Notes on Language

I have always been interested in foreign languages and linguisitics and have had the opportunity to study three different languages during the last four months. I regret not taking a linguistics class during college (maybe next time I go back to school) but still enjoy looking at how language is made up. I just finished reading Made in America by Bill Bryson which describes how the English language in America evolved. Fascinating read and got me thinking more about the languages I am learning. There are a few little random things I wanted to share.

I find French hard enough to pronounce especially since most words do not sound anything like the letters used to compose them. I think most people would agree with me. Its even harder here were Burkinabe use very different pronunciations then the French for some words and sounds. One noticeable example is words with the ch sound. The Bissa (and Mossi) don't use this sound and so have difficulty pronouncing it. Instead they say s. For example chevre (goat) is pronounced sevre and chien (dog) is pronounced like sa. They don't understand me when I say the ch sound and I still have difficulty understanding what they are saying.

Another thing about French here in Burkina is that many people like to use on with the third person singular. I think its normally used in French much like the informal you or one is used in English. Here though it can be used for multiple subjects including we, you, I, and he/she so I often struggle to understand what exactly someone is trying to say when they use this. They might be saying let's go, you go, or I am going by saying on va.

Even when speaking French, I have noticed people occassionally throw in Moore or Bissa words. This is especially true with commands or speaking directly to someone. Fo is you in Moore and whenever anyone is telling or asking someone to do something, they will say fo + verb so come here is fo viens ici. It took me a while to understand why everyone was using fo!!

I am studying Bissa now and love my tutor but still find it a challenging language to read and write. The Bissa alphabet has 31 letters, the 26 used in English plus several others. They each have individual sounds but I can't tell the difference between some which makes it difficult for me to pronounce words correctly. My tutor will often say that I am actually saying a different word than I mean to because my pronuniciation is off just a little.

Bissa is a very regional language and there are several different dialects. My village speaks a different dialect than our regional capital located about 15 kilometers away. They have a little different accent and some words are different. Since I can't speak much yet I mostly notice this in the greetings but my understanding is the dialects are quite different.

I also wanted to share a few word compositions that I have found interesting. I am writing them with our English alphabet since I dont know how to type the other letters on the computer and don't think you would understand anyways!

Parro is house
Parza is husband
Parzano is family

I guess you can see that in Bissa culture husbands are the center of the family and that family and home are closely related.

To add on to this:
lotoparro is hospital or village health center
lotaro is doctor

So doctor and house make up a hospital!

Moore is similiar with zakramba for family, and zaka for house.

One last note is about the name I have yelled to me everywhere I go. In Mexico its gringa, in Kenya its mzungu, and here in Burkina Faso, white people or foreignors are called Nasara. I read somewhere that this term comes from Nazarene, as in Jesus of Nazarene so is referring to Christians. Since European and American missionaries brought Christianity to West Africa, its no surprise that this term evolved to be used so frequently.

OK hope I didn't bore you all but thought some people might find these tidbits as interesting as I have!!