Ouaga

Expressing "since" or "seeing as" with komi or ikomi

In the video, we hear the following:

Ikomi n ma se Ouaga, n tɛ se ka kuma à kan

"Since I haven't arrived to Ouaga, I can't speak about it"

(as in, "Since I haven't been to Ouaga, I can't talk about it as a city")

This is an example of the conjunction ikomi and komi (and the French loanword from which they stem, comme) being used a conjunction that is often best translated as "since", "seeing as" or "given that" in English.

For short, it might make sense to call this use of komi something like "causal komi".

(NOTE: Recall that we previously saw in "Foli" that komi/ikomi is often used to express "like; as if". This is an additional usage.)

Let's look at it again with some bolding for emphasis:

Ikomi n ma se Ouaga, n tɛ se ka kuma à kan

"Since I haven't arrived to Ouaga, I can't speak about it"

As you can see, ikom/komi appears at the beginning of the sentence. It introduces something that causes something else (i.e., "Because I haven't been to Ouaga, I can't speak about it").

This usage of komi/ikomi is almost identical with a similar use of comme in French (e.g., "Comme je ne suis jamais allé à Ouaga, je ne peux pas en parler").

For short, it might make sense to call this use of komi something like "causal komi".

Here's another example:

Komi n bɛ bamanankan fɔ, n bɛ julakan fɔ fana

"Given that I speak Bambara, I speak Jula too"

And another:

Ikomi su kora, n bɛna taa

"Since night has fallen, I'm going to go"

When people speak, causal komi is often used elliptically. That is, the second clause of the sentence (i.e., the thing that is caused) is unstated because it's understood from the context.

For instance, imagine that a friend asks if you want to go to Ouaga with them and you tell them that you prefer Bobo. They might reply like this:

Komi i ko ten…

"Since you say so…" [I will go by myself]

(as in, "Since you put it like that…")

Complex derivation (e.g., -bali plus -ya)

In the video, we hear the following:

Mun nana n'o ye? Bɛnbaliya le kɛ!

"What has brought this about? It's discord, man!"

In this utterance, we have an example of a word (bɛnbaliya) stemming from complex derivation, which is a fancy way to say that multiple suffixes were added to a single root word.

But before, we dive into that, let's fill out what is being said here to make things simpler. To do this, let's recall what was said by someone else just before the line in question:

Mɔgɔ si mago tɛ mɔgɔ si la

"Nobody's need is upon nobody"

(as in, "No one cares about anyone else")

Now that we have the context, let's go back to our original quote, simplify it and unpack the word bɛnbaliya:

Bɛnbaliya nana n'o ye

"Discord has brought this about"

The word bɛnbaliya stems from three pieces:

• bɛn = entente; harmony (cf. ka bɛn "to unite; to come together, etc")
• -bali = the negative participle (originally covered in "Ɲɛnafin"), which means something like "lack of"
• -ya = the abstraction suffix, which means something like -ness (e.g., sadness), -dom (e.g., freedom), -hood (e.g., boyhood), etc.

Put all together this gives us something like this:

bɛn-bali-ya

"entente-lack.of-ness"

As in, "discord"

This word is useful for two reasons

First, in practical terms, it demonstrates the use of -baliya, which is complex suffix (combining -bali and -ya) that is rather frequent/productive. Here's two common examples:

• kalanbaliya = lack of education/schooling

  Kalanbaliya ye dibi ye

  "A lack of schooling is darkness [as in, "ignorance"]"

• sɔrɔbaliya = lack of obtaining

  kunnafoni sɔrɔbaliya

  "shortage of information"

Second, in a broader sense, it demonstrates the general phenomenon of complex derivation where multiple suffixes or prefixes can be attached to a single root to create a new word.

For English speakers, this is nothing new! It shows up in everyday words like "friendliness" (< friend + ly + ness).

But it's worth highlighting. Why? Because a Bambara word that you think is new or unknown to you may, in fact, simply be word derived from a root and various parts that you do know!

Expressing "the same" with kelen

In the video, we hear the following comment about Bobo and Ouaga:

An kɔni fɛ, à bɛɛ ye kelen ye.

"For us in any case, it's all the same"

Within this quote, there is a basic sentence:

À bɛɛ ye kelen ye

"It all is one" → "It all is the same"

This is a good example of the common use of kelen ('one') to express the idea of "same".

It often appears as a standalone noun in equative sentences (like above using ye/tɛ...ye) or in presentatives using don/tɛ. For instance:

Bobo ni Ouaga, kelen tɛ.

"Bobo and Ouaga, they're not the same"

Lit. "Bobo and Ouaga, one it.isn't"

Or:

Kelen don!

"It's the same!" or "They're the same" (depending on the context)

Lit. "It is one!"

These kinds of sentences are very common. As such, it's not surprising that some words are often implied. People often say:

À bɛɛ kelen!

"It's all same!"

Lit. "It all one"

Instead of the full sentence:

À bɛɛ ye kelen ye

"It's all the same!"

Lit. It is all one

It can also act an adjective that appears after a noun. For instance:

O ko kelen bɛ an fɛ Ameriki

"We have this same problem in the US"

Lit. "That one affair is at our place in America"

Or:

Adama nana 15h waati la. Sita nana o waati kelen na.

"Adama came at 3 o'clock. Sita came at the same time."