← English for Jula (Dyula) Speakers
Introduction: In this first lesson we study "the", the most frequent word in English. "The" is the definite article. It stands in front of a noun and tells the listener: "you know which one I mean". English speakers use it all the time: "the house", "the market", "the water", "the school".
Jula has no article of this kind. The bare noun so can mean "a house", "the house", "houses" or "the houses", and the situation shows which is meant: Den bɛ so kɔnɔ is "The child is in the house" if the child has just been spoken of, and "A child is in the house" if not. When Jula wants to say "the one we both know", it puts the demonstrative in (the short form of nin, "this") after the noun: so in, cɛ in, muso in. When it introduces something new, it puts dɔ after the noun: cɛ dɔ, "a man". So Jula can do what English does with "a" and "the": the first time a thing is mentioned it is gafe dɔ ("a book"), and afterwards it is gafe in ("the book"). Notice that in stands after the noun, and after any adjective that belongs to it: so kura in is "the new house" (literally "house new the"). Spoken Jula has, besides, a tonal marker on the end of a noun that does something of the same work and that ordinary spelling does not write; this lesson teaches only what is written.
- gafe dɔ (a book), gafe in (the book), kalanden nunu (the pupils) - cɛ dɔ (a man), cɛ in (the man), cɛ kɔrɔ in (the old man) - so in (the house), muso in (the woman), ji in (the water)
English "the" differs from in in two ways. First, it never changes: the book, the books, the man, the men, the child, the children. Jula has the plural ending -w (den, denw) and the plural demonstrative nunu; English has one word for every noun, singular or plural. Second, it does not point: in can mean "this" (so in, "this house") as well as "the", but English "the house" is not "this house". It says only that the speaker and the listener both know which house. The nearest Jula word is in, but English uses "the" far more often than Jula uses in. In most places where English writes "the", Jula writes nothing at all: Cɛ in taara sugu la = "The man went to the market" (here in belongs to "the man", and "the market" is the bare sugu). For this reason Part A below shows "-" against "the" wherever nothing in the Jula sentence corresponds to it, and joins in or nunu to its noun (so-in) where it does.
English uses "the":
- when the thing has been mentioned before: "a book" the first time, "the book" after that - when there is only one of it: the sun, the moon, the world - when the situation shows which one: "Give me the water" (the water in front of us) - when the rest of the sentence shows which one: "the people of Burkina Faso", "the man who came yesterday" - before superlatives and ordinal numbers: the first lesson, the biggest market - before the names of rivers: the Niger, the Comoé
English does not use "the" before the names of people, before most names of countries, regions and towns (Burkina Faso, Bobo-Dioulasso, Abidjan), or before the names of languages (English, Jula, French). Notice the difference: "the Niger" is the river (Jula Joliba); "Bamako" is the city, and a name of this kind takes no "the".
Etymology: "the" comes from an Old English demonstrative (se, sēo, þæt, later þe) that meant something like "that one". Over the centuries the word grew weak and became an article. So English "the" began its life as a demonstrative, just like Jula in and nin, and the two still do some of the same work.
"The" has a partner: the indefinite article "a" or "an" ("a book", "an apple"), which introduces something new. Jula dɔ does the same work: gafe dɔ = "a book". "A" and "an" have their own lesson; in this lesson they appear only in the examples.
What does "the" mean in Jula? There is no single word. Most of the time "the" is not translated at all, because the bare Jula noun already carries its meaning: "the market" = sugu. When "the" points to something already mentioned or known, the nearest Jula word is in, placed after the noun: so in; for a plural, nunu: kalanden nunu.
Key Takeaways:
- "The" never changes: the book, the books, the man, the men. - Written Jula has no article; "the house" is usually just so, or so in when it points to a known house. - The first mention takes "a" (Jula dɔ), the second mention takes "the" (Jula in): "I bought a book. The book is new." - "The" comes before the noun and before its adjectives: the new house (Jula so kura in). - No "the" before names of people, towns, countries and languages (Burkina Faso, Abidjan, Jula); rivers take it: the Niger.
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Pronunciation Guide:
the — before a consonant sound /ðə/: the house /ðə ˈhaʊs/, the school /ðə ˈskuːl/; before a vowel sound /ði/: the old man /ði ˈəʊld ˈmæn/, the island /ði ˈaɪlənd/; with stress, meaning "the famous one, the real one", /ðiː/.
