Lesson 12. The Marcanda

Content
  1. Intro
  2. Vocabulary
  3. Practical idiomatic winks
  4. Grammar
  5. Exercises

 



13.A. Intro

 

 

13.B. Vocabulary
  1. Verbs
  2. Nouns
  3. Adverbs, adjectives, etc.

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Learn these words by heart.

Extra
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13.B.1 Verbs
Zarma English Pronunciation
kay to stop [motion], to stand [not to rise], be upright and stationary k ay
naŋ to leave, to let alone, to quit, to cease naŋ
cetu to throw away from, to lance ce / tu
furu to throw out, to throw away, to abandon, to discard, to abort, to toss fu / ru
fo [ho] *1 to hunt [game] []
hay to shoot [with weapon: bow, gun, spear], to aim at, to hit [large object aimed at] ha y
beytu [beytu te] *1 to sing a hymn bey / tu
don [doni te] *1 to sing [any song] dôn
hasara
[sara, te hasara] *1
to spoil [intransitive] ; to spoil, to ruin [transitive] ha sa / ra
dooru to pour out carefully or slowly, to run out or down, to trickle doo / ru
farhan to rejoice fàr han [nasal]
te dama to become better, improved te / ma
du dama to get a change, to have an opportunity du da / ma
ba to be abundant, numerous, a lot
fulanzam to rest, to breathe, to take a vacation,
to breathe in
fu lan / zam

*1 [...] = synonym

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13.B.2 Nouns
Zarma English Pronunciation
wa milk
farhan joy fàr / han
fufule, furfula humidity, hot weather fu fu le
yeni, yeno cold, coldness [moist, not dry] yê ni
gawey hunting as a profession gà wey
malafa gun ma / la fa
foyan [hoyan] hunting fô yan
gabi, gabo strenght bi
turi, turo wood; tree; plant of any kind tu / ri
beytu, beyto hymn, religious song bey / tu
doni, dono song / ni
sandurku, sandorko wooden box, crate san dur / ku
bine sare, bine sara grief, sorrow bi ne  / re
wayno, wayna sun way / no
coro, cora close friend co / ro
dama [H] refers to heath and time
[see Practical idiomatic winks]
dâ ma [H]
bankarey clothing ban / ka rey
hargu, hargo cold weather or season, cold [dry not moist] har / gu
Alfazar, Alfazaro dawn, daybreak; first prayer call al fa zar
baru, baro
[H: labari, labaro]
news, information, story, history ba ru
hasaraw ruin, spoilage ha sa raw

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13.B.3 Adjectives, adverbs, etc.
Zarma English Pronunciation
zen, zeno, zena * (adjective) old zênzên o
moru, moro (adjective) sour / ru, mo / ra
gani, gani, gano * (adjective) fresh, uncooked, raw ga / ni
coron (predicate adjective) hot, warm [only, n final] cor / on
dungu, dunguruo (adjective) short, hot dun / gu dun / gu ru o
yey / yeno, yena, yeni * (adjective) cold, cool, healed, coolness, rheumatism yey
bambata, bambata
(not predicate adjective)
very large, very big, huge ban ba / ta
gumo (adjective) very, very much gu / mo
tarey (adverb) outside, openly ta ray
sabbese (conjunction) because of, on account of sab be / se

(*) note:
Three forms are given for the adjectives; the predicate adjective, the indefinite singular attributive adjective, and the definite singular adjective also. The first two forms are frequently identical,
see 5.D.2.

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13.C Practical idiomatic winks

Dama (Lesson 13: refers to heath and time)

Some examples of the uses of dama are given in the next table.

Examples

Zarma

English
Ay te dama I 'm better (after illness).
Ay mana te dama I 'm no better.
Ay sinda dama kan ga hay fo te. I don't have time to do something.
I don't have opportunity to do something.
It is not convenient for me to do something.
Dama s' ay se. I don't have time.
I 'm too busy.
Ay du dama (...). I got a change (to ...)

 

Don - beytu (Lesson 13: to sing)
 

The word don is also written as doon (and doni as dooni), while beytu is sometimes written as baytu.

When speaking of singing hymns, beytu is correct rather than don or te doni. Both words (beytu and don) are used as verb as well as noun, see examples from the Bible in Zarma.

