Dumunikɛyɔrɔ | Restaurant

Image
West African restaurant with a Manding name in greater Paris, France
Audio file

SITUATION: Abi has finished eating at a restaurant. As her server approaches her table, she says something to him.

ABI: I barika!
BAARAKƐLA: Barika Ala ye!
ABI: To diyara dɛ. I ni ga! [1]
BAARAKƐLA: Nba! K'à suma i kɔnɔ!
ABI: Amiina! N fara dɛ!
BAARAKƐLA: I tɛ taa i da? [2]
ABI: N bɛna taa. N bɛna bonya fana!
BAARAKƐLA: Munna i ko ten? [3]
ABI: N b'o fɔ bawo n bɛna na sini! Yan ka di! [4]
BAARAKƐLA: I ni ce! I ka kuma ye bonya ye.

ABI: Thanks (to you!
BAARAKƐLA: Thanks to God!
ABI: The "tô" was delicious. Nice cooking! [1]
BAARAKƐLA: Thanks! May it be cooled inside you.
ABI: I'm full, man!
BAARAKƐLA: Won't you go and lay down? [2]
ABI: I will go. I am going to get fat too!
BAARAKƐLA: Why do you say that? [3]
ABI: I say it because I am going to come (back) tomorrow! Here is delicious! [4]
BAARAKƐLA: Thanks! Your words are respect.

Grammar Points

  • 1) Making verbs with -ya
  • 2) Reflexive verbs
  • 3) Using ko to express "to say"
  • 4) Expressing "because" between two clauses

[Video coming soon!]

I barika! / Barika!
interjection that is said after eating to say "thanks". [< Arabic word for "blessing"]
Barika Ala ye!
typical interjection used to respond to someone saying "Barika!". It literally means "Barika to/for God!"
ka diya
to please; to be pleasing
ga/gwa
hearth [as in, "the place where one cooks"; by extension, it can mean "cooking; cuisine"]
ka fa
to fill
k'i da/la
to lay (yourself) down; to go to bed
ka bonya
to fatten; to become fat/large
munna
why
ko
quotative copula [often used to express "to say"]
bawo
because
bonya
large-ness; respect
di
pleasing; sweet; tasty
À diyara
It was pleasing
tubabu
white/Western person
ka tubabuya
to become (like) a white/Western person
tubabuya
white-ness; Western-ness; the condition of being a white/Western person
i
formal reflexive marker
N ye n da
I laid (myself) down
À y'i/à da
He/she laid (his/herself) down
I y'i da?
Have you gone to bed? (Lit. "Have you laid yourself down?")
I tɔgɔ ko di?
What's your name?
Ko di?
Come again?; What do you say? (Lit. "Say how?")
Ko mun?
(So-and-so) says/said what?
I ko di?
You say/said what?
N ko "Na yan"
I said "Come here"
N m'à fɔ (ko) "Na yan"
I didn't say "Come here"
À ko n ka na ni dumuni ye
She said I should bring out food
À ko ko n ka na ni dumuni ye
She said that I should bring out food
Den ye kini bɛɛ dun ko à ta don
The child ate all the rice (as if he were saying to himself that it was his)
N ye kini san katugu kɔngɔ bɛ n na
I bought rice because I am hungry
X kosɔn
because of X
N ye kini san kɔngɔ kosɔn
I bought rice because of hunger
X kanma/kama
for X
N ye kini san kɔngɔ kanma
I bought rice for (the purposes of dealing with) hunger
Mun kosɔn?
What for? [as in, "Why (did you do it?)"]
Mun kanma?
Because of what? [as in, "Why (did you do it)?"
makaroni
pasta; cf. 'macaroni'
salati
salad (< Fr. salade)
na
sauce (vs. `ka na` "to come")
naji
soup
to
West African "swallow" dish that one dips into sauce
ka tila fɛn na
to finish with something
malo
rice [Jula]; uncooked rice [Bambara]
kini
(cooked) rice [Bambara]
cɛkɛ
attiéké (a steamed cassava based dish)
loko
plantains
foronto
spicy pepper
barisa
because
katugu
because
sabu(la)
because
pariseke
because [< Fr. _parce que_]
ka sababuya kɛ
because