Lexical items in mandingo (dissertation) new1

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION AND GENERAL BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

1.1 STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND ITS JUSTIFICATION FOR
THE STUDY

Man’s interaction with his speech community can only be effectively enhanced through
communication, that is to say, language is always seen as an inseparable partner of man from
cradle to grave: whenever man finds himself, he is always accompanied by language which
underlined the significance of it to man, because it is seen as an instrument through which man
express his emotions, thought, feelings and even finds comfort in times of discomfort and
emotional grief.

Mandingo is one of the many languages predominantly spoken in the West African sub-region. It
is arguably the language with the biggest historical effect on the West African sub-region.
Despite this impact on the region, researchers have proved that, the, the Mandingo language is
still a minority language in sierra Leone and much of what has been said about the Mandingo
people in sierra Leone are from oral tradition, little have been written down.

But even though this is the case, it is still a vital sierra Leonean language that is contributing
linguistically and none linguistically, that is to say, it has impacted greatly on other local
languages, especially the krio language in enriching and increasing it lexicons. That is more the
reason it is extremely necessary that a comprehensive and critical study about the lexical items of
the Mandingo language, with a focus on it nouns, verbs (main), adjectives, and adverbs is done,
so that linguistics student, native and non native speakers of Mandingo will have the opportunity
to learn and understand Mandingo lexical items and appreciate the rich nature of the language’s
lexicons and also observe the way this concept is attested in Mandingo.

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1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The objectives are as follows:

i. To identify and establish the elements that make up the lexical items in the Mandingo
language

ii. To make a critical and linguistic analysis of the operational system of lexical items in
Mandingo.

iii. To show how the lexical items in the Mandingo language are formed and how they are
used syntactically in the language in order to enhance semantic impact.

iv. To stimulate and foster research in Mandingo.

1.3 HYPOTHESIS

This research shall prove that the Mandingo language like any other language constitute of
lexical items and can be syntactically arranged to enhance effective and meaningful
communication.

1.4 MOTIVE OF THE STUDY

This study is done with the intention that it will serve as a beneficial and significant help to
students and linguistics researchers as it could be use as a source of reference in the
Mandingo language on the following:

i. Lexical items in Mandingo.

ii. Internal structure and arrangement of Mandingo Lexicon.

iii. Word classes.

iv. Lexical variation in Mandingo.

Also the researcher is with the notion that this research will be useful to non-linguistics students
and researchers in the area of historical background and life of the Mandingo people in general.
It is intended that others will equally find comfort in reading and understanding this research, as

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how people could normally read and understand other literatures. Hence, this research will serve
as a vital source for further research not only for linguistic student but for all.

1.5 SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH

As the topic implies, this research examine the lexical items in Mandingo, within the context of
which the researcher mainly focus on nouns, adjectives, main verbs, and adverbs. This research
reviewed findings about the operational aspect of the Mandingo lexical items as they relate to
noun classes, verb tenses and aspect, various adjectives and the formation and types of adverbs.

1.6 SOURCES OF DATA AND METHODOLOGY

This research sourced data from both literate and illiterate L1 speakers of Mandingo with the
variation of both young and elderly speakers.
Data are collected from the above source with a tape recorder and whiles notes were also taken
down from interviews and perfunctory discussion on the topic of the research.

Also the research made used of data related to the topic on textbook, dissertations, theses,
published materials on the internet and lectured notes.
The data collected from textbooks, dissertations and etc, are used to explain the concept of the
topic, as examples, and some are quoted directly from the above sources.

1.7 LIMITATIONS OF THE METHODOLOGY AND THE STUDY

Firstly, most of the people interviewed especially the uneducated lack linguistic knowledge.
Thus, it was difficult to find out about some of the necessary details. For instance the uneducated
people interviewed cannot tell the researcher head-on what are the Mandingo adverbs and nouns,
or how Mandingo attested verb tense and aspect and whether nouns got possessive or not.

This limitation was overcome by the researcher by breaking down the linguistic terms to simple
words and phrases like action words for verbs and names of places, things, and animals for
nouns. And for some difficult concepts, the researcher asked the uneducated people interviewed
lots of Mandingo sentences to puzzle out the concept in Mandingo.