The first sound of "the", /ð/, does not exist in Jula. Put the tip of the tongue lightly between the teeth and let the air pass with voice, so that the throat buzzes. It is neither "d" nor "z". Learners often say "de house" or "ze house": you will be understood, but it is not the standard sound. The same tongue position, without voice, gives /θ/, the sound of "th" in "thank" and "north". Jula has neither sound, and its spelling never uses "th".
The vowel of "the" before a consonant, /ə/, is a short, weak sound with no stress, like the "a" at the end of "sofa". Jula has seven clear vowels (i, e, ɛ, a, ɔ, o, u) and no such weak vowel. Do not say "the" with a full Jula ɛ or e; let the vowel shrink and run into the next word: the_house, to_the_market /tə ðə ˈmɑːkɪt/.
Remember that the rule depends on the sound, not the letter: the hour /ði ˈaʊə/ (the h is silent, so the word begins with a vowel sound), but the university /ðə ˌjuːnɪˈvɜːsəti/ (the word begins with the sound /j/, like Jula y in ye).
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Part A (English and Jula text, word by word. A hyphen joins the Jula words that answer one English word or phrase; "-" means that nothing in the Jula corresponds. The pairs follow the English order: in a real Jula sentence in and nunu stand after the noun, a postposition such as kɔnɔ or la stands after its noun, and the verb comes last. See Part B for the true Jula order. The Jula of the examples is pedagogical: it is built from vocabulary and patterns found in the standard references and in the house Jula course, and it has not been read by a native speaker):
1.1 The - house so-in.
1.2 The - man cɛ-in.
1.3 The - woman muso-in came nana.
1.4 The - water ji-in is ka good ɲi.
1.5 The - child den-in is bɛ in the - house so-kɔnɔ.
1.6 The - man cɛ-in went taara to the - market sugu-la.
1.7 The - new house so-kura-in is bɛ in the - village dugu-kɔnɔ.
1.8 I n saw ye-ye the - house so-in.
1.9 The - man cɛ-in gave ye-di the - woman muso-in-ma money wari.
1.10 The - old man cɛ-kɔrɔ-in is bɛ going taa to the - market sugu-la.
1.11 I n bought ye-san a book gafe-dɔ. The - book gafe-in is ka new kura.
1.12 The - woman muso-in did not go ma-taa to the - market sugu-la.
1.13 The - pupils kalanden-nunu are bɛ studying kalan at the - school kalanso-la.
1.14 The - man cɛ-in is bɛ drinking min the - water ji-in.
1.15 When ni the - man cɛ-in comes nana we an go bɛ-taa to the - market sugu-la.
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Part B (Full English sentence followed by the Jula translation):
1.1 The house. So in.
1.2 The man. Cɛ in.
1.3 The woman came. Muso in nana.
1.4 The water is good. Ji in ka ɲi.
1.5 The child is in the house. Den in bɛ so kɔnɔ.
1.6 The man went to the market. Cɛ in taara sugu la.
1.7 The new house is in the village. So kura in bɛ dugu kɔnɔ.
1.8 I saw the house. N ye so in ye.
1.9 The man gave the woman money. Cɛ in ye wari di muso in ma.
1.10 The old man is going to the market. Cɛ kɔrɔ in bɛ taa sugu la.
1.11 I bought a book. The book is new. N ye gafe dɔ san. Gafe in ka kura.
1.12 The woman did not go to the market. Muso in ma taa sugu la.
1.13 The pupils are studying at the school. Kalanden nunu bɛ kalan kalanso la.
1.14 The man is drinking the water. Cɛ in bɛ ji in min.
1.15 When the man comes, we go to the market. Ni cɛ in nana, an bɛ taa sugu la.
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Part C (English text only):
1.1 The house.
1.2 The man.
1.3 The woman came.
1.4 The water is good.
1.5 The child is in the house.
1.6 The man went to the market.
1.7 The new house is in the village.
1.8 I saw the house.
1.9 The man gave the woman money.
1.10 The old man is going to the market.
1.11 I bought a book. The book is new.
1.12 The woman did not go to the market.
1.13 The pupils are studying at the school.
1.14 The man is drinking the water.
1.15 When the man comes, we go to the market.
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Part D (Grammar explanation):
These are the grammar rules for "the" in English:
1. "The" never changes. Jula marks the plural with -w (den, denw) or with nunu (kalanden nunu). English changes only the end of the noun, and "the" stays the same: the house, the houses; the child, the children; the pupils (1.13). There is no "the" for one thing and another "the" for many: one word does all the work.
