Bambara (Bamanankan)

Bambara is a Mande language with about 3 million speakers in Mali, Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Ghana. It is spoken principally among the Bambara ethnic group in Mali, where it is the national language and the most widely understood one.

Writing was introduced to the Bambara during the French occupation (1880-1960) and Bambara is usually written with the Latin alphabet, though the N'Ko and Arabic alphabets are also used to some extent. In addition, there is a rich oral literature, consisting largely of tales of kings and heroes.

Bambara alphabet and pronunciation

Notes

kh is only used in loanwords from other African languages
n nasalises vowels when it comes after them
sh is a regional variant of s

Sample text

Hadamaden bɛɛ danmakɛɲɛnen bɛ bange, danbe ni josira la. Hakili ni taasi b'u bɛɛ la, wa u ka kan ka badenɲasira de waleya u ni ɲɔgɔn cɛ.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Language courses for Bambara (en français)

Links

Information about the Bambara language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bambara_language

Online Bambara lessons
http://languagelab.bh.indiana.edu/Bambara-Intro.html

Other Niger-Congo languages

Akan, Bambara, Bemba, Chichewa, Duala, Ewe, Ewondo, Ga, Ganda, Herero, Igbo, Kirundi, Kinyarwanda, Kpelle, Lingala, Mende, Shona, Southern Sotho, Swahili, Wolof, Xhosa, Yorùbá, Zulu

Other languages written with the Latin alphabet