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Secondly, most of the writings available in the library on the Mandingo language are extensively
done in French. This pose another big challenge to the researcher to either finding an English
version or preferably getting a linguistic copy accurately translated to maintain it originality.
This challenge was curbed by the researcher through the help of French colleagues that are vast
in translation.

Thirdly, another limitation faced was the fact that the researcher is not a L1 speaker of the
language understudy. Being a non-native speaker was problematic for the researcher because the
researcher has to depend heavily on various native speakers, who were almost impossible to get
in one place at a time to ensure correct and confirm source.

This limitation was repressed by a simple handwriting questionnaire in both English and
Mandingo put together by the researcher and other colleagues that are L1 speakers of Mandingo.
And finally, another major constraint met during the research was finance. Being a student
researcher with little financial support was very hard to produce and reproduce photo copy or
even go to the internet café and get materials. Transportation was also a constraint.
The above constraint were overcome by producing and reproducing chapters by handwriting and
also the researcher make sure much was done in a day to cut down on the cost.

1.8 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE MANDINGO

The Mandingo or Mandinka people are one of the largest ethnic groups in the African sub-
continent, based in West Africa. The ethnic group is represented today by approximately eleven
million people. The history of the people is as interesting as their culture and belief system.

In Sierra Leone Mandingo is a major ethnic group officially constitutes 7.8% of Sierra Leone’s
population. The Mandingo in Sierra Leone shares the same culture and language with the
Mandinka people in West Africa. The Mandingo language also known as Mandinka is their
native language. This language is also spoken by millions of Mandinka people is Mali, Senegal,
The Gambia, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Guinea Bissau and Chad; it is the main
language of the Gambia.

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The Mandingo language belongs to the Mande Tan sub group of the Mande group which is also,
a sub family of languages in the Niger-Congo component of the Niger-Kordofanian family of
languages and is thus fairly similar to Bambara. In Sierra Leone and a majority of other areas it
is a tonal language with two tones: low and high, but the particular variety spoken in The
Gambia and Senegal is a non-tonal and uses a pitch accent.

The origin of the Mandingo language can be limned as far back as to the people of the ancient
empire of Mali. This bunch of a language is said to have its origin in Kita, in the North West of
Bamako.

Historically, it is believed that the Mandingo people in Sierra Leone migrated from neighboring
Guinea through the northern borders of Sierra Leone. This could be traced back between 1840 to
about 1900, when a Mandinka warrior called Samori toure had defeated the Limba led by
Alimamy Suluku and had conquered a large territory in Limba areas in Northern Sierra Leone.
The Mandinka, who were called and known as Mandingo by the colonial master – British, were
later amalgamated with the other natives and were found in many parts of Sierra Leone
including the capital – Freetown which was largely dominated by the Creole people.

The Mandingo population is largely concentrated in Koinadugu District in the north, particularly
in Kabala and Falaba where they form the largest ethnic group. The Mandingo also makes up the
majority of the population of Yengema, the second largest town in Kono District in the eastern
Sierra Leone.

1.9 LIFE OF THE MANDINGO

Mandingos in Sierra Leone live in family-related compounds in traditional rural villages. Their
villages are fairly autonomous and self-ruled, being led by a council of upper class elders and
chief who function as a first among equals.

Traditionally, Mandingo society is hierarchical or “caste”-based with three divisions: nobles;
(families of former kings and generals), the artisans (musicians and other freeborn) at the middle
class and finally, the vassals (“Jonw”/Jongo) at the bottom. In modern days this difference has
eroded, corresponding to the economic fortunes of the group.

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The Mandingo societies are patrilineal, patriarchal and of clan culture. The people are
predominantly traders and rural subsistence farmer who rely on groundnut, rice, millet and small
scale husbandry for their livelihood. During the raining season men plant peanut as their main
cash crop; peanut is also the staple diet of the Mandingos.

The Mandingos are predominantly Muslim since the 13 th century. Today, 99% of the Mandingos
in Sierra Leone are Muslims. Many in the rural areas combine Islamic beliefs with certain pre-
Islamic, animistic beliefs, such as the presence of the spirits, the use of Qur’anic verses written
on slip of paper (sɛbɛ) and amulet for protection.