2. "The" comes first. In Jula the adjective follows the noun, and in follows the adjective: so kura in (1.7), cɛ kɔrɔ in (1.10). In English "the" stands before the noun, and an adjective stands between "the" and the noun: the new house (1.7), the old man (1.10). Never "house new the" or "house the" for "the house".
3. A thing mentioned again takes "the". The first time, English says "a"; after that, "the": "I bought a book. The book is new" (1.11). Here Jula does almost the same thing: dɔ for the new thing, in or nunu for the known thing (gafe dɔ, then gafe in). This is the one place where Jula and English agree. The Genre Section shows the movement over a whole text.
4. "The" before what is clear from the situation. "The man went to the market" (1.6) means the market of this town; "The child is in the house" (1.5) means the house we are speaking of; "The new house is in the village" (1.7) means our village. Jula says sugu, so, dugu with no extra word; English must say "the".
5. "The" before what is unique. There is only one sun, one moon and one world: the sun, the moon, the world. English cannot say "Sun is hot" for the sun. Jula has no article to forget; English has one.
6. "The" before a noun made clear by the rest of the sentence: "the man who came yesterday", "the people of Burkina Faso". The words after the noun ("who came yesterday", "of Burkina Faso") show which one, so the noun takes "the".
7. "The" before ordinal numbers and superlatives: the first lesson, the second lesson, the biggest market. English cannot say "first lesson is good" of a particular lesson.
8. Names. Rivers take "the": the Niger, the Comoé. Countries, towns and languages do not: Burkina Faso, Abidjan, Jula, English, French. A few country names do take it, and you must learn them one by one: the Gambia, the Netherlands, the United States.
9. No "the" in some fixed phrases: "at school", "go to school", "at home", "go home", "go to bed". Jula kalanso la says both "at school" and "at the school"; English separates them. "The pupils are at school" means that they are there as pupils; "The pupils are studying at the school" (1.13) means only the place.
10. "The" hides inside a Jula postposition. Jula puts a small word after the noun: so kɔnɔ (1.5), sugu la (1.6, 1.12, 1.15), dugu kɔnɔ (1.7), kalanso la (1.13). English needs three words: "in the house", "to the market", "in the village", "at the school". Do not forget "the".
11. Do not confuse the two jobs of in. In so in and cɛ in (1.1, 1.2) the word in is the nearest to English "the"; but so in can also mean "this house". English uses two quite different words: "the house" and "this house". Say "this" only when you point.
12. Verb agreement. Jula bɛ does not change for number: Den in bɛ … (1.5) and Kalanden nunu bɛ … (1.13). English is and are do: "The child is" (1.5), "The pupils are" (1.13). "The" does not help you here, so look at the noun.
13. "The" before a vowel sound is said /ði/: "the old man" (1.10). Before a consonant sound it is /ðə/: "the house", "the market". The spelling does not change, only the sound.
Common mistakes:
- ✗ Child is in house. ✓ The child is in the house. (Jula has no article, so it is easy to leave "the" out.) - ✗ The water good. ✓ The water is good. (Jula says Ji in ka ɲi, with ka and no verb "to be"; English needs "is".) - ✗ I bought the book. A book is new. ✓ I bought a book. The book is new. (First mention "a", second mention "the", as Jula dɔ and in.) - ✗ House the is in village. ✓ The house is in the village. (Jula in stands after the noun; English "the" stands before.) - ✗ Man the old. ✓ The old man. (The adjective stands between "the" and the noun.) - ✗ The Burkina Faso is a country. / ✗ The Abidjan is a city. ✓ Burkina Faso is a country. Abidjan is a city. (No "the" before countries and towns.) - ✗ The pupils speak the Jula. ✓ The pupils speak Jula. (No "the" before languages.) - ✗ Niger is a long river. ✓ The Niger is a long river. (Rivers take "the".) - ✗ The child are in the house. / ✗ The pupils is at school. ✓ The child is in the house. ✓ The pupils are at school. ("The" does not change, but "is" and "are" do.) - ✗ de house, ze house ✓ the house /ðə/, the old man /ði/
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Part E (Cultural context):
English is a language of school and of work in West Africa, and many Jula speakers meet it after French, the official language of Burkina Faso and of Côte d'Ivoire. French has articles of its own: le, la, les for a known thing, un, une for a new one. English "the" is simpler than all of them, because it has no gender and no plural form. But it is used differently. French says "Les enfants aiment les livres" for children and books in general; English says "Children like books", with no "the". English leaves out "the" when it speaks of a kind of thing in general, and uses it for one particular thing.
