Free survival kit
The 20 essential phrases and 100 key words to get by in Bambara when travelling.
| Bambara | English |
|---|---|
| I ni sɔgɔma | good morning |
| I ni tile | good day (midday) |
| I ni wula | good afternoon |
| I ni su | good evening / good night |
| I ni ce | hello / thank you (any time) |
| Nba | response to greeting (male) |
| Nse | response to greeting (female) |
| I ka kɛnɛ wa? | are you healthy? |
| Bambara | English |
|---|---|
| so | house / home |
| dugu | village / town / land |
| sugu | market |
| lakɔli | school |
| Bambara | English |
|---|---|
| kun | head |
| ɲɛ | eye / face |
| bolo | hand / arm |
| sen | foot / leg |
| Bambara | English |
|---|---|
| ji | water |
| malo | rice |
| sogo | meat |
| nɔnɔ | milk |
| Bambara | English |
|---|---|
| Tɔɔrɔ tɛ | fine (lit. 'no trouble') |
| K'an bɛn | goodbye (lit. 'may we meet') |
| Awɔ | yes |
| Ayi | no |
| ka kɛ | to be / to do / to happen |
| ka sɔrɔ | to get / to find / to obtain |
| ka taa | to go |
| ka na | to come |
| ka dumu | to eat |
| ka mìn | to drink |
| ka sunɔgɔ | to sleep |
| ka kuma | to speak / to talk |
| ka dɔn | to know |
| ka ye | to see |
| ka mɛn | to hear / to understand |
| ka di | to give |
| ka ta | to take |
| ka sɛbɛn | to write |
| ka kalan | to read / to study |
| ka fɛ | to want |
| ka san | to buy |
| ka feere | to sell |
| ka tobi | to cook |
| ka segin | to return |
| ka to | to stay / to remain |
| ka bɔ | to exit / to come from |
| ka wuli | to get up / to rise |
| ka wolo | to be born / to give birth |
| fa | father |
| ba | mother |
You land at Bamako-Senou airport early in the morning. An agent greets you with "I ni sɔgɔma". You reply by adapting your greeting to the time of day.
You climb into a sotrama (green minibus) or a yellow taxi. You tell the driver you are going to your host's, in his village, via the market and then the school.
You sit down at a small restaurant to try local tieb. You ask for water, rice, a little meat and milk to go with the tea. The owner explains the menu to you in Bambara.
You caught sunburn and feel feverish. You describe the painful areas to the pharmacist (head, eyes, hands, feet) so he can give you the right medicine.
On the morning of departure, you warmly thank your host. You reply "Nba" (men) or "Nse" (women) depending on the speaker and reassure everyone about your health before leaving.
The 20 phrases, 100 key words and the cultural notes in a PDF to keep offline or print. We also send it to you by e-mail.
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Start Bambara for freeBambara is spoken by around 14 million people in Mali, Guinea and Cote d'Ivoire. A major lingua franca of West Africa, it is the language of Mandinka music, griots and daily life in Bamako, Segou and Mopti.
Bambara, or Bamanankan, has around 14 million speakers in Mali (first or second language for the vast majority of the population), Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso. It is the main language of the Mandinka continuum, which includes Bambara, Malinke, Dyula and Mandinka. This kinship makes Bambara a valuable gateway to all Mandinka West Africa: with a bit of practice, you will catch the gist of a Dyula speaker in Bobo-Dioulasso or a Malinke speaker in Conakry.
Bambara belongs to the Niger-Congo family, Mande branch. It is a tonal language with two registers (high and low), with a Latin alphabet standardized since 1967 that includes specific characters ("ɛ", "ɔ", "ɲ", "ŋ"). Grammar is surprisingly accessible for a French speaker: subject-object-verb order, no gender, no declensions, aspect markers placed between subject and verb. A few difficulties: vowel nasalization, tones that change meaning, and geminate consonants. But the overall system is approachable.
Traveling to Mali without a few Bambara words means missing the codes that shape everything. The long morning greetings ("I ni sɔgɔma"), the key replies ("Nba" for men, "Nse" for women), the joking kinship that paces every meeting, all run through the language. Saying "I ni ce", thanking with the same words or replying "Tɔɔrɔ tɛ" (nothing wrong) when asked how you are instantly warms up exchanges. This kit gathers the bare minimum for an arrival in Bamako, a sotrama ride, a tieb order and a medical emergency.
Every translation is cross-checked against at least two concordant sources among the references below.
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