ, "I have money". The negative is Wari tɛ n fɛ, "I have no money".
Q: How do you ask "Where are you?" A: I bɛ min? The word min ("where") stands where the place would stand.
Key Takeaways
- Bambara has no verb "to be". Bɛ says where something is, that it exists, or that someone has it, and tɛ is its negative. - The pattern is subject bɛ place: N bɛ yan, Den in bɛ kalanso la. There is no word for "there" in "there is". - "To have" is thing bɛ owner fɛ: Wari bɛ n fɛ, "I have money". - Before a verb, bɛ marks the present: N bɛ na, "I am coming". - Use ye … ye for "is a", ka for "is [quality]", and bɛ for "is at, exists, has". Do not write be or confuse bɛ with bɛɛ ("all").
✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾
bɛ /bɛ/ is an open vowel after b, like the vowel of English "bed": "BEH", with no glide and nothing like "bay". tɛ /tɛ/ is the same, after t. The doubled vowel in bɛɛ /bɛː/ is the same sound held about twice as long. The contraction b'u /bu/ is said as one syllable: the vowel of bɛ is dropped before u.
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.
Sounds in this lesson that English lacks or treats differently:
- ɛ /ɛ/ and ɔ /ɔ/ are open vowels, as in Lesson 1: bɛ /bɛ/, tɛ /tɛ/, fɛ /fɛ/, kɔnɔ /kɔnɔ/, dɔ /dɔ/, mɔgɔ /mɔgɔ/, tɔɔrɔ /tɔːrɔ/. - y = /j/ (as in "yes"): yan /jã/, yen /jẽ/, ye /je/. - A vowel followed by n at the end of a syllable is nasal, and the n is not said as a separate stop: yan /jã/ "here", yen /jẽ/ "there", min /mĩ/ "where", tun /tũ/, kan /kã/, den /dẽ/, an /ã/ "we", jɔn /dʒɔ̃/ "slave". - nka "but" begins with an n that is said in the throat before the k, /ŋka/. It is written with an ordinary n. - c = /tʃ/ and j = /dʒ/, ɲ = /ɲ/, g is always hard /ɡ/, r is a quick tap, as in Lesson 1. - A doubled vowel is long: baara /baːra/, taasi /taːsi/, bɛɛ /bɛː/. - N on its own, the word for "I", is a syllabic nasal /n̩/, said as a hum before the next word: N bɛ yan, Wari bɛ n fɛ. - Stress is light, and every syllable is said clearly.
✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾
Examples 2.1–2.15 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, bɛ is glossed is-at, are-at or am-at when it names a place, and is or are when it names existence or possession, because English needs a different form each time. Line b uses these abbreviations: COP.LOC (bɛ, the predicate of location and existence), NEG.COP (negative tɛ), IPFV (bɛ before a verb), COP (equative ye), PP (postposition), PST (tun, past), Q (the question particle wa), COND (ni, "if"), 1SG, 2SG, 3SG (first, second and third person singular), 1PL (first person plural), 3PL (third person plural), POSS (possessor), DEM (postposed demonstrative in), LOC (the postposition la, na), QUOT (quotative ko) and CONJ (conjunction nka). The contraction b'u (bɛ and u) is glossed as one form.