In rural areas western education’s impact is minimal; the literacy rate in Roman script among
these people I is quite low. However, more than half of the adult population can read the local
Arabic script; Qur’anic school for children where this is taught are quite more common.

The Mandingo culture includes varied rich musical and spiritual traditions. They continue a long
oral tradition of educating their children about their history through stories, proverbs and songs
handed down through time. This cultural value and tradition has been kept alive by the musical
families known as the Jeliba. The Jelibas serve as the cultural and traditional ambassadors of
Mandingos. They are “praise” singers that play drums and the Kora – an exclusive Mandingo
traditional instrument with twenty one strings or more.

In Mandingo land marriages are traditional arranged by family members instead of the bride and
groom. This practice is particularly prevalent in the rural areas. Kola nuts are formally sent by
the suitor’s family to the male elders of the bride-to-be and if accepted, the courtship begins.

1.10 THE SOUND SYSTEM OF MANDINGO

The sound system of a language is simply referred to the orthography of the language. Like most
other African language, the Mandingo orthography is phonemic by nature, that is to say, the
transcribed symbols and the letters are the same. Both the sound and the letter is the same.
Before the advent of the Europeans the Arabic alphabet-based orthography was widely used by
the Mandingos because of the fact that the Mandingos are predominantly Muslims and the
subsequent learning of the Arabic scripts as part of their religious education. After colonialism
the Arabic alphabet-based orthography was replaced by the Latin orthography. The basis of

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Latinized Mandingo orthography was established at the UNESCO expert meeting in Bamako,
(Mali) in 1966. Various governments with Mandingo population have standardized variants of
this orthography. However even though this was the case, majority of the native Mandingo
speakers who are literate in Arabic phonology can approximate the Latin orthography and the
Arabic-based orthography.

In addition, the Pan-Mande writing system, the N’ko alphabet, invented in 1949, is often use in
north-east Guinea, and bordering community in Ivory coast and Mali but not in Sierra Leone.

The Mandingo sound system is made up of twenty-seven (27) symbols; seven (7) vowels, sixteen
(16) consonants and four (4) diphthongs.

Mandingo vowels

Mandingo vowels are the speech sounds that are produced without an audible friction in the flow
of air in the oral cavity. In other words, there is no direct contact of the articulators in the
production of the sound.

Here is the linguistic representation of the Mandingo
vowels.

Front Central
Back

Close – i u

Mid close – e o

Open mid – ɛ ɔ

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Open – a

Below is an illustration of phonetic of Mandingo vowel phonemes.

[i] = front close vowel as in
[i] = you.
[Ji] = water.

[e] = front mid half close vowel as in
[kelen] = one
[fen[ = thing.

[ɛ] = front mid half open vowel as in
[kɛmɛ] = a hundred.
[Gbɛ] = white.

[a] = front open vowel as in
[saba] = three.
[Bara] = work.

[u] = back close vowel as in
[julu] = rope.
[Kuru] = gem stone.
[o] = back mid half open vowel as in
[folon] = play.
[Bon] = house.

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[ɔ] = back mid half open vowel as in
[bɔrɔ] = bag
[tɔɔ] = name

Note: generally the Mandingo vowels have the same sounds as the Italian vowels. Double
vowels are use as a mere indication for emphasis and to indicate longer sound of the particular
single vowel. For example these vowels;

/a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, is made long by doubling the vowels as in taa, lee, sii, soo and muu.

The doubling of vowels is important in distinguishing two words which might otherwise be
ambiguous of confusing as in:

Fo = to say
Foo = to miss
Ye = to see
Yee = there

Mandingo diphthongs

A diphthong is a combination of two vowels, (one gliding towards the other usually involving a
quick but smooth movement from one vowel to another) which are realized as a single phonetic
unit. The following below are the Mandingo diphthongs.

au = diphthong beginning with front opened vowel move to the back closed vowel as in
‘sauda’ (kettle)

ai = diphthong beginning with front opened vowel and move to the front closed vowel as
in
‘sani’ (basket)

oi = diphthong beginning with back mid half opened vowel and move to the front closed as
in ‘soiyinia’ (this morning)

ei = diphthong beginning with front mid closed vowel and move to the front closed vowel
as in ‘sei’ (to return)

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Mandingo consonants

A consonant is a speech sound with or without vibration of the vocal cords in which the escape
of air through the mouth or nose is at least partly obstructed by the articulators.

