Surun

"Because of X" with X kanma and X kosɔn

In the video, we hear:

[…] ne ko man di i ye ten. O de kanma, i ye surun ci ne na.

"[…] my affair isn't pleasing to you somehow. Because of that, you did suck-teeth at me"

As in, "You don't like me somehow and because of that, you sucked your teeth at me"

Let's boil it down a bit:

O kanma, i ye surun ci ne na

"Because of that, you did suck-teeth at me"

In this sentence, we have the compound postposition kanma (which is sometimes written kama).

It is a compound postposition because it comes from two words originally: kan ("neck") and ma (roughly, "at; to").

It can generally be translated as "for". Like all postpositions, it follows nouns.

For instance:

À nana warimisɛn kanma

"He came for change"

(as in, "He came for [the purpose of getting] change")

In practical terms, it can also often be translated into "because" in English (but with nuance of "for the purpose" behind it). For instance:

N y'à san kanu kanma

"I bought it because of love"

(as in, "I bought it for love" or "I bought it out of love"

This has led to a situation where kanma is sometimes used in a way where this original meaning of "for" is lost. This is the case of our first example where the person does not mean that you sucked your teeth at them for the purpose of your distaste for them, but rather, because of your distaste:

O kanma, i ye surun ci ne na.

"Because of that, you did suck-teeth at me"

(More literally, "For that, you did suck-teeth at me")

Part of the reason that this seems to happen is that kanma has a closely related counterpart kosɔn that also often translates as 'because of'. It can often be translated as "due to" as well. For instance:

I nana mun kosɔn?

"You have come because of what?"

In theory, if you came because you were looking for change, you would respond with kanma:

N nana warimisɛn kanma

"I came for change"

But in practice, people will often respond back with kosɔn:

N nana warimisɛn kosɔn

"I came because of (or 'due to') change"

In any case, both can be used to ask questions that express something like "why" in English.

Mun kosɔn?

"Why?"

Lit. "Due to what?"

Or:

Mun kanma?

"Why?"

Lit. "What for?"

And both are often used to say something like "because of" in English. But they require a noun. For instance:

N ye Adama suruntu à ka kamalenya kosɔn

"I suck-teethed Adama because of [due to] his youthful male recklessness"

Or:

N ye baara kɛ wari kanma

"I did the job because of [for] money"

In no case can you use X kosɔn or X kosɔn with a clause or sentence:

– Munna i bɛ sugu la?
– Kosɔn/Kanma n bɛna nafɛnw san

– Why are you going to the market?
– Because of I will buy sauce-things

Instead, you need to use conjunction that means "because", such as bawo, sabu, etc.

– Munna i bɛ sugu la?
– Bawo n bɛna nafɛnw san

– Why are you going to the market?
– Because I will buy sauce-things

In short, think of the expressions as follows:

• X kosɔn = due to X; because of X
• X kanma = for the sake/purpose of X; because of X

And remember that in questions both can be used in a way that often lines up with with "why":

• Mun kosɔn? = Due to what? → Why?
• Mun kanma? = For the purpose/sake of what? → Why?

Use of ka to as "to cause"

In the video, we hear the following:

[…] ne ye ko dɔ kɛ i la. Ɔ, o de y'à to i ye surun ci

"[…] I did something to you. So, that makes it such that you suck your teeth"

In this sentence, we have a special, but common usage of the verb ka to ("to leave; to remain; to let").

Let's shorten the sentence and translate it more or less literally:

O y'à to, i ye surun ci

"That left it, you did suck-teeth"

(as in, "That is why…")

Let's specify the potential "that" (O) which made it such that you sucked your teeth.

Neni y'à to, i ye surun ci

"The insult let it (that) you did suck-teeth"

(as in, "The insult is why…"

A more idiomatic way to translate this use of ka to in English is something like "caused it (that)" or, better yet, "made it such (that)":

Neni y'à to, i ye surun ci

"The insult made it such (that) you did suck-teeth"

This meaning of ka to shows up in other kinds of sentences too, but you may need to translate them differently in English. For instance, in this sentence, you could simply choose to translate it with "why":

Mun de b'à to denw tɛ sunɔgɔ waati dɔw la?

"What causes it (that) children don't sleep sometimes?"

(as in, "Why don't children sleep sometimes?")

In other cases, you will find that it is used in a way that is similar to how "That's why" or "Which is why" is used in English. For example:

(Kɔngɔ bɛ den na.) O de y'à to à ma sunɔgɔ

"(The child is hungry.) That's why he/she didn't sleep."

OR

"(The child is hungry.) Which is why he/she didn't sleep."

For some extra practice, here's another example from another Na baro kè episode. The sentence is incomplete:

Fɛn min y'à to n ma se ka don lɔgɔ la…

"The thing which caused it (that) I wasn't able to enter the market…"

"The reason that I wasn't able to enter the market…"

But we could easily complete it:

Fɛn min y'à to n ma se ka don lɔgɔ la, o ye ko wari tun tɛ n bolo

"The reason that I wasn't able to enter the market was that I didn't have money"

Generic i and the expression Bɛɛ n'i ka X

In the video, we hear the following sentence:

Bɛɛ n'i ka faamucogo don

"All (people) and their way of understanding it is"

(as in, "To each, their own way of understanding" or more colloquially, "Everyone has their own way of understanding [so-and-so]")

If we boil this sentence down to its basic grammar, we have the following:

Bɛɛ ni i ka X

"All and their X"

Notice that in this sentence, the word i does not translate to "you" or "your" in English. Instead it translates best as "they" or "their".

This is because i is being used as a generic pronoun that like bɛɛ ('all') refers to people in general.

This usage of i shows up occasionally. It's particular prevalent in proverbs or general statements about people in general that that involve the word bɛɛ beforehand. Many of them involve the same sentence structure of out initial sentence:

Bɛɛ n'i ka X

The most faithful-to-English translation for this structure that I can think of is something like "To each, their X" (e.g., "To each, their own"). This can sound a bit old-fashioned, but the meaning behind it is something like this: "Every person has their X", where X can be any noun.

For example:

Bɛɛ n'i hakilila

"To each, their opinion"

Or:

Bɛɛ n'i faso

"To each, their homeland"

(NOTE: In some cases, you may hear or see this expression pronounced with na instead of ni. For instance, Bɛɛ na i faso instead of Bɛɛ ni i faso.)