2.1a N I bɛ am-at yan here
2.1b N /n̩/ 1SG bɛ /bɛ/ COP.LOC yan /jã/ here
2.2a A he bɛ is-at yen there
2.2b A /a/ 3SG bɛ /bɛ/ COP.LOC yen /jẽ/ there
2.3a Sugu market bɛ is yan here
2.3b Sugu /suɡu/ market bɛ /bɛ/ COP.LOC yan /jã/ here
2.4a Wari money tɛ is-not yan here
2.4b Wari /wari/ money tɛ /tɛ/ NEG.COP yan /jã/ here
2.5a I you bɛ are-at min where
2.5b I /i/ 2SG bɛ /bɛ/ COP.LOC min /mĩ/ where
2.6a Den child in the bɛ is-at kalanso school la at
2.6b Den /dẽ/ child in /ĩ/ DEM bɛ /bɛ/ COP.LOC kalanso /kalãso/ school la /la/ LOC
2.7a Cɛ man in the tɛ is-not so house in the kɔnɔ inside
2.7b Cɛ /tʃɛ/ man in /ĩ/ DEM tɛ /tɛ/ NEG.COP so /so/ house in /ĩ/ DEM kɔnɔ /kɔnɔ/ inside.PP
2.8a Den child fila two bɛ are n me fɛ at
2.8b Den /dẽ/ child fila /fila/ two bɛ /bɛ/ COP.LOC n /n̩/ 1SG fɛ /fɛ/ at.PP
2.9a Tiga peanut caman many bɛ are-at sugu market in the na at
2.9b Tiga /tiɡa/ peanut caman /tʃamã/ many bɛ /bɛ/ COP.LOC sugu /suɡu/ market in /ĩ/ DEM na /na/ LOC
2.10a Muso woman in the tun formerly bɛ was-at sugu market la at
2.10b Muso /muso/ woman in /ĩ/ DEM tun /tũ/ PST bɛ /bɛ/ COP.LOC sugu /suɡu/ market la /la/ LOC
2.11a Mɔgɔ person caman many bɛ are-at dugu village in the kɔnɔ inside nka but sugu market tɛ is-not yen there
2.11b Mɔgɔ /mɔɡɔ/ person caman /tʃamã/ many bɛ /bɛ/ COP.LOC dugu /duɡu/ village in /ĩ/ DEM kɔnɔ /kɔnɔ/ inside.PP nka /ŋka/ CONJ sugu /suɡu/ market tɛ /tɛ/ NEG.COP yen /jẽ/ there
2.12a Ni if sugu market bɛ is yan here n I bɛ am taa go
2.12b Ni /ni/ COND sugu /suɡu/ market bɛ /bɛ/ COP.LOC yan /jã/ here n /n̩/ 1SG bɛ /bɛ/ IPFV taa /taː/ go
2.13a Cɛ man in the ko said wari money bɛ is n me fɛ at nka but dumuni food tɛ is-not n me fɛ at
2.13b Cɛ /tʃɛ/ man in /ĩ/ DEM ko /ko/ QUOT wari /wari/ money bɛ /bɛ/ COP.LOC n /n̩/ 1SG fɛ /fɛ/ at.PP nka /ŋka/ CONJ dumuni /dumuni/ food tɛ /tɛ/ NEG.COP n /n̩/ 1SG fɛ /fɛ/ at.PP
2.14a Bamakɔ Bamako ye is dugu town ba big ye as a it bɛ is-at Mali Mali la in
2.14b Bamakɔ /bamakɔ/ Bamako ye /je/ COP dugu /duɡu/ town ba /ba/ big ye /je/ PP a /a/ 3SG bɛ /bɛ/ COP.LOC Mali /mali/ Mali la /la/ LOC
2.15a Dumuni food b'u is-they fɛ at nka but ji water tɛ is-not yan here
2.15b Dumuni /dumuni/ food b'u /bu/ COP.LOC.3PL fɛ /fɛ/ at.PP nka /ŋka/ CONJ ji /dʒi/ water tɛ /tɛ/ NEG.COP yan /jã/ here
✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾
2.1 N bɛ yan. → "I am here."
2.2 A bɛ yen. → "He (or she) is there."
2.3 Sugu bɛ yan. → "There is a market here." (or "The market is here.")
2.4 Wari tɛ yan. → "There is no money here."
2.5 I bɛ min? → "Where are you?"
2.6 Den in bɛ kalanso la. → "The child is at school."
2.7 Cɛ in tɛ so in kɔnɔ. → "The man is not in the house."
2.8 Den fila bɛ n fɛ. → "I have two children."
2.9 Tiga caman bɛ sugu in na. → "There are many peanuts at the market."
2.10 Muso in tun bɛ sugu la. → "The woman was at the market."
2.11 Mɔgɔ caman bɛ dugu in kɔnɔ, nka sugu tɛ yen. → "Many people are in the village, but there is no market there."
2.12 Ni sugu bɛ yan, n bɛ taa. → "If there is a market here, I will go."
2.13 Cɛ in ko: "Wari bɛ n fɛ, nka dumuni tɛ n fɛ." → The man said, "I have money, but I have no food."
2.14 Bamakɔ ye dugu ba ye, a bɛ Mali la. → "Bamako is a big town; it is in Mali."
2.15 Dumuni b'u fɛ, nka ji tɛ yan. → "They have food, but there is no water here."
✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾
2.1 N bɛ yan.
2.2 A bɛ yen.
2.3 Sugu bɛ yan.
2.4 Wari tɛ yan.
2.5 I bɛ min?
2.6 Den in bɛ kalanso la.
2.7 Cɛ in tɛ so in kɔnɔ.
2.8 Den fila bɛ n fɛ.
2.9 Tiga caman bɛ sugu in na.
2.10 Muso in tun bɛ sugu la.
2.11 Mɔgɔ caman bɛ dugu in kɔnɔ, nka sugu tɛ yen.
2.12 Ni sugu bɛ yan, n bɛ taa.
2.13 Cɛ in ko: "Wari bɛ n fɛ, nka dumuni tɛ n fɛ."
2.14 Bamakɔ ye dugu ba ye, a bɛ Mali la.
2.15 Dumuni b'u fɛ, nka ji tɛ yan.
✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾
These are the grammar rules for bɛ in Bambara:
1. Bambara has no verb "to be". What English does with one verb, Bambara does with four small words between the subject and what follows: bɛ (place, existence, possession, present tense), ye … ye (X is a Y), ka (X is [quality]) and the negatives tɛ (for bɛ and ye) and man (for ka). Lesson 1 introduced them together; this lesson takes bɛ and tɛ apart.
2. Location: subject, bɛ, place. The subject comes first, then bɛ, then the place. The place is a place word (yan "here", yen "there", min "where") or a noun with its postposition: - N bɛ yan (2.1), A bɛ yen (2.2), I bɛ min? (2.5) - Den in bɛ kalanso la (2.6), Muso in tun bɛ sugu la (2.10), A bɛ sira kan (2.26)
Bɛ does not change for person or number. N bɛ, i bɛ, a bɛ, an bɛ and u bɛ all use the same form, and so does a plural subject: Mɔgɔ caman bɛ dugu in kɔnɔ (2.11).
3. Existence: the same pattern. To say that something exists, put it first, then bɛ, then where. English adds "there"; Bambara adds nothing: - Sugu bɛ yan (2.3), "There is a market here" - Tiga caman bɛ sugu in na (2.9), "There are many peanuts at the market" - Dumuni bɛ so kɔnɔ wa? (2.21), "Is there food in the house?"
The same sentence can be read as "The market is here" or "There is a market here". Context, and the use of in (Lesson 1), decides. A short sentence with no place is possible too: Hɛrɛ bɛ is "There is peace" (Section E).
4. Possession: thing, bɛ, owner, fɛ. Bambara says that the thing is at the owner. The owner is a pronoun or a noun, and fɛ ("at") follows it: - Den fila bɛ n fɛ (2.8), "I have two children", literally "Two children are at me" - Ji bɛ n fɛ (2.24), "I have water" - Tiga bɛ i fa fɛ wa? (2.27), "Does your father have peanuts?"; Tiga caman bɛ n fa fɛ (2.28), "My father has many peanuts" (the possessor comes before the thing possessed, as in Lesson 1, so i fa is "your father" and n fa "my father")
The negative is Wari tɛ n fɛ, "I have no money". Do not look for a verb "to have": there is none.
