Introduction: In this second lesson we study "be", the second most frequent word in English and its most important verb. "Be" says who or what someone or something is, what it is like, and where it is: "I am a teacher", "He is tall", "Awa is in the house", "My name is Musa". It is also the helper in "Musa is reading" and in "Musa was a student".
Bambara has no single verb "to be". It has a small word that stands between the subject and what is said about it, and the word you choose depends on what you are saying. Three of them do the work of English "be":
- ye says who or what something is (identity), and a second ye closes the sentence: N ye karamɔgɔ ye, "I am a teacher". - bɛ says where something is, and that it exists: Awa bɛ so kɔnɔ, "Awa is in the house". - ka says what something is like (quality): A ka jan, "He is tall".
An English learner from Mali has to make one choice where a Bambara speaker makes three. English uses the same verb for all of them: "I am a teacher", "She is in the house", "He is tall". That is the first thing to learn. The second is that English changes this verb for the subject.
English "be" has eight forms: be, am, is, are, was, were, been and being.
The present tense:
- I am (Bambara: N ye … ye) - you are (I ye … ye) - he is, she is, it is (A ye … ye) - we are (An ye … ye) - they are (U ye … ye)
The past tense:
- I was, he was, she was, it was - you were, we were, they were
The other forms: be (Musa will be a teacher), been (He has been here) and being (Musa is being kind).
The lesson is mostly about the places where the two languages part:
- English must say the subject before "be": "He is tall", never "Is tall". In Bambara the pronoun is a short word too (A ka jan), so this is easy to keep. - English changes "be" for the subject (am, is, are, was, were). Bambara never does: ye, bɛ and ka are the same for every person, and the pronoun alone changes: N ye, I ye, A ye, An ye, U ye. - English says "a" or "an" before the name of a job: "I am a teacher". Bambara says N ye karamɔgɔ ye, with no word before karamɔgɔ (compare Lesson 1). - Bambara closes an identity sentence with a second ye: N ye karamɔgɔ ye. English has no second word at the end. - English has one word for identity, place and quality. Bambara chooses between ye, bɛ and ka. Do not carry the choice into English: use "is" in all three. - A name is also "be" in English: "My name is Musa" (Bambara N tɔgɔ ye Musa ye; the verb is often left out, N tɔgɔ Musa). - The negative in Bambara changes the little word: tɛ for ye and bɛ (N tɛ karamɔgɔ ye, Awa tɛ so kɔnɔ), man for ka (A man jan). English adds "not" after "be": "I am not a teacher", "He is not tall". Never use "do" with "be" (not "I do not be"). - The past in Bambara has tun: Awa tun ye kalanden ye. English changes the verb itself: am and is become was, are becomes were. - The future in Bambara has bɛna and kɛ: Awa bɛna kɛ karamɔgɔ ye. English puts "will" in front and uses the plain form "be", for every subject. - A question in Bambara adds wa at the end: Awa bɛ so kɔnɔ wa? English turns "be" to the front: "Is Awa in the house?"
When English uses "be":
- to say who someone is, or what job they have: "I am a teacher", "My name is Musa" - to say what someone or something is like: "He is tall", "The book is new" - to say where someone or something is: "Awa is in the house", "The book is at school" - with a verb ending in -ing: "Musa is reading the book" - to speak of the past and the future: "Awa was a student", "Musa will be a teacher"
Etymology: "be" is not one word but several old verbs joined together. In Old English, am and is came from one verb (eom, is), was and were from another (wesan, "to stay"), and be, been and being from a third (bēon); are has a history of its own. Over the centuries they were joined into one verb, which is why "be" is the most irregular verb in English and why am, is, are, was and were look so unlike each other. Bambara ye, bɛ and ka are short words that do not change.
"Be" has a partner in "have" ("I have a book", Lesson 1), and it helps to keep the two apart. Bambara says where a thing is with bɛ (Gafe bɛ tabali kan, "The book is on the table"), and English uses "be" for the place and "have" only for owning.
