Lesson 10. Boro gahamo

Content

Intro
Vocabulary
Greetings
Grammar
Exercises (workbook, lesson 10)
Answers (answer book, lesson 10)

10.A. Intro

Boro gahamo

Explore the human body and learn the Zarma words for most parts of the body and many organs. To enlarge a drawing, move the pointer to the drawing of interest and click the left mouse button. Read the text below the picture. Each picture has a mirror image that enables you to practice your Zarma knowledge. By clicking on the last line text below the picture you can easily switch between these two.

Some Zarma words may be used for different body parts. For example 'ce' is used for 'leg' but also for the different parts of the leg, 'thigh', 'shin' and 'foot'. For some body parts there are synonyms, for example, both 'jesse' and 'jase' mean 'shoulder' and 'upper arm'.

a male body		a female body
a male body inside		a female body inside

10.B. Vocabulary

Learn these words by heart.

Extra
Move the mouse to one of the underlined words and a sentence in which the word is used will appear. Click the left mouse button and a photo will appear in a popup. When you move the pointer on the screen with your mouse over the photo the translation of the Zarma sentence will show.

Verbs
Zarma	English	Pronunciation ^[1]
bisa ^#	to go past, to be better than, to be preferable, to exceed	bî sa
faakaaray	to converse, to visit	faa kaa* ray*
fiti	to open	fi ti
funa	to live, to be alive (not to reside)	fu na
haggoy	to be careful, to be careful of, to look out for, to watch out	hag *goy*
hima ^#	to be careful, to be careful of, to look out for, to watch out	hi ma
hina	to cook	hi na
lordi	to order, to command [corrupted French, from l'ordre]	*lor* di
nama	to bite	nam a ^$
naŋ	to permit, to let, to leave, to leave off	naŋ
naanay^#	to trust, to have confidence	*naa* nay
naanay ... ga	to trust in, to rely on
ŋwaaray	to beg, to ask insistently, to plead	*ŋwaa* ray
sobay	to continue, to go ahead (not physically necessarily), to keep going	so *bay*
taa	to receive, to accept, to take	taa
yadda	to agree, to consent, to approve	yad da ^$
yaafa	to forgive	yaa fa ^$
yaari	to take care of; to keep, to hold	yaa ri
zay	to steal, to rob (usually owner absent)	zay ^$

Notes:
#	Signifies verbs that take the direct object afterwards (see Lesson 2.C.1 & 3.D.5).
$	Indicaties that accent and/or tone may be different, perhaps related to region and/or dialect. For 'nama', 'yadda' 'yaafa' and 'zay' there are no consistency between sources regarding tone : nama : nam a (1, 4), nam a (13) yadda : yad da (1, 4), yed da (13) yaafa : yaa fa (1), yaa fa (4, 13) zay :zay (1), zay (4, 13)

Nouns
Zarma	English	Pronunciation ^[1]
buuru, buuro	bread	buu ru
ciiri, ciiro	salt	cii ri
faakaaray, faakaara	conversation, visit	faa kaa* ray*
foobu, foobo	clay water pot, earthenware jar; by extension water jug	foo bu
haw ji, haw jiyo	butter	haw ji, haw ji yo
ibar, ibaro	enemy	i ba re
ji, jiyo	grease, oil, rendered fat	ji, ji yo
lordi, lordo	commandment, order	*lor* di
nanay, nanayo	trustworthiness	*naa* nay, naa nay* o*
taali, taalo	wrong, error, mistake, fault (blameworthy)	taa li
zay, zayo	thief, robber	zay, zay o ^$

Notes:
$	Indicaties that accent and/or tone may be different, perhaps related to region and/or dialect. For 'zay' there is no consistency between sources regarding tone : zay : zay, zay o (1), zay (4, 13)

Adverbs, adjectives, etc.
Zarma	English	Pronunciation ^[1]
ce ga (adverb)	afoot	ce gâ
do (preposition)	by means of	do ^*
dõ (conjunction)	then (in that case), therefore (rarely)]	dõ ^*
hala (prepositional uss; precedes object)	until, till, to the time that, as far as	hâ la
jerga (preposition)	beside, alongside	jer ga
tilas (adverb; noun)	necessity, must, should	ti las
walla (interjection)	by God short (for wallahi I swear by God); up on my word, forsooth (oath used by most Zarmas, at the end of many statements, not realy requiring an oath); learn to distinguish it from 'wala' (or)	*wal* la
waati kaŋ (conjunction)	whenever, when (in general in future)	waa ti kaŋ
ya din (conjunction)	thus, so (French 'ainsi')	yá din
zama (conjunctival use in references to time and with subjunctive)	so that, in order that	za ma ^*

Notes:
*	This word has different meanings depending on pronunctiation.

^[1]	Legend for pronunciation (see Pronunciation guide for details)
	italic	tone is high
	under score	tone is low
	vowel with ^	long vowel, e.g., ê
	vowel with `	short vowel, e.g. è
	bold	syllable on which the principle emphasis falls

10.C. Greetings (fooyaŋey)

In earlier lessons we have learned to greet an individual and a group, to greet a person at his work and to say welcome and goodbye. We also learned to thank someone and to ask pardon. We learned the initial greetings, about the greetings that may be used after the initial "hello" and the inquiry about their night or day and about market talks. The previous lesson we learned to say goodbye and to welcome someone.

This is the last lesson about greetings and special attention is given to the often used 'Barka'.

1. After a visit

	Zarma	English
Person A	Fonda faakaaray	Greeting with the conversation / visit
Person B	Ngoyya.	Thanks.

