Warm-up
- I bɛ bɔ min?
- I ka denbaya bɛ bɔ min?
- I bɛ bamanankan walima julakan fɔ?
- I bɛ kan wɛrɛ fɔ? Kan jumɛn(w) don?
None for now!
Text
CONTEXT: Jacques, a Frenchman, has traveled to Mali and is staying with a host family. As he walks home one day, he stops to greet Sira, a woman selling some items street-side. She happens to live in a courtyard nearby.
JACQUES: I ni tile!
SIRA: Nse! I ni tile!
Jacques: Somɔgɔw dun?
SIRA: Hɛɛrɛ! Tubabukɛ, e bɛ bamanankan fɔ dɛ (1)!
Jacques: Ɔwɔ, n b'à fɔ ani n b'à mɛn dɔɔnin-dɔɔnin.
SIRA: O ka ɲi dɛ! E bɛ bɔ min (2)?
Jacques: N bɛ bɔ Faransi. Ele dun?
SIRA: N bɛ bɔ Bamakɔ yan. N ka du lajɛ! N ye i jatigi ye!
JACQUES: I ni ce! Ayiwa, n bɛ taga sisan.
SIRA: Baasi tɛ!
SIRA: Sira bɛ yan. Ka se n'i ɲuman ye!
JACQUES: Amiina. K’an bɛn.
SIRA: Nse! Good day!
Jacques: And the family?
SIRA: Peace! White man, you really speak Bambara (1)!
Jacques: Yes, I speak it and I understand it a little bit.
SIRA: That's really good! Where are you from (2)?
Jacques: I am from France. And you?
SIRA: I am from here in Bamako. Look at my courtyard [over there]! I am your host!
JACQUES: Thanks! Alright, I'm going now.
SIRA: No problem!
SIRA: The road is here. May you arrive well!
JACQUES: Amen. Goodbye.
Vocab
- ka kan fɔ
- to speak a language
- dɛ
- here, "really"
- ka kan mɛn
- to understand (“hear”) a language
- jatigi
- host (a special social role that implies being responsible for hosting and taking care of a dunan 'foreigner; stranger; outsider')
- du
- courtyard
- X lajɛ!
- here, ‘Check out X’ (lit. ‘Look at X!’)
- Ka se n'i ɲuman ye!
- "May you arrive well!"
- Sira bɛ yan!
- here, ‘You can go’ (lit. ‘The road is there!’)
None for now!
Notes
1) Transitive verb constructions in the present (cf. Verbs in the Present)
2) Intransitive verb constructions in the present (cf. Verbs in the Present)
None for now!
Comprehension
Activity
Imagine that you are Jacques. Send a video message back home recounting your day and how you met your neighbor Sira. Try to describe who Sira is, what she does, etc.