What does "be" mean in Bambara? There is no single word. The nearest are ye (identity), bɛ (place) and ka (quality), and the negatives tɛ and man.
Key Takeaways:
- "Be" has eight forms. Learn the present first: I am, you are, he/she/it is, we are, they are. - Bambara ye, bɛ and ka all become "is", "am" or "are" in English. Choose the form by the subject, not by the meaning. - Use "a" or "an" before a job: "I am a teacher", not "I am teacher". - Make the negative with "not" after "be": "I am not a teacher". Bambara tɛ is one word; English is two. - Use "was" or "were" for the past (Bambara tun), and "will be" for the future (Bambara bɛna kɛ).
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Pronunciation Guide:
be /biː/; am /æm/ (weak: /əm/, joined: 'm /m/); is /ɪz/ (joined: 's /z/ or /s/); are /ɑː/ (weak: /ə/, joined: 're); was /wɒz/ (weak: /wəz/); were /wɜː/ (weak: /wə/); been /biːn/ in British English and /bɪn/ in American English; being /ˈbiːɪŋ/.
The common short forms, which are used all the time in speech: I'm /aɪm/, you're /jɔː/, he's /hiːz/, she's /ʃiːz/, it's /ɪts/, we're /wɪə/, they're /ðeə/, isn't /ˈɪznt/, aren't /ɑːnt/, wasn't /ˈwɒznt/, weren't /wɜːnt/. In spoken English you will hear "I'm a teacher" far more often than "I am a teacher".
The words "is" and "was" end in the voiced sound /z/, a buzz in the throat. Bambara words normally end in a vowel, so a learner may add one and say "iza", or may end with an unvoiced s and say "iss". Stop the word at the buzz: put your fingers on your throat and say "is" and "his", and the throat buzzes to the end. Compare "this" /ðɪs/, which ends with air only.
The vowel of "is" is the short sound /ɪ/. Bambara has the clear vowel i, and a learner may make it long and say "ees". Keep it short. The vowel of "be" is long, /biː/, so "bit" and "beat" are two words in English, and so are "is" and "ease".
"Am" has a vowel /æ/ that lies between Bambara ɛ and a. Open the mouth wider than for ɛ. In "I'm" it shrinks away into a single sound, /m/.
"Are" and "were" end in an r that is not pronounced in British English, and the vowels are long: /ɑː/, /wɜː/. Do not add a Bambara vowel after them.
In ordinary speech the forms are weak and short: "She was /wəz/ in the house". Only when "be" is stressed, or at the end of a sentence, are the full vowels heard: "Yes, she was /wɒz/."
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Part A (English and Bambara text, word by word. The English word is in bold and the Bambara word that answers it follows it; "-" against an English word means that nothing in the Bambara sentence corresponds, and "-" before a Bambara word means that nothing in English corresponds. A hyphen joins the words of one unit: tun-ye, bɛna-kɛ. The pairs follow the English order: in a real Bambara sentence a postposition such as kɔnɔ or la stands after its noun, in stands after its noun, and the verb comes last. See Part B for the true Bambara order):
2.1 I N am ye a - teacher karamɔgɔ - ye.
2.2 He A is ka tall jan.
2.3 It A is ka good ɲi.
2.4 Awa Awa is bɛ in kɔnɔ the - house so.
2.5 My N name tɔgɔ is ye Musa Musa - ye.
2.6 You I are ye a - student kalanden - ye.
2.7 We An are ye students kalandenw - ye.
2.8 They U are ye teachers karamɔgɔw - ye.
2.9 The in book gafe is ka new kura.
2.10 I N am-not tɛ a - teacher karamɔgɔ - ye.
2.11 She A is-not tɛ a - student kalanden - ye.
2.12 Awa Awa was tun-ye a - student kalanden - ye.
2.13 Awa Awa was tun-bɛ in kɔnɔ the - house so.
2.14 Awa Awa will-be bɛna-kɛ a - teacher karamɔgɔ - ye.
2.15 Is bɛ Awa Awa in kɔnɔ the - house so - wa?
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Part B (Full English sentence followed by the Bambara translation):