5. The negative: tɛ replaces bɛ. Nothing else in the sentence changes: - Wari tɛ yan (2.4), Cɛ in tɛ so in kɔnɔ (2.7), Sugu tɛ yen (2.11), Dumuni tɛ n fɛ (2.13), Ji tɛ yan (2.15), A tɛ yan (2.19), Tɔɔrɔ tɛ (2.30)
The same tɛ negates the equative ye, as in Lesson 1 (Nin tɛ so ye). The negative of ka is a different word, man: A man surun, "He is not short".
6. Bɛ before a verb is the present. When a verb follows bɛ, the sentence says what is going on, and not where something is: - N bɛ na (2.23), "I am coming"; N bɛ taa (2.12), "I go, I will go" - N bɛ baara kɛ, "I am working" (a standard example, not one of the thirty)
Compare N bɛ so kɔnɔ, "I am in the house" (location), with N bɛ taa, "I am going". If a place follows bɛ, the sentence is about location. If a verb follows it, the sentence is about an action.
7. Past: tun. The word tun stands between the subject and bɛ and puts the sentence in the past: Muso in tun bɛ sugu la (2.10), "The woman was at the market". The negative is tun tɛ: A tun tɛ yen, "He was not there" (a pedagogical construction, not one of the thirty).
8. Questions. The word min ("where") stands where the place would stand: I bɛ min? (2.5, 2.16). A question that expects "yes" or "no" ends in wa, and the answer is awɔ ("yes") or ayi ("no"): I fa bɛ yen wa? (2.18), Ayi, a tɛ yan (2.19); Awɔ, dumuni bɛ yan … (2.22).
9. Yan and yen. Yan is "here", the place of the speaker, and yen is "there", away from the speaker. They need no postposition: Sugu bɛ yan (2.3), A bɛ yen (2.2). In the Genre Section, the child says yan of the house in which the child stands (2.19, 2.22), and the mother says yen of the same house from outside (2.18).
10. The contraction b'u. When bɛ comes before the pronoun u ("they"), the two are written together with an apostrophe: Dumuni b'u fɛ (2.15), "They have food". The same contraction is in the passage of Section F (Hakili ni taasi b'u bɛɛ la). The other pronouns are not contracted in this lesson's examples.
11. Place and pronouns. The postpositions of Lesson 1 follow the noun: la after an oral syllable and na after a nasal one (sugu in na, 2.9), kɔnɔ "inside" (2.7, 2.11, 2.17), kan "on" (2.26). The pronouns are n "I", i "you", a "he, she, it", an "we", u "they". Possessors come before the thing possessed (rule 4).
Common Mistakes
- Writing e for ɛ. Wrong: N be yan. Right: N bɛ yan. The letters are different, and so are the words. - Using ye for a place. Wrong: N ye so kɔnɔ, meant as "I am in the house". Right: N bɛ so kɔnɔ. The marker ye joins two nouns (Nin ye so ye) and never gives a place. - Using bɛ to join two nouns. Wrong: Nin bɛ so, meant as "This is a house". Right: Nin ye so ye. - Looking for a verb "to have". Wrong: N bɛ wari, meant as "I have money". Right: Wari bɛ n fɛ. The thing comes first, and fɛ follows the owner. - Adding "there". Wrong: translating "there is a market" word for word. Right: Sugu bɛ yan, "A market is here". Say where it is, and do not look for a word for "there". - Putting the place before bɛ. Wrong: N yan bɛ. Right: N bɛ yan. - The wrong negative. Wrong: Sugu ma yan. Right: Sugu tɛ yan. Ma negates a completed action (Lesson 1, Muso in ma taa). The negative of bɛ is tɛ. - Confusing bɛ and bɛɛ. Bɛ is "is-at". Bɛɛ with the long vowel is "all": an bɛɛ bɛ so kɔnɔ (2.29), "we all are in the house". - Giving bɛ a person ending. Wrong: N bɛn yan. Bɛ never changes for person or number: N bɛ yan, A bɛ yan, An bɛ yan.
✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾
Frequency and register. Bɛ and tɛ are among the commonest words in everyday Bambara. They appear in the first exchanges of many conversations, and they are the same in speech and in print. A learner who has them can say where a person is, ask where something is, say what is there and what is not, and say what one has.
Greetings. A Malian greeting is a long exchange of questions about health, family and work, and the answers are very often built on bɛ and tɛ. The question I ka kɛnɛ wa? ("Are you well?") is answered Tɔɔrɔ tɛ ("There is no trouble") or Hɛrɛ bɛ ("There is peace"). The reply uses existence, as in Section D, rule 3: it says that trouble is not and that peace is. The word hɛrɛ means peace or well-being, and the sources give it also as "happiness". The fixed formula I ni ce (Lesson 1) is still the usual greeting and the usual thanks.
Asking where someone is. I bɛ min? is an everyday question to a friend or relative who is out, and the answer gives a place: N bɛ sugu la, "I am at the market". The Genre Section builds on it.
Having and not having. Bambara speaks of owning as being "at" someone: Wari bɛ n fɛ. The same pattern is used for money, food, children and work, and the negative (Den tɛ n fɛ) is the plain way of saying that one has none.
Standard Bambara and the variants. The variety taught here is the standard Bambara of Mali. Bambara, Jula (Dioula) and Maninka are Manding languages, and the grammars describe the same markers for them. No variant spelling or difference of use was confirmed in the sources for this lesson, and so none is named. Lessons will give a difference only where one is checked.
Spelling. The apostrophe in b'u is the written sign that the vowel of bɛ is lost. Writers do not always use it, and the full form bɛ u may be met in print. In this course the contracted form is used where it was found in a published text (Section F).
✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾
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 passages are the first sentence of Article 1, the first clause of the second sentence of Article 1, and the first sentence of Article 4. 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 bɛ doing three of its jobs: the present tense before a verb (F.1), location in the contraction b'u (F.2), and the negative tɛ (F.3).
F-A: Interlinear Construed Text
F.1a Hadamaden human-being bɛɛ all danmakɛɲɛnen equal bɛ are bange born danbe dignity ni and josira right la in
F.1b Hadamaden /hadamadẽ/ human.being bɛɛ /bɛː/ all danmakɛɲɛnen /dãmakɛɲɛnẽ/ equal bɛ /bɛ/ IPFV bange /baŋɡe/ be.born danbe /dãbe/ dignity ni /ni/ and josira /dʒosira/ right la /la/ LOC
F.2a Hakili mind ni and taasi conscience b'u is-they bɛɛ all la in
F.2b Hakili /hakili/ mind ni /ni/ and taasi /taːsi/ conscience b'u /bu/ COP.LOC.3PL bɛɛ /bɛː/ all la /la/ LOC
F.3a Mɔgɔ person si any tɛ is-not kɛ made jɔn slave ye as wali or bolokɔnɔmɔgɔ bondsman
F.3b Mɔgɔ /mɔɡɔ/ person si /si/ any tɛ /tɛ/ NEG.COP kɛ /kɛ/ make jɔn /dʒɔ̃/ slave ye /je/ PP wali /wali/ or bolokɔnɔmɔgɔ /bolokɔnɔmɔɡɔ/ bondsman
F-B: Original → Translation
Hadamaden bɛɛ danmakɛɲɛnen bɛ bange, danbe ni josira la. Hakili ni taasi b'u bɛɛ la. Mɔgɔ si tɛ kɛ jɔn ye, wali bolokɔnɔmɔgɔ.
"All human beings are born equal in dignity and rights. Reason and conscience are in them all. No one is to be made a slave or a bondsman."
