Warm-up
- To introduce a friend to another friend, what would you say to make the connection?
- What do you say if someone introduces you to someone?
None for now!
Text & Notes
Audio file
SITUATION: Musa introduces Adama and Sita to one another.
NOTE: This dialog has three characters so the names are provided. It is a bit off because one male actor plays both Sita and Adama, but he does different voices.
-- MUSA: Sita, i kà Adama lɔn?
-- SITA: Ɔn-ɔn! N tun m'à lɔn fɔlɔ.
-- MUSA: Adama, Sita filɛ.
-- ADAMA: I ka kɛnɛ, Sita?
-- SITA: N ka kɛnɛ.
-- ADAMA: I ye diyara n ye bi kosɛbɛ. An bɛn kɔfɛ!
-- MUSA: Sita, do you know Adama?
-- SITA: No! I haven't met him yet!
-- MUSA: Adama, this is Sita.
-- ADAMA: Are you healthy, Sita?
-- SITA: I am healthy.
-- ADAMA: Seeing you today has pleased me a lot. See you later!
-- SITA: No! I haven't met him yet!
-- MUSA: Adama, this is Sita.
-- ADAMA: Are you healthy, Sita?
-- SITA: I am healthy.
-- ADAMA: Seeing you today has pleased me a lot. See you later!
- I kà Adama lɔn? — The word
kàis a possible Jula predicate marker that expresses the past tense (cf.yein standard Bambara/Jula) of transitive verbs. It's particularly prevalent in Côte d'Ivoire. - Adama, Sita filɛ. — The expression
X filɛliterally means "Look at X", but it is being used to say "This is Sita" (as in, "Let me introduce you to Sita"). - N tun m'à lɔn fɔlɔ. — This expression is being used to say, "I hadn't met him/her yet", but using the verb
k'à lɔn('to know sb/sth'). The wordtunis the retrospective past marker. It can be used to build sentences that are equivalent to the "past perfect" (e.g., "I had/hadn't known it") in English. In such cases, it appears between the subject and the verb's predicate marker. It has other functions that you will learn later. - I ye diyara n ye — This expression is being used here to say the equivalent of "It's nice to (finally) meet you". It literally means "The sight of you has been pleasing to me [...]".
Comprehension
Coming soon n'Ala sɔnna!
Vocab
- ka
-
perfective marker for transitive verbs (cf. "ye" in Bambara)
- k'à lɔn/dɔn
- to know somebody
- tun
- retrospective marker
- I kà X lɔn?
- Lit. 'Had you known X?' (as in, 'Have you already met X?')
- N tun m'à lɔn fɔlɔ
- I hadn't met him/her yet (Lit. 'I hadn't known him/her yet')
- fɔlɔ
- yet (Lit. 'first')
- X filɛ
- This is X (Lit. 'Look at X')
- k'à ye
- to see sth
- I ye diyara n ye
- Seeing you pleased me (Lit. 'Your sight has pleased me'; as in, 'Nice to finally meet you')
- ka diya mɔgɔ ye
- to please someone; to be pleasing to someone (Often used to express the equivalent of 'to like' in English)
- An bɛn
- Goodbye
None for now!
Flashcards will be here someday!
Practice
Activity
Imagine that you travel to West Africa with your mom or dad. You need to introduce them to one of your friends. What would you say? How would they react? Create the scene!