Bambara Alphabet and Pronunciation (N'ko and Latin)

Here I lay out how to read, write and prononce Bambara using the N’ko and Latin alphabets. Before looking at the tables though, let’s take a step back and understand what exactly we mean when we say “Bambara”.

From a linguistic perspective Bambara is but one variety of Manding, a language-dialect continuum spoken across a massive area stretching from Senegal to Burkina Faso. Traditionally, it is divided into four major named varieties: Bamanan (Bambara), Maninka (Malinké), Jula (Dioula) and Mandinka (Mandingo). The first three, in particular, are often held to mutually intelligible by native speakers. They are all Eastern Manding varieties characterized by a 7-vowel system. Mandinka, on the other hand, is a Western variety which has a 5-vowel system and a number of other features that make it more difficult to consider mutually intelligible in many contexts.

Despite early attempts following independence to develop a unified Latin-based orthography, most West African countries with Manding-speaking populations each have their own tradition and quirks when it comes to writing their dominant national varieties of Manding. N’ko on the other hand is a single normative tradition meant to be used for writing Manding as one single language. In this paper, I analyze and compare the emergence and philosophies of these two orthographic traditions.

The following tables lay out the basic letters of Manding orthography in both N’ko and Latin script without going into the details that distinguish the named national varieties of Bambara in Mali, Maninka in Guinea, or Jula in Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire

Consonants
Latin	N’ko	English approximation	Example	Gloss
b	ߓ	bad	bón	‘house’
c	ߗ	Chad	cɛ̌	‘man’
d	ߘ	dog	dɔ̀lɔ́	‘alcohol’
f	ߝ	film	fɔ́lɔ	‘first’
g	-	good	gàribú	‘Quranic student seeking alms’
gb	ߜ	*A labio-velar double occlusive—in essence, an English /g/ and /b/ at the same time	gbò	‘bad’
h	ߤ	hello	hákili	‘idea’
j	ߖ	jump	jàn	‘long’
k	ߞ	call	kélen	‘one’
l	ߟ	lamp	lòkó	‘plantain’
m	ߡ	might	mɔ̀gɔ́	‘person’
n	ߣ	never	náani	‘four
ɲ	ߢ	*Palatal nasal—like enseñar in Spanish	ɲì	‘good’
ŋ	-	king	ŋɔ̀mí	‘fritter’
p	ߔ	power	pán	‘jump’
r	ߙ / ߚ	*a tapped /r/ like pero in Spanish	báara	‘work’
s	ߛ	soup	sàyá	‘death’
t	ߕ	tomato	tìlé	‘sun’
w	ߥ	west	wári	‘money’
y	ߦ	yogurt	yɛ́lɛ	‘laugh’
z	-	zebra	zùwɛ́n	‘June’

Vowels
Latin	N’ko	English approximation	Example	Gloss
a	ߊ	wasp	bàbá	‘dad’
e	ߋ	*like manger in French	bèsé	‘machette’
ɛ	ߍ	met	sɛ̀nɛ́	‘farming’
i	ߌ	happy	fili	‘throw’
u	ߎ	goose	dùgú	‘earth’
o	ߏ	*like beau in French	bǒ	‘excrement’
ɔ	ߐ	bought	bɔ̀gɔ́	‘mud, clay’

Syllabic Nasal
Latin	N’ko	English approximation	Example	Gloss
n	ߒ	*Syllabic nasal	ń	‘I’