F-C: Original Only
Hadamaden bɛɛ danmakɛɲɛnen bɛ bange, danbe ni josira la. Hakili ni taasi b'u bɛɛ la. Mɔgɔ si tɛ kɛ jɔn ye, wali bolokɔnɔmɔgɔ.
F-D: Grammar and Literary Commentary
- danmakɛɲɛnen bɛ bange: here bɛ stands before a verb, bange "to be born", and gives the present tense (Section D, rule 6). It is the "are" of "are born". The English original reads "free and equal"; the Bambara clause printed here has the single word danmakɛɲɛnen, which we gloss "equal" and do not analyse further. The sense "free" is not shown in our gloss. - Hadamaden bɛɛ: "all human beings", with bɛɛ "all" after its noun, as in Lesson 1. It is bɛɛ with a long vowel, and not bɛ (Section D, Common Mistakes). - danbe ni josira la: "in dignity and rights". The postposition la follows the whole joined phrase, and josira "right" is the word of Lesson 1. - Hakili ni taasi b'u bɛɛ la: the lesson in one phrase. B'u is bɛ and u ("they") written together, and the clause says that reason and conscience are in them all: existence and location, with bɛ in the middle and the place (u bɛɛ la, "in them all") last. We follow the English original for taasi, "conscience", and for hakili, "reason" (our gloss "mind"). The second sentence of Article 1 goes on after this clause, and the rest of it is not part of this lesson. - Mɔgɔ si tɛ kɛ jɔn ye: tɛ is the negative of bɛ (Section D, rule 5). Mɔgɔ si tɛ is "no person is …", and kɛ … ye is "be made …, become …". Si after the noun means "any", and with tɛ it gives "no one". The English original has "shall be held in slavery or servitude"; the Bambara has the person "made a slave or a bondsman" (bolokɔnɔmɔgɔ, glossed as one word). The legal "shall" is carried by the negative alone.
The three clauses make the point of the lesson: in the one text, bɛ is the present tense of a verb, the location of reason in persons, and (as tɛ) the denial that anyone may be a slave.
✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾
A short dialogue written for this lesson, between a mother (in the English, "Mother") and her child ("Child"). The child is at home, and the mother is on her way back. The turns alternate, and the mother speaks 2.16, 2.18, 2.21, 2.23, 2.24, 2.27 and 2.29; the child speaks the rest. It is a pedagogical text built from attested patterns, and it has not been read by a native speaker. Bɛ is used for place, for existence and for having.
Part A: Interlinear Construed Text
2.16a Den child i you bɛ are-at min where
2.16b Den /dẽ/ child i /i/ 2SG bɛ /bɛ/ COP.LOC min /mĩ/ where
2.17a N I bɛ am-at so house kɔnɔ inside
2.17b N /n̩/ 1SG bɛ /bɛ/ COP.LOC so /so/ house kɔnɔ /kɔnɔ/ inside.PP
2.18a I your fa father bɛ is-at yen there wa Q
2.18b I /i/ 2SG.POSS fa /fa/ father bɛ /bɛ/ COP.LOC yen /jẽ/ there wa /wa/ Q
2.19a Ayi no a he tɛ is-not yan here
2.19b Ayi /aji/ no a /a/ 3SG tɛ /tɛ/ NEG.COP yan /jã/ here
2.20a A he bɛ is-at sugu market la at
2.20b A /a/ 3SG bɛ /bɛ/ COP.LOC sugu /suɡu/ market la /la/ LOC
2.21a Dumuni food bɛ is so house kɔnɔ inside wa Q
2.21b Dumuni /dumuni/ food bɛ /bɛ/ COP.LOC so /so/ house kɔnɔ /kɔnɔ/ inside.PP wa /wa/ Q
2.22a Awɔ yes dumuni food bɛ is yan here nka but ji water tɛ is-not yan here
2.22b Awɔ /awɔ/ yes dumuni /dumuni/ food bɛ /bɛ/ COP.LOC yan /jã/ here nka /ŋka/ CONJ ji /dʒi/ water tɛ /tɛ/ NEG.COP yan /jã/ here
2.23a N I bɛ am na come
2.23b N /n̩/ 1SG bɛ /bɛ/ IPFV na /na/ come
2.24a Ji water bɛ is n me fɛ at
2.24b Ji /dʒi/ water bɛ /bɛ/ COP.LOC n /n̩/ 1SG fɛ /fɛ/ at.PP
2.25a N my fa father bɛ is na come
2.25b N /n̩/ 1SG.POSS fa /fa/ father bɛ /bɛ/ IPFV na /na/ come
2.26a A he bɛ is-at sira road kan on
2.26b A /a/ 3SG bɛ /bɛ/ COP.LOC sira /sira/ road kan /kã/ on.PP
2.27a Tiga peanut bɛ is i your fa father fɛ at wa Q
2.27b Tiga /tiɡa/ peanut bɛ /bɛ/ COP.LOC i /i/ 2SG.POSS fa /fa/ father fɛ /fɛ/ at.PP wa /wa/ Q
2.28a Awɔ yes tiga peanut caman many bɛ are n my fa father fɛ at
2.28b Awɔ /awɔ/ yes tiga /tiɡa/ peanut caman /tʃamã/ many bɛ /bɛ/ COP.LOC n /n̩/ 1SG.POSS fa /fa/ father fɛ /fɛ/ at.PP
2.29a Bi today an we bɛɛ all bɛ are-at so house kɔnɔ inside
2.29b Bi /bi/ today an /ã/ 1PL bɛɛ /bɛː/ all bɛ /bɛ/ COP.LOC so /so/ house kɔnɔ /kɔnɔ/ inside.PP