Jula is a language of trade, and the word jula itself means "trader". The market is where many learners will first use English with a visitor, and "the market" is a good place to hear "the" at work: "I went to the market", "How much is the rice?", "Where is the bus?" Notice that in every one of these Jula would use the bare noun.
Joliba is the Manding name of the great river that English calls "the Niger". English says "Bamako is on the Niger", with "the" because it is a river, and without it for the town. In Burkina Faso the Mouhoun is called in English "the Black Volta", and in Côte d'Ivoire there is "the Comoé": rivers take "the" in English, whatever the language they come from.
Variety. The examples use the Jula of Burkina Faso, with bɛ for "is, are" in a place and for the ongoing action. In Côte d'Ivoire the same marker is commonly bi; the other words of the lesson are the same. Bambara is very close, and most of the sentences above would be understood in Mali as they stand.
When you speak to someone, there is no "the" before the word you call them by. "Good morning, Adama!" is the English greeting, never "Good morning, the Adama!"
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Part F (Literary citation):
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations General Assembly, Paris, 10 December 1948), Article 26, paragraph 1, first sentence, in the official English text. The English sentence is chosen because it is authentic, famous, and contains "the right to", a phrase in which "the" is easy to forget. The Declaration has an official translation into Dyula (Dioula), published by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR); this lesson does not reproduce it, and in F-A it glosses only the words whose Jula is certain, leaving a "-" where it is not.
F-A (English and Jula text, word by word; "-" means that no Jula word is given):
F.1 Everyone mɔgɔ-bɛɛ has the right to - education kalan.
F-B (Original text):
"Everyone has the right to education."
F-C (English text only):
"Everyone has the right to education."
F-D (Grammar and literary commentary):
English says "has the right to": the verb "has", the noun "right", and "the" before it. Here "the right" is a particular right, made clear by the words that follow, "to education" (Part D, rule 6). That is why English says "the right" and not "a right". Notice that there is no "the" before "education": it is a general idea, and English leaves out "the" before a general idea. Compare "the school", a particular building.
- Everyone: one word, singular, so the verb is "has", not "have". Jula mɔgɔ bɛɛ is "every person", with bɛɛ ("all") after the noun. - has the right to: English needs the verb "has", the article "the", the noun "right" and the word "to", four words for one idea. This lesson gives no Jula for the phrase, because it has not been confirmed; do not translate it word by word. - education: kalan is both "to study" and "learning, study"; English uses a different noun, "education", and says it with no "the".
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A short narrative written for this lesson. Each new person or thing enters with "a" (Jula dɔ), and from then on is picked up with "the" (Jula in or nunu). Notice also the places where English says "the" and Jula says nothing. The Jula is pedagogical, built from attested patterns, and has not been read by a native speaker.
Part A (English and Jula text, word by word, with the same conventions as in the first fifteen examples):
1.16 A man cɛ-dɔ is bɛ in the - village dugu-kɔnɔ.
1.17 The - man cɛ-in bought ye-san a new book gafe-kura-dɔ at the - market sugu-la.
1.18 The - new book gafe-kura-in is ka good ɲi.
1.19 The - man cɛ-in went taara into the - house so-kɔnɔ.
1.20 A child den-dɔ is bɛ in the - house so-kɔnɔ.
1.21 The - man cɛ-in gave ye-di the - book gafe-in to the - child den-in-ma.
1.22 The - child den-in said ko I n am bɛ reading kalan the - book gafe-in.
1.23 A pupil kalanden-dɔ came nana.
1.24 The - pupil kalanden-in saw ye-ye the - book gafe-in.
1.25 The - pupil kalanden-in said ko the - book gafe-in is ka good ɲi.
1.26 The - pupils kalanden-nunu are bɛ reading kalan the - book gafe-in.
1.27 His mother a-ba is bɛ drinking min the - water ji-in.
1.28 Tomorrow sini we an will go bɛ-taa to the - school kalanso-la.
1.29 Yesterday kunu the - man cɛ-in bought ye-san the - book gafe-in.
1.30 The - school kalanso-in is ka good ɲi.
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Part B (Full English sentence followed by the Jula translation):