2.1 I am a teacher. N ye karamɔgɔ ye.
2.2 He is tall. A ka jan.
2.3 It is good. A ka ɲi.
2.4 Awa is in the house. Awa bɛ so kɔnɔ.
2.5 My name is Musa. N tɔgɔ ye Musa ye.
2.6 You are a student. I ye kalanden ye.
2.7 We are students. An ye kalandenw ye.
2.8 They are teachers. U ye karamɔgɔw ye.
2.9 The book is new. Gafe in ka kura.
2.10 I am not a teacher. N tɛ karamɔgɔ ye.
2.11 She is not a student. A tɛ kalanden ye.
2.12 Awa was a student. Awa tun ye kalanden ye.
2.13 Awa was in the house. Awa tun bɛ so kɔnɔ.
2.14 Awa will be a teacher. Awa bɛna kɛ karamɔgɔ ye.
2.15 Is Awa in the house? Awa bɛ so kɔnɔ wa?
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Part C (English text only):
2.1 I am a teacher.
2.2 He is tall.
2.3 It is good.
2.4 Awa is in the house.
2.5 My name is Musa.
2.6 You are a student.
2.7 We are students.
2.8 They are teachers.
2.9 The book is new.
2.10 I am not a teacher.
2.11 She is not a student.
2.12 Awa was a student.
2.13 Awa was in the house.
2.14 Awa will be a teacher.
2.15 Is Awa in the house?
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Part D (Grammar explanation):
These are the grammar rules for "be" in English:
1. English "be" changes with the subject; Bambara ye, bɛ and ka do not. Learn the present tense as a set: I am (2.1), you are (2.6), he is (2.2), she is (2.11), it is (2.3), we are (2.7), they are (2.8). Bambara has N ye, I ye, A ye, An ye, U ye, and the little word itself never changes. English has three present forms, am, is and are, and each one belongs to certain subjects. "I" takes "am", never "is" or "are". "He", "she", "it" and a single noun (Awa, my name, the book) take "is". "You", "we", "they" and plural nouns (students, teachers) take "are". Never say "I is", "he are" or "they is".
2. One English verb, three Bambara words. Bambara chooses ye for identity (N ye karamɔgɔ ye, 2.1), bɛ for place (Awa bɛ so kɔnɔ, 2.4) and ka for quality (A ka jan, 2.2; Gafe in ka kura, 2.9). English uses "be" in all three: "I am a teacher", "Awa is in the house", "He is tall". The choice that Bambara makes in the verb, English makes in what follows: a noun after "be" says who someone is, a word of place says where, and an adjective says what someone is like.
3. English needs the subject word. In 2.2 Bambara says A ka jan with a short pronoun, and English must say "He is tall". Never say "Is tall" or "Is good". When there is no person to name, English still needs "it": "It is good" (2.3). This is the most frequent error of a speaker of a language where the verb is a small marker: leaving "be" out ("He tall", "Awa in the house").
4. "A" or "an" stands before a job or a kind of person. Bambara N ye karamɔgɔ ye (2.1), I ye kalanden ye (2.6) and A tɛ kalanden ye (2.11) have no word in front of the noun. English must say "a teacher" and "a student". Plural nouns take no "a": "We are students" (2.7), "They are teachers" (2.8). Use "an" before a vowel sound: "an engineer". This is the same point as Lesson 1: the singular noun needs a small word in front. Notice also that Bambara has the second ye at the end (karamɔgɔ ye); English has nothing there. Do not add a word after the noun: "I am a teacher", not "I am a teacher is".
5. Place is "be" in English; in Bambara it is bɛ. Awa bɛ so kɔnɔ (2.4). The English "is" and "in" together do the work of Bambara bɛ and kɔnɔ. English still needs "in", "at" or "on" in front of the place: "in the house", "at school", "on the table". Do not say "Awa in the house" (no verb) or "Awa is the house". Bambara kɔnɔ and la come after the noun; English puts the word of place before it (Lesson 1, rule 10).