Below are the Mandingo consonants and their realization.

CONSONANTS PHONETIC DESCRIPTIONS EXAMPLE AND MEANING

/p/ voiceless bilabial plosive pani (pan)
/b/ voiced bilabial plosive bori (run)
/t/ voiceless alveolar plosive taa (fire)
/d/ voiced alveolar plosive deni (kid)
/k/ voiceless velar plosive kasi (cry)
/g/ voiced velar plosive gato (lake)
/f/ voiceless labio-dental fricative fani (clothes)
/v/ voiced labio-dental fricative
/s/ voiceless alveolar fricative saa (sheep)
/z/ voiced alveolar fricative zamzam (zamzam)
/m/ voiced bilabial nasal mɔɔ (a person)
/n/ voiced alveolar nasal ninsii (cow)
/ŋ/ voiced palatal nasal ŋ (I)
/j/ voiced palatal lateral julu (rope)
/l/ voiced alveolar lateral lii (honey)
/r/ voiced alveolar trill kɔrɔ (old)
/h/ voiced glottal trill haj (hajj)
/w/ labio-dental approximant waa (to go)

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Note: The phonemes /p/, /z/, lack full phonemic status. For /p/ it is more present now due to
borrowing. It is only nearly characterized with respect to idiophones. Also /h/ is borrowed from
Arabic. The phonemes /v/, /z/, /g/, and /q/ are not present in Mandingo. They are only used in
Mandingo in borrowed words

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 INTRODUCTION

This chapter entails the review of the literature. Here, the researcher would critically discuss the
views of the authors on the issue of lexical item and the open class category.

By critical discuss, the researcher means giving credits where credits is due, and pointing out
flaws where flaws are discovered in the process of this review. Having done so, the researcher
would then give his own points of view – an attempt to rectify the flaws discovered.

However, the review does not attempt to cover all literature on the study of lexical item and the
open class category. It is of course impossible to do so in an undergraduate dissertation chiefly
concerned with the study to the lexical items in the Mandingo language. This means that one has
to be selective in one’s choice of materials; works of authors which are not all that relevant to the
study are not considered. Those that have some direct bearings to the topic and available are
reviewed.

The works that would be reviewed are as follows:

Carson berndsen (1993)
R. D. Huddleston: (1984)
Wallwork J.F (1985:68)
R.H. Robin (1989:214)
Joe Pemagbei (1997:6)
George Yule (1985:19)

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Penny Ur (1988:21)
Wikipedia (2011)
encyclopedia Britannica (2011)
Britannica dictionary

2.2 LEXICAL ITEM

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia:

A lexical item (or lexical unit) is a single word or chain
of words that forms the basic elements of a language’s
lexicon (vocabulary)… “Cat”, “traffic light”… and “it’s
raining cats and dogs” lexical items can be generally
understood to convey a single meaning, much as a
lexeme, but are not limited to single words.

It could be understand that lexical item from the above definition are any word or words
conveying a single meaning and to which an affix could be attached to form a derivation or an
inflection, or to which another word is attached to form a compound word. The above definition
gives a lot about lexical item but what is lacking is the fact that lexical item is not just limited to
a word or chain of words.

The term lexical item is wide and covers other items which are not actually words but give
meaning. For instance the affixes: “-er”, “-ment”, “re-” and “-ly” are not words but convey
meaning in the following words – establisher, establishment, recent and recently. Thus, the
researcher agrees with this definition partially due to the fact that this definition only considered
words as lexical items.

Looking at lexical items from semiotics (sign language) point of view, berndsen has maintained
that:

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The notion lexical is used to convey any lexical sign type but also other inventorisable
items such as affixes and phonemes, whose lexical status in linguistics is controversial.

