Wednesday 2 July 2008

how well do you understand your language?

the purpose of this thread is to organise the meanings of Gambian languages in way that the equivalent words in other languages can be known.

I wanted to compile the number of different words i know of but time is never letting me. so lets start. this should help us understand each others language. as a man from URR my wolof is not very deep and my jola and serere is not up to scrach. if we can explain different words a day , the help will be immense. the mandinkas have quiet few words for death , sayaa (death) aah fata (he deid) aah banta (he/she is finish or expired). the mandinka word for teenage girls is sunkuto (new breast). the mandinka word for a grown man is kan baa nnoo (he has the command and he can do it) i am under time constraint so my explanations are open to correction. so continue guys. we need fulas, serere, sarahule, dutch, every thing. slowly ,we will understand few things.

the wolof word taaranka. this is a very loaded word. i hope those who understand it can explain what it means. the sarahuleh phrase khadunkoo, it is use in greetings.and the fula word jamtan, what is the equivalent in other languages. any word quoted, if we can find the equivalent of it in other langaues, that will make the explaining easy. for instance the mandinkas would say, nla fita nminna for i want to drink, what is the equivalent in wolof, fula ,sarahuleh, njako etc.
the equivalent term for nla fita nminna, (i want to drink) in sarahuleh is nkhu gee nnan min nnee . the fula equivalent is okham ndiyan meyaar. the wolof equivalent juhoman ndhoo manan. i hope a serere speaker, jola speaker etc can tell us the equivalent in those languages. minor understanding can put us on the verge of comprehending each other more. to me langauge is a very important tool to understanding others.i can remember when a child my sted dad inviting the sarahulehs farmers opposite us, during lunch, calling out loud, lun nyeekee, come eat!! , the mandinka equivalent is al-naa domorola, the fula equivalent is aahreel nyaa mee, the wolof equivalent is khai leeka. there are words that most of the tribes share. can any one remember this words?
my wish is to understand every single Gambian language. to be able to explain myself to others in their language. to visit people and keep speaking with them in one's language is not fair. the wolofs and mandingos are guilty of this. they expect you to understand them in their mother tongue, this is not acceptable.

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