Everyday verbs in Bambara — eat, drink, go, come, buy…: 20 verbs checked against reference sources (Bambara of Mali, official spelling (tones not written)).
1
Verbs
dunto eat
minto drink
taaalso: tagato go
nato come
sunɔgɔalso: sinɔgɔ, sunaato sleep
kumato speak, to talk
fɔto say; to speak (a language)
yeto see
dito give
santo buy
feerealso: fyereto sell
dɔnto know
mɛnalso: mɛto hear
sigito sit; to live (somewhere)
taamaalso: tagama, tɔgɔmato walk, to travel
baarato work
tobialso: tɔbito cook
koto wash
kanualso: kanunto love
kalanto read, to study
Test yourself
1. What does “min” mean?
2. What does “fɔ” mean?
3. What does “dɔn” mean?
4. What does “tobi” mean?
Where do these words come from?
The words in this article come from: Peace Corps Mali Bambara courses, Bamadaba dictionary (Corpus Bambara de Référence). They are copied with their exact spelling; when two sources disagree, the variant is shown. Do you speak this language and spot a mistake? Write to us.
The words in this article come from: Peace Corps Mali Bambara courses, Bamadaba dictionary (Corpus Bambara de Référence). They are copied with their exact spelling; when two sources disagree, the variant is shown. Do you speak this language and spot a mistake? Write to us.