Carson berndsen: (1993)

Lexical items as far as berndsen is concerned transcends beyond words. They are items that are
signs and also all other details such as affixes and phonemes that create meaning in languages.
The limitation of this definition is that even though it gives more insight into the term lexical
items, it fails to indicate that it could also includes word or chain of words that are considered as
a item due to it communication value.

R. D Huddleston also presented his definition on the term lexical items:

“A lexical item … may contain more than one lexeme or word: these are idioms such as bury the
hatchet ‘renounce a quarrel’… lexical item may also be the preferred term for a word, words, or
a phrase whose meaning is not deducible from the meaning of its parts; e.g. greenhouse, bucket
shop (normally dealt with as compounds)..” Lexical item may also be used to mean a word form,
such as an irregular inflectional form (of a lexeme) that would be expected to have a separate
dictionary entry.”

R. D. Huddleston: (1984)

Huddleston’s definition like the definition from Wikipedia place emphases on words, but also
went further with the addition of lexeme, which in most cases are interchangeably used as lexical
items. Huddleston however made it clear that lexeme and lexical item are two distinct concepts
in linguistic. According to him, lexical item is a word, words, or a phrase whose meaning is not
derived from the meaning of it parts whiles lexeme reserved for the ‘word’ which has a group of
variants (e.g. see, saw, seen, etc.).

This definition is in place according to the researcher to some extent but this definition also
limits the wider concept of lexical item.

For instance in Mandingo language the lexical item “kɛ” which means man in isolation and in
another context, is actually not a word in the sentence below but help the adjective “jona”
(quick) in the sentence to be an adverb – quickly.

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Damuni kɛ jona
/eat/ /quick/

(Eat quickly)

In the basic concept of syntax ……………………. Maintain that:

Part of our linguistic knowledge involves knowledge of a large number
of words. Which constitute our vocabulary…lexicon… the elements of
lexicon are what we might think of as words...Syntactic theories have
slightly different conceptions of what a ‘lexical item’ is, and so it is not
always safe to think of the lexicon as just a stock of words… the lexicon
of a generative grammar may contain a listing of various affixes, such as
… (the affix that distinguishes the sheep walks from the sheep walk).

Basic concept of syntax

According to ……………… lexical item are all the element of the lexicon of a language and not
necessary words or chain or words but all items that contribute to the morphological and
syntactic structure that enhance meaning. The researcher extremely agrees with… even thought
he fails to mention sign and other gesture that contribute to meaning.

According to J.F Wallwork (1985:68) maintained that, there are two categories of lexical items.

It is necessary to make a distinction between two different types
of words; sometime called lexical and grammatical words…

Wallwork J.F (1985:68)

In his book Wallwork was trying to make a dichotomy of lexical items. Indeed there are two
categories of lexical items – grammatical words which are also called function words, due to
their performance in syntactic structure and lexical words which are called content words.
Content words are words that belong to the open class category of lexical items. These are the
words that are responsible to convey the meaning of sentence whiles the function words are
responsible to modify these meanings conveyed by the content words.

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2.3 OPEN CLASS CATEGORY

The term open class category is also referred to as open endedness or open word class. This
covers lexical items that are a sub-group under the lexical system of a language. An open is class
is a word that accepts the addition of new items, through such process as compounding,
derivation, coining, borrowing etc. open classes are the flexible side of a language. They can be
changed, replaced, or dropped from the lexicon.

R.H. Robin (1989:214) propounded on the word classes, thus

Word classes may be closed in membership; all languages
have open class… an open class is one whose membership
is in principle unlimited varying from time to time and
between one speaker and another most loan words ( word
taken from foreign languages) and newly created go into
classes… nouns, adjectives, adverbs and verbs are open
classes

Beyond all reasonable doubts, the researcher agrees with Robin. The open class is potentially
infinite, since it is continually being expanded and language exchange continues to flourish
among individuals and speech communities.

