Warimisɛnko

Intro

In the following video, people in and around the Halles de Bamako market in Mali respond to a single question that I asked them:

Warimisɛnko bɛ cogo di?
'How is the affair of change?'

Note that by "change", I mean the issue of "small change" as in smaller denominations of money.

The video itself is a single "question segment" from Episode 2 of Na baro kè.

Watch

Watch the video without the subtitles. If they are on, click on the little "CC" symbol and turn them off.

Watch & Read

Now turn on the subtitles in Bambara (click on the little "CC" button) and read along.

If you are lost, you can also switch it into English and then re-watch in Bambara.

And remember, you can also slow down the video to make it easier to follow along. I recommend 75%. Click on the little gear symbol.

List of Selected Grammar Points

• Comparative constructions to express "more than" or "-er" with qualitative verbs and (ni) X ye
• Superlative constructions
• Using ka kɛ to express "to occur; to happen; to be"

• The suffix -la/na for places

• Expressing "You can't get/find it" with sɔrɔ ('obtain') in the passive voice
  (NOTE: Moved to Foli)

• Expressing "need; must" with Fo X ka
  (NOTE: Moved to Tunga)

• Expressing "to the point that" with fo to express "until; to the point that"
  (NOTE: Moved to Bisi Kura)

• Expressing 'because of X' with X kanma and X kosɔn
  (NOTE: Moved to Surunci)

• Expressing "the same" with kelen
  (NOTE: Moved to Ouaga)

• Using O bɛ à sɔrɔ to express "It so happens", etc
  (NOTE: Moved to Tunga)

Grammar Points Explained

Let's dive into the core grammar points.

Comparative constructions to express "more than" or "-er" with qualitative verbs and(ni) X ye

In the video, we hear:

Warimisɛnko, Bamako yan, bi, à ka gɛlɛn ni fɛn bɛɛ ye.

"The matter of change, here in Bamako, today, it is more difficult than all (other) things"

This can be boiled down to a simpler sentence:

Warimisɛnko ka gɛlɛn ni fɛn bɛɛ ye

"The matter of change is more difficult than all things"

(Roughly, "The matter of change is difficult more than all things")

This sentence is an example of one kind of comparative construction that allows you to say that something is "more" something than another (e.g., "more expensive", "more fun", but also "taller", "bigger", etc.)

The underlying construction is (ni) X ye and it appears after qualitative verbs (e.g., ɲi, bon, jan, etc).

Let's look at the fuller form first. For example:

N ka jan ni i ye
I AM TALL ni YOU ye

"I am taller than you"

Notice that there is no change to jan ('tall'). Instead you simply place ni ... ye around the thing which is "less" tall.

The use of ni in this kind construction is optional. You can drop it if you like and the meaning is identical. For instance:

N ka jan i ye
I AM TALL YOU ye

"I am taller than you"

Here's another example:

Bɔbɔ ka di (ni) Bamakɔ ye

"Bobo is nicer than Bamako"

You can also use this construction in negative constructions with qualitative verbs. For instance:

To man di (ni) cɛkɛ ye

"Tô isn't tastier than attiéké"

Or:

I ka warimisɛn ka ca (ni) ne ta ye!

"Your small change is more abundant than mine!"

(as in, "You have got more change than me!")

Note that Bambara/Jula does not have a direct grammatical equivalent to "less than" (what linguists might call a "lesser degree comparative"). Instead, you would talk around it. For instance:

I ka warimisɛn ka dɔgɔ (ni) ne ta ye

"Your change is smaller than mine!"

(as in, "You have less change than me!")