6. A name is "be" in English. N tɔgɔ ye Musa ye (2.5) means "my name is Musa". English can also say "I am Musa" or "I'm Musa", but a learner should keep to the form with "name": "My name is Musa." Do not say "I am called Musa" unless you mean that people call you by that name. Bambara also says N tɔgɔ Musa with no verb; English always needs "is".
7. Descriptions with "be", for English "tall", "good" and "new". Bambara puts ka between the thing and the adjective: A ka jan (2.2), Gafe in ka kura (2.9). English puts "is" there and the adjective after it: "The book is new". Do not add a second verb: "The book is very new", not "The book is being new" (the "-ing" form is wrong here).
8. The negative: "not" follows "be". Bambara changes the little word: N tɛ karamɔgɔ ye (2.10), A tɛ kalanden ye (2.11), and with ka, man (Gafe in man kura, 2.23). English keeps the verb and adds "not": "I am not a teacher" (2.10), "She is not a student" (2.11), "The book is not new" (2.23). Spoken English says "I'm not", "she isn't", "it isn't", "you aren't", "they aren't". Never make the negative of "be" with "do": not "I do not be a teacher", not "She does not is a student". There is no "am not" short form like "amn't" in standard English: say "I'm not".
9. The past: was and were. Bambara puts tun in front of the little word and does not change the rest: Awa tun ye kalanden ye (2.12), Awa tun bɛ so kɔnɔ (2.13), and the negatives A tun tɛ karamɔgɔ ye (2.25). English changes the verb: "Awa was". Use "was" for I, he, she, it, and for a single noun. Use "were" for you, we, they, and for plural nouns: "You were at home", "We were students", "They were teachers". Never say "I were" or "they was". In Part A, tun and ye (or bɛ) are written together as tun-ye and tun-bɛ, because tun stands in front of the verb marker as one unit with it.
10. The future: will be. Bambara says bɛna kɛ … ye: Awa bɛna kɛ karamɔgɔ ye (2.14, 2.27). The verb kɛ is here "become, be", and the sentence means "Awa will be a teacher". English uses "will" and the plain form "be": "Awa will be a teacher". Never say "Awa will is" or "Awa will to be". After "will" and other helping words (can, may, must) English always uses "be", never "am", "is" or "are": "You must be at school."
11. "Be" with "-ing": the helper. English needs "be" and an -ing verb together: "Musa is reading the book". The form of "be" follows the subject: "I am reading", "he is reading", "we are reading", "the children are reading". Never say "Musa reading" or "Musa is read". Compare Lesson 1: "The children are at school".
12. Questions: the verb moves first. English turns "be" in front of the subject: "Is Awa in the house?" (2.15), "Are you a student?", "Was he a teacher?". Bambara keeps the order of the statement and adds wa at the end: Awa bɛ so kɔnɔ wa? The question word comes first in English: "How are you?" (2.29). Bambara asks I ka kɛnɛ wa?, which means "Are you well?". The short answer to a yes/no question repeats "be": "Is Awa a teacher? Yes, she is." English can say "Yes, she is a teacher", but the short answer is the usual one, and it must end with "is", not with "Yes, she".
13. How Part A reads. The same rules as Lesson 1 hold. A hyphen in the Bambara joins words that translate one English unit: tun-ye, tun-bɛ, bɛna-kɛ. A hyphen in the English joins English words that translate one Bambara word or phrase: am-not, is-not, will-be. A dash (-) marks a word with no counterpart in the other language: a - teacher means that English has "a" and Bambara has nothing; - ye means that Bambara has the closing ye and English has nothing.