In English the open class category includes;

Nouns

Main verbs (not auxiliary verbs)

Adjectives

Adverbs

Interjections

Interjections are normally formed as new words standing in for sounds and are added not only
from technical background but also from comics and subtitling. It is on these cases we encounter
such – the noise of motor revving, sirens, mechanical sounds. Examples here are vroom, va-va-
voom, zoom, grrh and so on.

In Mandingo, the open class includes the following:

Nouns

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Verbs (main)

Adjectives

Adverbs

Interjections are not attested as belonging to class category in the Mandingo language.

Lexical words belong to an open set it is virtually
impossible to list them exhaustively, and it is
always possible to replace them by other and
to make new ones. They will usually be nouns
verbs, adjectives, or adverbs.

Wallwork J. F. (1985:68)

To a great extent, Wallwork is right. The Mandingo language agrees with him completely that
only these four word classes listed are flexible enough to be replaced by other classes; from one
particular class of word a new word can emerge. This gives the language freshness as new words
are readily available to be changed, replaced to make new ones. For instance, in English the noun
suffix (-ian) can be suffixed to the verb ‘guard’ to suddenly change it from verb to a noun.

This is also applicable in the Mandingo language. Examples are as follows:

Noun Noun Derived word

lɔkɔli + de = lɔkɔlide (noun)
(school) (child) (pupil)

Noun Suffix Derived word

Yele + li = yeleli (verb)
(laugh) (ing) (laughing)

Verb Noun Derived word

Gbodo + diya = gbododiya (noun)
(cooking) (place) (kitchen)

Noun Adjective Derived word

De + kuda = dekuda (adjective)
(child) (new) (newborn)

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Adjective Noun Derived word

Saya + kɔndɔ = sayakɔndɔ
(funeral) (greeting) (condolence)

Joe Pemagbei: (1997:6) also tries to advance a detail analysis of the open class category. He state
that:

Some word classes are open, that is, new words
can be added to the class as the need arises. The
class of nouns, for instance, is potentially infinite,
since it is continually being expanded as new
products are developed and new ideas, in the 20th
century, development in computer technology have
Given rise to many new nouns… internet, website,
email, newsgroup, bitmap, modem and new verb such
as download, upload, reboot, right click, double click…

In this regards, the researcher totally agrees with Pemagbei even though the processes through
which this words are incorporated into the open class category are not being highlighted, but he
succeeds in giving a through explanation of the features of the open class category: the open
class will be potentially infinite since it is continually being expanded as new discoveries, new
products and ideas explored.

George Yule (1985:19) has advanced his concept about the open class category as he says:

Open endedness is an aspect of language which is linked
to the fact that the potential number of utterance in any
given language is infinite

In Yule’s definition of the open class category, open endedness (open class category) is not
restricted to a number of language. He established that, there are open endedness to any given

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language. The researcher agrees with him for the fact that based on his explanation, the
Mandingo language can be attested to open endedness. However looking at open class category
on a different scale, it can be noticed that Yule concentrated on the unlimited utterances on
language and speech, whilst other linguist were specifically naming the word classes which
could actually be considered as an open class category.

A task that is open ended allows for lots of different learner
response during its performance, and is therefore conducive
to the production of varied and original ideas.

Ur, penny (1988:21)

Ur and Yule to some extent share similar views which have to do with language and speech.

In Ur’s definition the use of ‘different learner responses’ is a total break away because he was
concentrating on language learning in which case unlimited learners responses can be classified
as open endedness.

Conclusively, it could be noted that all the works of the various linguist quoted above make a
significant impact on attesting the open class category in languages generally and on the
Mandingo language to be specific. It is as a result of the open class in any language that makes
the language to be dynamic.

It must be noted however that, there are open classes which are known as lexical category to
generative grammarian in Mandingo for which members of these category are nouns, adjectives,
adverbs and verbs. And there are closed word classes which are referred to as grammatical
words. They are word classes that performed as functional word to enhance the grammar of the
language. These take the form of prepositions, conjunctions, pronouns, and article and to some
extent interjection.

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CHAPTER THREE

NOUNS AND ADJECTIVES

3.1 NOUN

The lexical item – noun is very vital in almost all the languages of the world for which the Mandingo
language cannot be an exception. As stated in chapter two of this dissertation, noun is a word class that
account for on the open class category in the Mandingo language. Therefore nouns are content words.
They have meaning as independent words and new words can be generated in Mandingo with this part of
speech by word formations, which contribute immensely to the freshness of the Mandingo language.