1.16 A man is in the village. Cɛ dɔ bɛ dugu kɔnɔ.
1.17 The man bought a new book at the market. Cɛ in ye gafe kura dɔ san sugu la.
1.18 The new book is good. Gafe kura in ka ɲi.
1.19 The man went into the house. Cɛ in taara so kɔnɔ.
1.20 A child is in the house. Den dɔ bɛ so kɔnɔ.
1.21 The man gave the book to the child. Cɛ in ye gafe in di den in ma.
1.22 The child said, "I am reading the book." Den in ko: "N bɛ gafe in kalan."
1.23 A pupil came. Kalanden dɔ nana.
1.24 The pupil saw the book. Kalanden in ye gafe in ye.
1.25 The pupil said, "The book is good." Kalanden in ko: "Gafe in ka ɲi."
1.26 The pupils are reading the book. Kalanden nunu bɛ gafe in kalan.
1.27 His mother is drinking the water. A ba bɛ ji in min.
1.28 Tomorrow we will go to the school. Sini, an bɛ taa kalanso la.
1.29 Yesterday the man bought the book. Kunu, cɛ in ye gafe in san.
1.30 The school is good. Kalanso in ka ɲi.
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Part C (English text only):
1.16 A man is in the village.
1.17 The man bought a new book at the market.
1.18 The new book is good.
1.19 The man went into the house.
1.20 A child is in the house.
1.21 The man gave the book to the child.
1.22 The child said, "I am reading the book."
1.23 A pupil came.
1.24 The pupil saw the book.
1.25 The pupil said, "The book is good."
1.26 The pupils are reading the book.
1.27 His mother is drinking the water.
1.28 Tomorrow we will go to the school.
1.29 Yesterday the man bought the book.
1.30 The school is good.
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Part D (Grammar explanation):
The narrative is in the simple past (bought, went, gave, said, came, saw) and the present for states and actions in progress (is, are, am, drinking, reading). Its grammatical thread is the movement from "a" to "the" (Part D, rule 3). The man enters as "a man" (1.16) and is "the man" from 1.17 on; the book enters as "a new book" (1.17) and is "the new book" in 1.18 and "the book" from 1.21 on; the child enters as "a child" (1.20) and is "the child" in 1.21 and 1.22; the pupil enters as "a pupil" (1.23) and is "the pupil" in 1.24 and 1.25. Jula does the same with dɔ and in: cɛ dɔ (1.16), cɛ in (1.17); gafe kura dɔ (1.17), gafe kura in (1.18); den dɔ (1.20), den in (1.21); kalanden dɔ (1.23), kalanden in (1.24).
- "The village" (1.16) and "the market" (1.17) have "the" although they are mentioned for the first time: both speaker and listener know which village and which market. Jula says dugu and sugu with no extra word (rule 4). - The adjective stays between "the" and the noun: "the new book" (1.18). Once the book is known, English drops the adjective: "the book" (1.21, 1.22, 1.24). Jula does the same: gafe kura in, then gafe in. - "The pupils" (1.26) is plural, but "the" is the same word. Jula marks the plural with nunu: kalanden nunu. - "Into the house" (1.19) and "in the house" (1.20): Jula says so kɔnɔ for both. English separates movement ("into") from place ("in"); and "the" comes in both. - "To the child" (1.21) is Jula den in ma, with the small word ma after the noun. Do not forget "the" (rule 10). - "His mother" (1.27) has no "the": a possessive word ("his", "my", "your") does the work of "the". Jula a ba puts the possessor first. English never says "the his mother". - "Tomorrow" (1.28) and "yesterday" (1.29) have no "the". The verb does not change in Jula for tense; English changes it: "will go", "bought". - "Go to the school" (1.28) means the building. "Go to school" with no "the" means to attend lessons as a pupil (rule 9). - Quoted speech (1.22, 1.25): English puts a comma before the quotation marks, and the sentence inside begins with a capital letter: The child said, "I am reading the book."
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Pronunciation and Orthography Notes:
- the — /ðə/ before a consonant sound, /ði/ before a vowel sound, /ðiː/ when stressed. Unstressed, short, and joined to the next word. - /ð/ is made with the tongue between the teeth and voice in the throat. It is not Jula d, and it is not z. - Spelling: t-h-e, always the same, for singular and plural and for every kind of noun. - Jula spelling to watch when comparing: Jula writes ɛ and ɔ for open vowels, ɲ for the sound in "onion", and a doubled vowel for a long vowel (taa, baara). English has none of these letters: it writes long sounds with other letters (see, bee), and /ɲ/ with ny or ni (canyon, onion). English never writes ɛ, ɔ or ɲ. - Jula does not write tone; English marks stress, and the stress of "the" is weak. - Capital letters: English writes the names of languages and peoples with capitals: English, Jula, French. It does not write "the" with a capital except at the start of a sentence or as the first word of a title (The Lion King).
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