Common mistakes:
- ✗ I teacher. ✓ I am a teacher. - ✗ He tall. / Is tall. ✓ He is tall. - ✗ I am teacher. ✓ I am a teacher. - ✗ I is a student. / He are tall. ✓ I am a student. / He is tall. - ✗ They is teachers. ✓ They are teachers. - ✗ I do not be a teacher. ✓ I am not a teacher. - ✗ She not is a student. ✓ She is not a student. - ✗ Awa were a student. / We was students. ✓ Awa was a student. / We were students. - ✗ Awa will is a teacher. ✓ Awa will be a teacher. - ✗ Musa reading the book. ✓ Musa is reading the book. - ✗ You are a student? (as a question) ✓ Are you a student? - ✗ Yes, she. ✓ Yes, she is. - ✗ Awa in the house. ✓ Awa is in the house. - ✗ iss /ɪs/, iza ✓ is /ɪz/
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Part E (Cultural context):
"How are you?" is one of the first things an English speaker says, and in Mali the greeting is much longer: a Bambara greeting asks about the person, the family and the work, and the answer to every question is a short good word. I ka kɛnɛ wa? means "Are you well?", and the usual answer is that nothing is wrong: Tɔɔrɔ si tɛ, "There is no trouble at all". English answers in the same way: "I am fine, thank you. And you?" In both languages the question is a greeting more than a request for news, and the polite answer is short and good. English "be" asks about you: "How are you?". Bambara asks I ka kɛnɛ wa?, with ka, the word of quality, and kɛnɛ, "health, wellness". So the two greetings are close even though the words are not alike.
When people meet, they give their name. In Bambara one says N tɔgɔ ye Musa ye, "My name is Musa", or simply N tɔgɔ Musa, and in English "My name is Musa" or the short "I'm Musa". A name takes no "the" and no "a" (Lesson 1), and the verb "be" joins it to the speaker: "My name is Awa".
"I am a teacher" (N ye karamɔgɔ ye) is a natural first sentence for a learner to use about themselves. In English the job always has "a" or "an" before it, and a learner who leaves it out ("I am teacher") will be understood but will sound like a beginner. Say "I am a teacher", "She is a nurse", "He is an engineer".
Most Malian learners meet French before English, and French has a verb "être" of its own, which changes for the subject: je suis, tu es, il est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils sont. French is therefore a help here, because it is also a language with one verb for identity, place and quality and a different form for each subject: "Je suis professeur" is English "I am a teacher" in the same pattern. Notice the difference: French drops "a" before a job (Il est professeur), and English does not. Where Bambara and French both help you, remember that English needs the small word.
Because the Bambara little word does not change for the subject, a learner may drop "be" in English and say "He tall" or "Awa in the house". This is not a sign of weak English. It is the habit of a language where ye, bɛ and ka stand quietly between the subject and what is said about it. The remedy is to listen for the small words, and to say them quickly: he's, she's, it's, they're.
As in Lesson 1, this course explains English in the standard Bambara of Mali. The little words used in this lesson (ye, bɛ, ka, tɛ, man, tun, bɛna) are those given in the published Bambara course materials and grammars consulted for it; Jula and Maninka speakers will find them close to their own.
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Part F (Literary citation):
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations General Assembly, Paris, 10 December 1948), Article 1, first sentence, in the official English text; Bambara translation Hadamaden josiraw dantigɛkan, as published by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and reproduced in the Unicode UDHR collection. The Bambara is a translation of the English, not an original work in Bambara. It is chosen because it is published written Bambara, can be checked against the English original, and has "are" in it, together with the Bambara bɛ.
F-A (English and Bambara text, word by word):
"All bɛɛ human-beings hadamaden are bɛ born bange free - and - equal danmakɛɲɛnen in la dignity danbe and ni rights josira."
F-B (Original text followed by the Bambara translation):
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights."
"Hadamaden bɛɛ danmakɛɲɛnen bɛ bange, danbe ni josira la."
F-C (English text only):
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights."
F-D (Grammar and literary commentary):
This is the first sentence of the Declaration of 1948. English says "are born": the verb "are" and the participle "born" together. This is a passive, and "be" is the helper. English cannot say "All human beings born" or "All human beings are birth".
Now look at the Bambara.