According to Glencoe (2002);

A noun is a word that names a person,
a place, a thing or an idea
Glencoe (2002:81) grammar and composition handbook

Noun can also be defined as according to Betty Kirkpatrick (2009)

Noun is used to refer to a person,
thing, or quality
Kirkpatrick B (2009:72)

The definition of noun is simple put in the MacMillan English; thinking and writing process

A noun can name a person, place
or thing (living and non living)
that occupies space.

The aforementioned definitions of a noun by the various authors are almost the same except for the
difference for ‘idea’ and ‘quality’ in the first and second definitions.

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A noun in Mandingo can be defined as a name of anything – a person, an animal, a place, a thing, an idea
or a concept. Mandingo nouns assume various shapes depending on whether they are: definite or
indefinite and singular or plural.

For easy understanding of the Mandingo noun as according to the various definitions, a list of examples is
as follow:

NOUNS (PERSON)

MANDINGO ENGLISH EQUIVALENT

Fudumuso Wife
Deni Kid
Kee Man
Nfa Father
Nnaa Mother
Mbori Uncle
Mansa chief

NOUNS (PLACE)


Sɛnɛ Farm
Bon House
Sila Road
Kɔgidada/Kɔgida Waterside

NOUNS (LIVING THINGS)


Baa Goat
Saa Sheep
Nisi Cow
Bamba Crocodile
Ulu Dog

NOUNS (IDEA)

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Boribori Chaos
Manamanah not serious
Keleya Jealousy
sayakɔndɔ Condolence

A noun can also be used as subject and object of a Mandingo sentence. This could be confirmed by the
examples below:

1. Boŋ tit ii yeŋ a bara wa sɛnɛdɔ.
/house/owner/is not/here/he/went/to the farmland/
the house owner are not around he has gone to the farm.

2. Deŋninlu di wa lɔ kɔ lila
children/will go/school/to
the children will go to school.

In sentence 1 the bold underlined Mandingo noun “boŋ tit” (the house owner) is attested as the subject of
the sentence, while in sentence 2 the bold underlined Mandingo noun “l ɔk ɔlila’ (school) is the subject of
the sentence.

3.2 NOUN CLASS

Noun is one of the most significant word classes in many languages and Mandingo is one such languages.
Many nouns in Mandingo are derived from verbs through suffixation. Some other nouns are obtained
from borrowing from other languages.

In the Mandingo language, unlike the English language, there is the attestation of noun class system,
which is also a linguistic phenomenon in the Fula, Themne, and Kiswahili languages. Mandingo is a class
language with varied agreement system. It uses suffixes on the nouns. These suffixes indicate the definite
and the indefinite singular and plural forms of nouns. These suffixes are called “noun classes”.

This is a concept in which each noun class carries a particular suffix or affixation to identify the class to
which that noun belongs.

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The following are some of the commonest noun classes in the Mandingo noun class system:

- Ti possessor of/ ownership

- La occupation or character of person and place

- Ka place of origin or where a person comes from

- Du place of or land of

- Diya place of something or occupation and instrument

- IA abstract concept

- Nii diminutive forms

- Fɔɔ illness; both mental and physical

- Fee names of crops

Examples illustrating the uses of the above noun classes are as follows:

The ‘-ti’ class comprised nouns that indicate possessor of or ownership.

WORDS MEANING
Woditi Owner of money
Mansati A leader
Fankati Owner of a power/ authority
Boŋti Owner of a house
mɔbiliti Owner of a car

The ‘-la’ class is concerned with person and place. It shows occupation or character.

WORDS MEANING WORDS MEANING
Kamarala A place of kamara Kamaralalu A placeof karmas
Borila Runner Borilalu Runners
Tamala Walker Tamalalu Walkers
Kelela Fighter Kelelalu Fighters
sɛnɛhkɛla Farmer sɛnɛhkɛlalu Farmers

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The ‘-ka’ class shows place of origin or where a person is from.