2.30a Tɔɔrɔ trouble tɛ is-not
2.30b Tɔɔrɔ /tɔːrɔ/ trouble tɛ /tɛ/ NEG.COP
Part B: Natural Sentences
2.16 Den, i bɛ min? → Mother: "Child, where are you?"
2.17 N bɛ so kɔnɔ. → Child: "I am in the house."
2.18 I fa bɛ yen wa? → Mother: "Is your father there?"
2.19 Ayi, a tɛ yan. → Child: "No, he is not here."
2.20 A bɛ sugu la. → Child: "He is at the market."
2.21 Dumuni bɛ so kɔnɔ wa? → Mother: "Is there food in the house?"
2.22 Awɔ, dumuni bɛ yan, nka ji tɛ yan. → Child: "Yes, there is food here, but there is no water here."
2.23 N bɛ na. → Mother: "I am coming."
2.24 Ji bɛ n fɛ. → Mother: "I have water."
2.25 N fa bɛ na. → Child: "My father is coming."
2.26 A bɛ sira kan. → Child: "He is on the road."
2.27 Tiga bɛ i fa fɛ wa? → Mother: "Does your father have peanuts?"
2.28 Awɔ, tiga caman bɛ n fa fɛ. → Child: "Yes, my father has many peanuts."
2.29 Bi, an bɛɛ bɛ so kɔnɔ. → Mother: "Today we are all at home."
2.30 Tɔɔrɔ tɛ. → Child: "No trouble."
Part C: Target Language Only
2.16 Den, i bɛ min?
2.17 N bɛ so kɔnɔ.
2.18 I fa bɛ yen wa?
2.19 Ayi, a tɛ yan.
2.20 A bɛ sugu la.
2.21 Dumuni bɛ so kɔnɔ wa?
2.22 Awɔ, dumuni bɛ yan, nka ji tɛ yan.
2.23 N bɛ na.
2.24 Ji bɛ n fɛ.
2.25 N fa bɛ na.
2.26 A bɛ sira kan.
2.27 Tiga bɛ i fa fɛ wa?
2.28 Awɔ, tiga caman bɛ n fa fɛ.
2.29 Bi, an bɛɛ bɛ so kɔnɔ.
2.30 Tɔɔrɔ tɛ.
Part D: Grammar Notes for the Genre Section
- Location and absence in a pair. The mother's question (2.18) has the answer a tɛ yan (2.19) and then a bɛ sugu la (2.20): the child says first where the father is not, and then where he is. Bɛ and tɛ are the same marker, positive and negative (Section D, rule 5). - Existence. Dumuni bɛ so kɔnɔ wa? (2.21) asks whether food exists in the house, and dumuni bɛ yan (2.22) says that it does. The negative follows with nka ji tɛ yan. Nothing in the sentence says "there". - Having. Ji bɛ n fɛ (2.24) and tiga caman bɛ n fa fɛ (2.28) have the thing first, then bɛ, then the owner and fɛ (Section D, rule 4). The question Tiga bɛ i fa fɛ wa? (2.27) is the same pattern with wa. - Bɛ before a verb. N bɛ na (2.23) and N fa bɛ na (2.25) have a verb after bɛ, and so mean "is coming". The mother's N bɛ na is not a place, and her next sentence, Ji bɛ n fɛ, is about having. The same word does both jobs (Section D, rules 4 and 6). - Yan and yen. The mother