Unit 3 Vocab

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Unit 3

Numbers 1-10

kelen
one
fila [fla]
two
saba
three
naani
four
duuru
five
looru
five [possible Jula variant]
wɔɔrɔ
six
wolonfila
seven
wolonwula
seven [possible Bambara variant]
segin
eight
kɔnɔntɔn
nine
tan
ten
fu
zero; nothing
joli
how many; how much
adamaden
human being
kalo
month; moon

Plurals

-w
plural marker
-lu/nu
"full" plural marker variant
ninnu [nunu]
these
sɛnɛkɛla
farmer
sannikɛla
buyer; customer; client
caman
many; a lot
bɛɛ
all
taw
possessive pronoun in plural form (e.g., 'ours; yours')
jumɛn
which (one)
jumɛnw
which (ones)
faama
authority (figure); official; officer; person of means
faantan
poor person
bana
sickness; illness
mura
(common) cold
sumaya
malaria; fever; flu
bolifɛn
vehicle; "set of wheels" [includes bikes, etc]
Ɛ!
Eek! / Jeez! / Whoa!

Verbs in the Present

k'à fɔ
to say something; to speak a language
k'à mɛn
to hear something; to understand a language
k'à faamu
to understand something
ka bɔ
to exit; come out of; be from
ka taa/taga
to go; leave
ka kuma
to talk; speak
angilɛkan/anglais-kan
English
bamanankan
Bambara
tubabukan
French
ka na
to come
k'à san
to buy something
ka
infinitive marker
Kodiwari
Côte d'Ivoire
Ameriki
America; USA
Faransi
France
ka ban
to end
kaban
already
ka se

to arrive; to be able to

Ala k'à ɲuman se!
May God make him/her arrive properly!
sunɔgɔ
sleep; sleepiness
k'à yira/jira
to show something
Ala ka sini yira an na!
May God show us tomorrow!
ka baara (kɛ)
to work (lit. 'to do work')
k'à kɛ
to do/make something
ka sɛnɛ kɛ
to farm (lit. 'to do farming')
k'à sɛnɛ
to farm something
ka nkɔni fɔ
to play the ngoni
ka dɔnkili da
to sing (lit. 'to lay down a song') [Bambara]
ka dɔnkili la
to sing [Jula]
k'à dun/dumu
to eat something
ka dumuni kɛ
to eat (lit. 'to do food')
k'à min
to drink something
k'à fo
to greet/thank someone
ka foli kɛ
to greet/thank (lit. 'to do greeting')
kɔni
in any case
ka bon/so jɔ
to erect a house [Bambara]
ka bon/so lɔ
to erect a house [Jula]
ka misi gɛn/gwɛn
to herd cows (lit. 'to chase cow')
ka gese da
to weave (lit. 'to create thread')
ka jɛgɛ minɛ
to fish (lit. 'to grab fish')
ka wuli
to rise; get up
ka don
to enter
k'à feere
to sell something
k'à kalan
to read/study something
kalan
reading; studies
k'à sɛbɛn
to write something
ka sigi
to sit

Question Words

wa
yes/no question marker
jɔn
who
min
where
mun
what
di
how
cogo
manner
cogo di
how (lit. "manner how")
jumɛn
which
jumɛnw
which [plural]
joli
how many/much
tuma jumɛn
when (lit. 'which time')
munna
why (lit. 'on what')
mun kosɔn
why; because of what
mun kanma/kama
why; what for
bawo
because
sisan-sisan
right now
don/lon
day
dɔgɔkun/lɔgɔkun
week/market cycle
kalo
month
san
year
ɲinan
this year
salon
last year
kini
rice [typically Bambara]
malo
rice [typically Jula]
k'à ta
to take something
ɲamakuji
ginger juice
kungo [kongo]
the bush; the wilderness
foro
(farming) field
pankurun
airplane
dunan
foreigner; guest
jatigi
host

Adjectives

kura
new
fitinin
little
ɲuman [< ɲiman]
good
duman [< diman]
pleasing; tasty; pleasant
-nin
little; wee
-dennin
little; wee [lit. 'little kid']
-ba
big; large
belebeleba
big; large [lit. 'big-big']
misɛn(man)
thin; skinny; small
jan (janmanjan)
long; tall; far
surun(man)
short; near
jugu(man)
bad; mean; evil
goman
displeasing; gross; unpleasant
dɔgɔman
small; few; young
caman
abundant; numerous; a lot
fisaman
better
kɛnɛ(man)
healthy; fresh
nɔgɔn/nɔgɔ(man)

easy

gɛlɛn(man)
difficult
fin(man)
black
bilen(man)
red; brown [Bambara]
wulen(man)
red; brown [Jula]
jɛ(man)
white; clean; pure [Bambara]
gwɛ(man)
white; clean; pure [Jula]
kolon
worthless

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