- are ↔ bɛ: the same little word as in Awa bɛ so kɔnɔ (2.4). Here it is the helper before bange, "to be born", so that bɛ bange is "are born". The word bɛ does not change for number or person. - All human beings ↔ hadamaden bɛɛ: English puts "all" first; Bambara puts bɛɛ ("all") after the noun, as it did in Lesson 1 (mɔgɔ bɛɛ). F-A follows the English order for each word. Notice that English "human beings" has the plural -s on "beings"; Bambara hadamaden has no plural ending here. - free and equal ↔ danmakɛɲɛnen: the Bambara has one word where English has two. The dictionary gives danmakɛɲɛ as "be equal" and the published text has no separate word for "free", so F-A pairs "free" and "and" with a dash and "equal" with danmakɛɲɛnen. English needs both adjectives after "born", with "and" between them. - in dignity and rights ↔ danbe ni josira la: English puts "in" first and then the two nouns, "dignity and rights". Bambara puts the two nouns together with ni ("and") and the postposition la after them. The same small word la stands after sugu in Lesson 1 (sugu la, "to the market"). Notice that English "dignity" and "rights" have no "the": they are general ideas (Lesson 1, Part F).
The sentence shows the pattern "be" + adjective, as in 2.2 and 2.9, and "be" + participle, as in "Musa is reading" (Part D, rule 11). In both, English needs "be" in front: "are born free and equal".
The Bambara text is quoted as it is printed in the Unicode UDHR collection, and in the Bambara sample given on the R12a Bamanan orthography notes; the two texts agree.
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Musa and Awa are at school. This short account tells what they are, what they were and what they will be, with "be" in every sentence. At the end Awa speaks to Musa (2.29) and Musa answers (2.30).
Part A (English and Bambara text, word by word, with the same conventions as in the first fifteen examples):
2.16 Musa Musa is ye a - student kalanden - ye.
2.17 He A is ka tall jan.
2.18 Awa Awa is ye a - teacher karamɔgɔ - ye.
2.19 Musa Musa is-not tɛ a - teacher karamɔgɔ - ye.
2.20 Musa Musa and ni Awa Awa are bɛ at la school kalanso.
2.21 The in school kalanso is ka new kura.
2.22 The in book gafe is bɛ at la school kalanso.
2.23 The in book gafe is-not man new kura.
2.24 Awa Awa was tun-ye a - student kalanden - ye.
2.25 She A was-not tun-tɛ a - teacher karamɔgɔ - ye.
2.26 Musa Musa was-not tun-tɛ at la school kalanso.
2.27 Musa Musa will-be bɛna-kɛ a - teacher karamɔgɔ - ye.
2.28 Is bɛ Musa Musa at la school kalanso - wa?
2.29 Awa: "How-are-you I-ka-kɛnɛ-wa, Musa Musa?"
2.30 Musa: "I-am-well N-ka-kɛnɛ, thank-you i-ni-ce."
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Part B (Full English sentence followed by the Bambara translation):
2.16 Musa is a student. Musa ye kalanden ye.
2.17 He is tall. A ka jan.
2.18 Awa is a teacher. Awa ye karamɔgɔ ye.
2.19 Musa is not a teacher. Musa tɛ karamɔgɔ ye.
2.20 Musa and Awa are at school. Musa ni Awa bɛ kalanso la.
2.21 The school is new. Kalanso in ka kura.
2.22 The book is at school. Gafe in bɛ kalanso la.
2.23 The book is not new. Gafe in man kura.
2.24 Awa was a student. Awa tun ye kalanden ye.
2.25 She was not a teacher. A tun tɛ karamɔgɔ ye.
2.26 Musa was not at school. Musa tun tɛ kalanso la.
2.27 Musa will be a teacher. Musa bɛna kɛ karamɔgɔ ye.
2.28 Is Musa at school? Musa bɛ kalanso la wa?
2.29 Awa: "How are you, Musa?" Awa: "I ka kɛnɛ wa, Musa?"
2.30 Musa: "I am well, thank you." Musa: "N ka kɛnɛ, i ni ce."
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Part C (English text only):
2.16 Musa is a student.
2.17 He is tall.
2.18 Awa is a teacher.
2.19 Musa is not a teacher.
2.20 Musa and Awa are at school.
2.21 The school is new.
2.22 The book is at school.
2.23 The book is not new.
2.24 Awa was a student.
2.25 She was not a teacher.
2.26 Musa was not at school.
2.27 Musa will be a teacher.
2.28 Is Musa at school?
2.29 Awa: "How are you, Musa?"
2.30 Musa: "I am well, thank you."
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Part D (Grammar explanation):
The narrative moves through the present (2.16 to 2.23), the past (2.24 to 2.26) and the future (2.27), and then asks a question (2.28) and gives a greeting (2.29 and 2.30). Its grammatical thread is the choice of the right form of "be" for the subject, which Bambara ye, bɛ and ka never ask you to make.
