The 2nd, revised edition of the Elementary Bambara Course provides the learner with the basic knowledge of the structure of Bambara (Manding), an important lingua franca of West Africa and one of the national languages of Mali. The variant used in the manual is the standardized form which is based on the dialect of Bamako, the capital of Mali.
The lessons are divided into a grammatical part, the vocabulary and an exercise and translation part. An appendix with Bambara texts and an index of the vocabulary encourage independent reading. In combination with the exercise book and the reading book Bambara (also separately available, see below), this course is primarily intended for language instruction at universities, but it is equally suitable for self-instruction.
This reader Bambara Lesebuch is intended for students with some basic knowledge of Bambara, as well as offering an introduction to the geography and history of Mali, the customs and traditions of its inhabitants to the interested general reader.
From the Contents:
The history of Mali. The geography of Mali. The foundation of Bamako. The Tabasci holiday. Meals in Mali. Bamako – capital of Mali. Sunjata Keita. The Griots. Our estate. A wedding in Mali. Baptism and circumcision. Timbuktu. Song texts and tongue-twisters. Glossary Bambara – German – French.
For further reading, a study of language contact of West Atlantic and Mande languages has been published, as well as an analysis of a Bambara epos and descriptions of further Mande languages:
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