Dumunikɛyɔrɔ

Warm-up

  • À ka di i ye ka dumuni kɛ so waa à ka di i ye ka dumuni kɛ kɛnɛ ma? Munna?
  • N'i bɛ dumuni kɛ kɛnɛ ma, à ka di i ye ka dumuni sugu jumɛn dun?
  • I bɛ foronto fara i ka dumuni kan? Munna ɔnhɔn walima ɔn-ɔn?

None for now!

Text

SITUATION: Adama sits down at a street-side restaurant and starts speaking with one of the servers, Salimatu.

ADAMA: Dumuni bɛ yan wa?
SALIMATU: Ɔwɔ. I bɛ jumɛn fɛ? Makaroni bɛ yan, salati bɛ yan, to bɛ yan.
ADAMA: Na jumɛn bɛ to kan?
SALIMATU: Tigadɛgɛna!
ADAMA: Na duman don wa (1)?
SALIMATU: À ka di an ye kɔni (2)!
ADAMA: Ayiwa, n bɛna o ta.
SALIMATU: Ka na ni foronto ye fana (3)?
ADAMA: Ayi, foronto man di n ye kosɛbɛ.
SALIMATU: N y'à mɛn. Ayiwa, dumuni bɛna bɔ sisan-sisan!
ADAMA: O ka ɲi katugu n sɛgɛnna. N mana tila dumuni na n bɛ taa n da (4).

ADAMA: Is there food here?
SALIMATU: Yes. What (lit. "which") do you want? There's pasta, there's salad, there's "tô".
ADAMA: What sauce is on the tô?
SALIMATU: Peanut sauce!
ADAMA: Is it a tasty sauce (1)?
SALIMATU: It is pleasing to us in any case (2)!
ADAMA: Alright, I will take that.
SALIMATU: Shall I bring hot sauce too (3)?
ADAMA: No, I don't like hot sauce very much.
SALIMATU: Got it. Alright, the food will be out right away!
ADAMA: That's good because I am tired. Once I am done with the food, I will go lay down (4).

Vocab

makaroni
pasta; cf. 'macaroni'
salati
salad (< Fr. salade)
na
sauce (vs. ka na "to come")
to
West African "swallow" dish that one dips into sauce
foronto
spicy pepper
katugu
because
ka tila fɛn na
to finish with something

None for now!

Notes

  • (1): Derived Adjective (VQ-man): See "Adjectives"

  • (2): "To like" (X ka di Y ye): See "To Like"

  • (3): Naked infinitives as an order: With the infinitive marker ka and a verb, you can ask questions about whether something is an order (that is, a command) or not. For instance, Ka na ni foronto ye? (lit. 'To bring spicy pepper?'), which has an implied meaning "Do you want me to bring spicy pepper?")

  • (4): Reflexive Verbs: When a verb is used "reflexively", that means that it the subject has itself as its own direct object. For instance, N ye n ko ('I washed myself'). Generally, to use verbs reflexively, you simply repeat the relevant subject pronoun. The major possible exception is for the third person (à 'he; she; it'), where people often use i (lit. 'you') instead of à as one would logically expect. For instance, À y'i ko, which is formally ambiguous because it could mean "He/she washes his/herself" or "He/she washes you". Context generally makes things clear. Moreover, you can always opt to use the original pronoun à. For instance, À y'à ko or even À y'à yɛrɛ ko if you want to be 100% clear.

None for now!

Comprehension

  • Salimatu ye mun tobi bi?
  • Adama bɛ foronto fɛ? Munna ɔwɔ munna ayi?
  • Ni Adama tilara dumuni na, à bɛna mun kɛ?

Activity

Imagine that Adama doesn't like peanut sauce. What would he say? Does Salimatu have anything else for sale? How does their interaction go? Create the scene!

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