- "Musa is a student." (2.16), "Awa is a teacher." (2.18): the single names take "is", and "a" stands before "student" and "teacher". Bambara ye … ye has no word before the noun. - "He is tall." (2.17): "He" is Musa. Bambara A ka jan has the same short pronoun A for "he", "she" and "it". - "Musa is not a teacher." (2.19): "not" follows "is", and the noun keeps its "a". Bambara changes ye to tɛ. - "Musa and Awa are at school." (2.20): two names joined by "and" take "are". The word for "and" is ni in Bambara, and the verb is bɛ. "At school" has no "the" and no "a", because the place is used for what is done there (to study); compare Lesson 1, rule 9. - "The school is new." (2.21), "The book is at school." (2.22): "the" because both the speaker and the listener know which school and which book; Bambara in. "Is" is the same for a quality (2.21) and a place (2.22), though Bambara uses ka for the first and bɛ for the second. - "The book is not new." (2.23): "not" follows "is". Bambara changes ka to man. - "Awa was a student." (2.24), "She was not a teacher." (2.25), "Musa was not at school." (2.26): "was" is the past of "is", for a single subject. Bambara tun is the same for every subject. In the negative English keeps "was" and adds "not"; Bambara uses tun tɛ. - "Musa will be a teacher." (2.27): after "will" the plain form "be" is used. Bambara bɛna kɛ … ye says "will become". - "Is Musa at school?" (2.28): "is" moves in front of "Musa". Bambara keeps the order and adds wa. - "How are you, Musa?" (2.29): "are" because the subject is "you". The question word "How" stands first. Bambara asks I ka kɛnɛ wa?, "Are you well?", and has no word for "how" here, so Part A writes How-are-you against I-ka-kɛnɛ-wa. The name stands after the question in English, with a comma. - "I am well, thank you." (2.30): "am" because the subject is "I". "Well" is an adjective after "am", and there is no "a". Bambara N ka kɛnɛ is the same pattern as A ka jan. Thank you: i ni ce, as in Lesson 1.
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Pronunciation and Orthography Notes:
- be — /biː/. The other forms: am /æm/, is /ɪz/, are /ɑː/, was /wɒz/, were /wɜː/, been /biːn/ (British) or /bɪn/ (American), being /ˈbiːɪŋ/. In speech the forms are usually weak and short, or joined to the subject: I'm, you're, he's, she's, it's, we're, they're. - Spelling: the eight forms are written b-e, a-m, i-s, a-r-e, w-a-s, w-e-r-e, b-e-e-n and b-e-i-n-g. They do not follow one pattern, so learn them as a set. - The short forms are written with an apostrophe in place of the missing letters: I'm (I am), you're (you are), he's (he is), isn't (is not), aren't (are not). The apostrophe is part of the spelling and cannot be left out. Do not confuse it's (it is) with its (belonging to it). - Capital letters: "I" is always a capital, even in the middle of a sentence: "Musa and I are students". - Bambara letters to watch when you compare: Bambara ɛ, ɔ and ɲ appear in bɛ, tɛ, kɔnɔ, kɛ, ɲi and kɛnɛ, and English writes the sounds with e and o. English never writes ɛ, ɔ or ɲ. English has no tone mark: the Bambara tones are not written, and neither is English stress. - Do not write the Bambara words ye, bɛ or ka in English sentences. English writes "is", "are" and "am" for them.
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Course Index: [latinum.substack.com/p/index](https://latinum.substack.com/p/index)