Zarma [spelling used visionneuse.free.fr] English
I m'a doon da moolo beeri karyaŋ. [PSA, 4;1] To sing to the accompaniment of stringed instruments.
Dawda hẽeno kaŋ a te baytu Rabbi se, Benyamin bora Kus boŋ. [PSA 7;1] Lamentation of David he sang for the Lord with respect to what Koch of Benjaminit had said.

 

 

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13.D. Grammar

Subjects in this lesson:

  1. The prefix "i" on adjectives
  2. Reciprocal pronouns 
  3. Idiomatic expression for weather and climate 

13.D.1 The prefix "i" on adjectives

The prefix "i" is used on adjectives in case we use a predicate adjective with the verb "no" (to be) or when we want to give the adjective the force of a pronoun.

As predicative adjective with the verb "no"

We have seen how to form predicate adjectives with the particle "ga" intervening between the subject and the adjective (see Lesson ...). Exactly the same meaning is given prefixing "i  to the adjective directly after the subject, and using "no" at the end of the clause for a verb.

Examples

Zarma

English
Moto bambata kaa. A big truck game.
Moto bambata no It 's a big truck.
The truck is big.
Boro bobo go no. There are many people.
Ibobo no They are many.
Fu kayna kan a ra iri go, a si bori. The small house in which we are, it is not pretty.
Fuwo kan a ra iri go, ikanyna no. The house in which we are, it is small.
Dari dunguriya go tarey. The short bed is outside.
Daro kan ay day bi, idunguriyo no. The bed which I bought yesterday, it is short.
Daro idunguriyo no. The bed is short.

As pronouns

When the noun antecedent is clear from the context, the adjective with the prefix "i" has the force of a pronoun, meaning "the / a + adjective + one / once". It may be indefinite singular form with the addition of "fo", the indefinite plural, and both definite forms, as well as having "din" or "dini" demonstrative suffix.

Examples
Zarma English
Kande ay fula. Icira kan go ni jerga. Bring my hat, the red one which is beside you.
Ay mana di a, amma ibogu fo go tablo boŋ. I don't see it, but a blue one is on the table.
Ni di dungurey kan i ga nera habo ra, wala? Ikukueydini ga bisa cindey. Did you see the beans which they sell in the market? Those long ones are better than the others.
Borey dumi bobo go no ndunya ra; ikukuyan nd' idunguriyan; ihannoyan nd' ifutuyan; ibiyan nd' ikwareyan. Thee are many kinds of people in the world; tall ones and short ones;  good ones and bad ones; black ones and white ones.

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13.D.2. Reciprocal pronouns


In English, reciprocal pronouns express mutual relations; each other, one another, together.
In Zarma there is only one such pronoun "cere" which works in the same way. It is used only with the plural pronouns and the prepositions of the reference are "nda" (with), "se" (to , for), and "banda" (after, with).

Examples
Zarma English
I si ba ngey cere.
I si ba cere.
They do no like each other.
Iri ga ba cere. We love each other.
I na noru fey nga nda cere. They divide the money with each other. *1
Araŋ don cere se, wala? Did you sing to each other?
Iri te farhan nda cere. We rejoiced with one another.
I go ga cere car. They were hitting each other.
I ne cere se; wodin si bori. They said one to another, that is not good.
Iri ma koy cere banda. Let us go together.
Iri ga goy cere banda. We work together.

The combination "cere banda" is sometimes written as one word ("cerebanda"), sometimes the last "a" is written and spoken as an "e" (cere bande, cerebande). We even find "care banda" in written text (see Lesson 9)

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13.D.3. Idiomatic expressions for weather or climate

We here provide a list of useful idiomatic expressions when you have a chat with someone about the weather.

Examples
Zarma English
Hargu te. It became cold.
Wayna ga koron The sun is hot.
It is hot.
Wayna kaŋ. The sun has set.
Fufule go no. It is sticky hot.
Fufule te. It became hot and humid.
Yeni te. It became cool.
Bene hari kaŋ. It rained.
Bene hari kaa. It rained.
Hari kaa. It is raining.
Hari ko. It has stopped raining.
Bene ga hanan. The sky is clear.
Bene ga say. The clouds are breaking away.
Bene ga hirri. The clouds are rolling up.
A go no ga dundu. It is thundering.
(The rumble, not the initial crack)
Wayna fun. The sun rose.
Bene ga sibi. The sky is dark with rain clouds.

Examples of  use of "hala" not in relation to time are given in the next table.

 

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Last updated: 09 maart 2006