West Africa
Bambara
BamanankanThe everyday language of Mali and a direct descendant of the Mande speech of the Mali Empire. Its greetings are a call-and-response chain that can last a full minute.
- Family
- Niger–Congo (Mande)
- Script
- Latin and N'Ko
- Speakers
- ~15 million speakers, most of Mali's lingua franca
- Spoken in
- Mali, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea
The course
Five units, one word at a time
0/5 mastered
Unit 1
Greetings
The famous Bambara greeting chain.
- I ni ce — Hello / thank you
- I ni sɔgɔma — Good morning
- Somɔgɔw be di? — How is the family?
- Toro si te — No trouble / all is well
- K'an ben — See you later
- Aw ni ce — Hello (to many)
Unit 2
People and family
Family and the joking-cousin bonds that hold Mali together.
- Mɔgɔ — Person
- Muso — Woman
- Cɛ — Man
- Bamuso — Mother
- Fa — Father
- Teri — Friend
Unit 3
Numbers one to ten
Counting in the markets of Bamako.
- Kelen — One
- Fila — Two
- Saba — Three
- Naani — Four
- Duuru — Five
- Tan — Ten
Unit 4
Food and the market
Rice, water and the price question.
- Ji — Water
- Malo — Rice
- Dumuni — Food
- Joli? — How much?
- Sugu — Market
- N b'a fɛ — I want it
Unit 5
Getting around
The words that get you to the right place.
- Min? — Where?
- N ma faamu — I don't understand
- Nse / n ba — Reply to a greeting (man / woman)
- Awɔ — Yes
- Ayi — No
- An ka taa — Let's go
How to sound right
- Greetings work as pairs: say 'i ni ce', hear 'n ba' or 'n se' back.
- The letter ɛ is like 'e' in bed and ɔ like 'aw' in law.
- Bambara is tonal, but context carries most learners through at first.
The audio button in lessons uses your device's speech engine, which rarely has a native African voice. Treat it as a rough guide and trust the written pronunciation hints and the coach instead.
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