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Mandinka
Mandinka
The Mandinka are an ethnic group primarily found in southern Mali, The Gambia, southern Senegal, and eastern Guinea. They are one of the largest Enthno-linguistic groups in Africa, and are descendents of the Mali Empire. The Mandinka people primarily adhere to Islam, and are mostly subsistence farmers.
Mandinka society has a rich oral tradition, with knowledge passed from generation to generation through mythologies, histories, and stories.
The Mandinka peoples made up a large part of the slave trade to Brazil, the US, and the Caribbean. Their culture has influenced African-American culture in many ways.
Mandinka peoples have naming traditions that children are named on the 8th day after birth. They are almost always given the name of a respected family member.
Word Order: Mandinka uses a subject-object-verb (SOV) structure. Instead of saying “I eat the food,” Mandinka would say “I the food eat.”
Tones: Mandinka is a tonal language with two tones: high and low, which are crucial for meaning.
Writing: It is written using three alphabets:
Officially, the Latin alphabet is used
The traditional script, N'Ko, is also used in some communities.
In rural areas, most are not literate in the Latin alphabet though most can read the local variation of the Arabic script due to Q’uranic schooling.
Sounds: Mandinka has a relatively simple vowel system, and lacks certain English sounds, such as "z" and "v," which can make pronunciation challenging for Mandinka speakers learning English.
Useful Phrases
Useful Phrases
Good morning: I ni tele
Good day: I ni wura
Good night: I ni su
What is it: Mune mu?
What do you want? I lafita mune la?
Come here: Naa jaŋ
Benedictions: These are a key part of everyday interactions and can be used to say goodbye, wish someone well, or close a conversation. They often begin with "Ala ye" or "Ala ka", which means "May God". You can respond to a benediction with "amiina" which means "amen".
Resources
Resources
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