says yen of the house (2.18), because she is not in it, and the child says yan (2.19, 2.22), because the child is (Section D, rule 9). - Bɛɛ and bɛ. In 2.29, an bɛɛ bɛ has both words side by side: bɛɛ "all" with its long vowel, then bɛ "are-at". The pronoun an is "we". - Questions and answers. Min (2.16) asks where; wa (2.18, 2.21, 2.27) asks yes or no; awɔ (2.22, 2.28) and ayi (2.19) answer. The yes-no answer repeats the sentence's markers, so the answer to a bɛ question uses bɛ or tɛ. - Fixed phrase. Tɔɔrɔ tɛ (2.30) is the stock reply "No trouble" (Section E), and the child uses it as a calm ending to the exchange.
✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾
Check these in every sentence:
- bɛ /bɛ/ and tɛ /tɛ/: the letter is ɛ, an open vowel, and not e. The two words are among the commonest in the language, and a missing hook changes the spelling. - bɛɛ /bɛː/ "all" has a doubled vowel and is a different word from bɛ. - b'u /bu/: the apostrophe marks the lost vowel of bɛ. Check that no space is left on either side of it. - yan /jã/ and yen /jẽ/: a nasal vowel, with no separate final consonant. min /mĩ/, tun /tũ/, kan /kã/ and an /ã/ are the same. - nka /ŋka/: written with an ordinary n, said in the throat before the k. - ɛ and ɔ are separate letters from e and o, and the difference changes words. Check each: bɛ, tɛ, fɛ, cɛ, kɔnɔ, mɔgɔ, tɔɔrɔ, awɔ, Bamakɔ, jɔn, bolokɔnɔmɔgɔ. - ɲ is one letter and one sound, /ɲ/: danmakɛɲɛnen. - Doubled vowels are long, not two syllables: baara, taasi, tɔɔrɔ, bɛɛ. - N alone ("I") is a syllabic nasal /n̩/. It is capital at the start of a sentence (N bɛ yan) and lower case in the middle of one (Wari bɛ n fɛ). - La after an oral syllable, na after a nasal one: sugu la, sugu in na, Mali la. - Tone is not written in ordinary Bambara, and it is not marked in this lesson. - Punctuation is as in English: the comma, full stop, question mark, colon and quotation marks. - Capitals begin sentences and names. Bamakɔ and Mali are capital in the middle of a sentence, as names; sugu, so, cɛ are not. - Special letters used in this lesson: ɛ ɔ ɲ. The letter ŋ is also in the alphabet and appears in later lessons.
✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾
---
Course Index: [latinum.substack.com/p/index](https://latinum.substack.com/p/index)