2. Condolence

	Zarma	English
Person A	Fonda tilas	Greetings with the necessity.
Person B	Tilas no.	It is a necessity.

3. The return of someone

	Zarma	English
stay-behind	Barka.	Blessings,
Traveller
Option 1	Barka day.	Blessings only.
Option 2	A s'ibarey ga.	Not for the enemies.
Option 3	Barka si n'ibarey ga.	No blessings for the enemies.
Option 4	Barka s'ibare ga.	No blessings for an enemy.

The correctly answer when quickly spoken is not 'a si barka'.

In general, any greeting beginning with a 'barka' uses one of these replies. The first is best and probably most commonest. If you do not wish to refuse blessings on your enemies, you should say: 'Ba ni ibarey ga', i.e. 'Even on your enemies'.

10.D. Grammar

Subjects in this lesson:

Subjunctive
Verb forms in conditional sentences

10.D.1. Subjunctive

The subjunctive mood is used to express the speaker's attitude about the likely hood or factuality of a given situation. This is not actual action, but possible action. The subjunctive in Zarma is formed with the particle 'ma' in the regular place for an auxiliary (particle). The following examples are some of its uses. In English an infinitive is used in many of these places.

There are six situations in which the subjunctive mood is used in Zarma, these are when:

to express a desire;
to admonish against something;
to consent, to forbid, etc.;
impersonal verbs are used;
conjunctions 'hala' or 'zama' are used to express 'so that';
asking to do or to don't.

Expressing a desire

You may express a desire with the verb 'ba' (to desire, to want, to like). The subjunctive is only used when 'ba' expresses a desire and not in other cases. Contrary to the English grammar, the infinitive takes its own subject, though we do not translate it with a separate subject.

Zarma	English
Ay ga ba ay ma koy fu suba.	I want to go home tomorrow Literally: I want that I go home tomorrow.
A si ba nga izo ma goy ne.	He doesn't want his child to work here.

Admonishing against something

The subjunctive is used when admonishing a person against a thing which might happen.

Zarma	English
Haggoy¹ a ma si kaŋ ni boŋ!	Take care it doesn't fall on your head!
Guna ay se i ma s' ay zay!	Watch out for me they don't robe me!

¹ Haggoy is imperative mood (see Lesson 11.D.2)

Consenting, forbidding, ect.

After verbs of consenting, forbidding, asking, commanding, etcetera the subjunctive mood is used in Zarma.

Zarma	English
Ay si naŋ i m' a te ya din.	I won't allow it to be done thus.
I mana yadda a ma koy.	They wouldn't agree for him to go.
Iri si taa i ma kond' a.	We won't accept for them to take him away.
Ay n' a ŋwaaray a m' ay no dala.	I begged him to give me a dela (five francs).
Iri ci a se a ma sobay hal' a kulu ma ban.	We told him to continue until it's all finished.

Impersonal verbs

After many impersonal verbs the subjunctive is used as well.

Zarma	English
Tilas ay ma koy sohõ.	I must go now.
A ga tilas ay ma koy sohõ.	It is necessary to me to go now.
A bisa iri ma s' a ŋwa.	We 'd better not eat it.
A ga hima ni ma taalo yaaf' a se.	You ought to forgive him the fault. (Literally: It will be fitting [if] you forgive him the fault.)
Ni ga hima ka taalo yaaf' a se.	You ought to forgive him the fault. (Literally: You will be fitting to forgive him the fault.)

Conjunctions 'hala' and 'zama'

After the conjunctions 'hala' and 'zama' when they mean 'so that' or 'in order that' the subjunctive mood is used in Zarma.

Zarma	English
Ay ga nooru ceeci hal' ay ma day ŋwari.	I will seek money in order that I may buy food.
I na hanso wi zama a ma si boro fo nama koyne.	They killed the dog so that he won't bite anyone anymore.

Asking to do or to don't

When asking a question as to whether the speaker should do some action or not, the subjunctive form is used. There is an idiom for this type of sentence too. The personal pronoun 'ay' and the auxiliary 'ma' may be jointed together to 'ya'.

Zarma	English
Ay ma furo?	I should enter?
Ya furo?

Ay ma kande gunguri, wala?	Should I bring eggs?
Ya kande gunguri, wala?

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10.D.2. Verb forms in conditional sentences

The subjunctive mood is not used in conditional sentences, but rather the indicative. However, in complex sentences beginning with an 'if' clause, the verb in this clause has the past (completed) tense form. Whereas the verb in the principle clause has the present future (non-completed) form, regardless of what tenses these clauses really represent to us. This may be because the action of the 'if' clause must always be completed before the action of the 'therefore' clause can happen.

English	Zarma
Combination of two past tenses
If I had known it was he, then I should not have left.	Nd'a y bay nga no, dõ ay si dira
If rain had not come this year, then there would have been no grain.	Nda hari mana kaa haraŋ, dõ hayni si te.
Combination of past en future
Even though he robed me, I will trust him.	Ba a n' ay zay, ay ga naanay a ga.
If they have kept my word, they will keep your word.	Nd' i n' ay sanno yaari, i g' araŋ sanno yari.
Combination of present and future
If I don't get it done today, I'll get it tomorrow.	Nd' ay mana du a hunkuna, ay ga du a suba.
Combination of two future tenses
I'm going to town. If I'll see Kimba, I'll tell him to come to you.	Ay ga koy kwaara. Nd'ay di Kimba, ay ga ci a se a ma kaa ni do.
If I'll finish it, I'll bring it	Nd' ay n' a ban, ay ga kand'a.