Adjectives

Earlier we covered so-called qualitative verbs which allow us to describe things in sentences equivalent to "The house is tall" or "The town is big." But what happens if we want to say "the big town" or "a tall house"? In that case, we need to use adjectives!

In this chapter, I'll cover the following:

• pure adjectives
• adjectives derived from qualitative verbs
• adjective-like compounding
• irregular forms
• the augmentative and diminutive suffixes -ba and -nin

And finally, I'll briefly discuss when to use which one of these forms. An ka taa!

Pure adjectives

In Bambara, and Manding in general, there are words that are primarily adjectives. Such words can simply be placed right after the noun that they modify. Take, for instance, the adjective kura ('new'); we could put it to use like this:

fɛn kura
thing new

'new thing'

A "noun phrase" like this one can be inserted into any kind of sentence. For instance, let's take another example like jakuma fitinin ('little cat'):

Jakuma fitinin don
Cat little it's

'It's a little cat'

What's important to know is that these words cannot be used like qualitative verbs (e.g., ɲi 'good') with the sentence structure SUBJECT + ka/man + QUAL. VERB that we learned earlier. For instance, we can say:

Jakuma ka ɲi
'The cat is good'

But we cannot say:

Jakuma ka fitinin
'The cat is small'

Qualitative verbs as adjectives

Some words act as adjectives but they originally come from qualitative verbs.

In these cases, they become adjectives by way of the suffix -man that we add to the end of the word.

For instance, let's take the qualitative verb ca ('numerous; abundant'). Imagine, for example, that it rained a bunch in a town you were visiting; in this case, you could say:

Ji ka ca
'Water is abundant'
(as in, 'There's a lot of water')

If we wanted to use ca as an adjective, however, then we would need to add -man:

ji caman
'abundant water'
(as in, 'a lot of water')

Note that you cannot use ca by itself as an adjective:

ji ca
'abundant water'

In some cases, you may notice a slight shift in pronunciation from the original qualitative verb. For instance:

ɲi → ɲi-man → ɲuman
'good'
(e.g., mobili ɲuman 'good car')

Or:

di → di-man → duman
'pleasing'
(e.g., dumuni duman 'tasty food')

Adjective-like compounding

Many qualitative verbs, however, _can_—as if they were adjectives—simply appear after a noun.

For instance, let's take the word gɛlɛn ('difficult'). If we wanted to use it in a qualitative verb sentence like those that we've already learned, we would do so like this:

Baara ka gɛlɛn

'Work is difficult'
(as in, 'The work is difficult' or 'Work, in general, is difficult')

Conveniently, we can also use gɛlɛn as if it were an adjective—that is, right next to the noun—without needing to make any changes to the word itself. For instance:

Baara gɛlɛn
work difficult

'difficult work'

Note how I wrote gɛlɛn as a separate word following baara. This is typical in Latin-based Bambara, but it's actually a bit misleading. In reality, this kind of usage is arguably not a question of a noun and a separate adjective, but rather one new single word—a "compound word" combining a noun and a qualitative verb:

Baara-gɛlɛn
'difficult-work'

From this perspective, Bambara is a bit like English, since we also write compounds in a variety of ways; take for instance "firetruck" (one word) and "light switch" (two words).

In any case, and without going into the nuances, what's important is that English language concepts such as "black car" can be expressed in one of two ways potentially:

mobili-fin (often written mobili fin)
'black-car'

Or:

mobili finman
'black car'

Irregular forms

In some cases the adjective form that corresponds with a particular qualitative verb (e.g., caman for ca) may be irregular.

For instance, if we want to say the equivalent of "tall man"; we could express it one of two ways potentially; using the compound form:

cɛ-jan (often written cɛ jan)
'tall-man'

Or using the adjectival pair of jan, which we would assume to jan-man, but, in fact, is janmanjan:

cɛ janmanjan
'tall man'

Diminutive and augmentative suffixes

In addition to all that we've covered thus far, there are also two suffixes that can function in a way similar to adjectives: the diminutive suffix -nin and the augmentative suffix -ba.

The diminutive suffix -nin attaches to a noun and, in essence, turns it into a "small" or "wee" version of what you are discussing. For instance:

den → dennin

'kid' → 'little kid'

The augmentative suffix -ba does the same thing, but in the other direction; it adds a value of "big" to whatever you are talking about. For instance:

dugu → duguba

'town' → 'big town'

Which one to use?

At this point, you may be asking yourself, "How do I know when to use what form?" The short answer is that it's up to you!

As you learn Bambara (and Manding, in general), you'll notice regional tendencies to use one form more than another, but, in general, all of the forms I've laid out here are recognized and understood by everyone.

What's important for you is to learn the qualitative verbs and their adjectival equivalents, whether they are used regularly (using -man), irregularly (e.g., janmanjan 'tall'), or in compound words. From there, you'll be able to recognize and move between them just like native speakers would do in an exchange like this one:

– Bamakɔ ka bon wa?
– Is Bamako big?

– Ɔwɔ, dugu belebele don.
– Yes, it's a big town.

– Abidjan dun?
– What about Abidjan?

– Duguba don fana.
– It's a big town too.

Summary

Ayiwa! We covered the following:

• Adjectives appear following the noun that they modify. For instance:

  So belebele tɛ.
  'It's not a big house.'

• Some words are primarily adjectives (that is, they cannot be used as qualitative verbs via ka/man). For instance:

  So ka belebele.

• Qualitative verbs can become adjectives via the suffix -man. For instance:

  Bamanankan ka nɔgɔ.
  'Bambara is easy.'

  ↓

  Kan nɔgɔman don.
  'It's an easy language.'

• Some qualitative verbs derive into irregular adjective forms. For instance:

  Dumuni ka di.
  '(The) food is tasty.'

  ↓

  Dumuni duman bɛ yan.
  'There's tasty food here.'

• Some qualitative verbs can be used in a form of adjective-like compounding in which they appear directly after a noun without any modification. These are typically written as two words, but sometimes as one, or with a dash!

  Baara ka gɛlɛn!
  'Work is hard!'

  ↓

  Baara gɛlɛn don!
  'It's hard work!'

• The diminutive suffix -nin ('little') and the augmentative suffix -ba ('big') can be used as the equivalents of adjectives. For instance:

  Siraba
  'big road'

  Or:

  Dugunin
  'little village'

• In general, there isn't a rule on when to use which kind of "adjectival" expression; you are free to use whichever one suits you and your friends best when chatting!