Sefaduka A person from sefadu Sefadukalu People from sefadu
Kabalaka A person from kabala Kabalakalu People from kabala
Kissiduka A person from kiss Kissidukalu People from kissi
fadagbɛka An European fadagbɛkalu Europeans

The ‘-du’ class is particularly concerned with “place of” or “land of”

WORD MEANING
Kissidu The land of kissi

The ‘-diya’ class shows place of something or occupation and instruments.

Kharandiya A tailor shop Kharandiyalu Tailor shops
kuumatɛdiya A barber shop kuumatɛdiyalu Barber shop
kelɛkɛdiya War front kelɛkɛdiyalu War fronts

The ‘-ia’ deals with abstract forms.

WORDS MEANING
Hadamaia Politeness
Simaia Long life
Teria Friendship
Kolobalia Indiscipline

The ‘-nii’ class deals mainly with diminutive forms.

Denii a child Deniilu children
kɛnii A young man kɛniilu Young men
Mɔni A tiny person Mɔnilu Tiny people
Baanii A kid Baaniilu Kids

The ‘-tɔɔ’ class deals particularly with illness, mental disorder and physical illness.

WORDS MEANING
Faatɔɔ A lunatic
Jankarotɔɔ A sick person
Nagbatɔɔ A restless or trouble person

The ‘-fee’ class indicates names of crops – vegetables.

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WORDS MEANING
Tiyafee A groundnut field
Malofee A grain field

3.3 PLURAL

The word plural means two or more. It is a marker that is used with reference to mean more than one.
Plural is a noun feature that indicates it is more than one person, animal, place or thing (the noun is more
than one). Examples are streets, potatoes, analyses, women, mice, etc.

In the English language there are several inflections or markers for different cases to indicate the plurals
of nouns.

CASE 1

To make most nouns plural, ‘-s’ is suffixed to the nouns. For examples:

SINGULAR PLURAL
One pen Two pens
One street Two streets
One rose Two roses

CASE 2

‘-es’ is used for nouns ending in ‘-sh’, ‘-ch’, ‘-ss’, and ‘-x’.

SINGULAR PLURAL
One dish Two dishes
One match Two matches
One class Two classes
One box Two boxes

CASE 3

If the noun ends in a consonant + ‘-y’, the ‘-y’ is change to ‘I’ and ‘-es’ is added.

SINGULAR PLURAL
One baby Two babies
One city Two cities

Note: if ‘-y’ is preceded by a vowel, add only ‘-s’ boys, days and keys.

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CASE 4

If a noun ends in ‘-fe’ or ‘-f ‘, change the ending to ‘-ves’ (exceptions: beliefs, chiefs, roofs, cuffs,)

SINGULAR PLURAL
One knife Two knives
One shelf Two shelves

CASE 5

The plural form of nouns that end is ‘-o’ is sometimes ‘-oes’ and sometimes ‘-os’.

SINGULAR PLURAL
One tomato Two tomatoes
One zoo Two zoos
One zero Two zeroes/zeros

CASE 6

Some nouns have irregular plural forms (note: the singular form of people can be person. For
example one man and child = two people)

SINGULAR PLURAL
One child Two children
One foot Two feet
One goose Two geese
One mouse Two mice

CASE 7

The plural form of some nouns is the same as the singular form.

SINGULAR PLURAL
One deer Two deer
One fish Two fish
One species Two species

CASE 8

Some nouns that English has borrowed from other languages have foreign plural.

SINGULAR PLURAL
One crisis Two crises
One bacterium Two bacteria
One phenomenon Two phenomena

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In the Mandingo language, on the other hand, there is only one inflection use to indicate plural of
nouns. The plural is indicated by the suffixing the inflection ‘-lu’ to nouns.

Below are some illustrated examples of Mandingo plural

SINGULAR ENGLISH ENGLISH
EQUIVALENT PLURAL EQUIVALENT
Saa Sheep Saalu Two sheep
Musoo Woman Musoolu Women
Lemunu Orange Lemunulu Oranges
Muru Knife Murulu Knives
Kɔni Key Kɔnilu Keys
Mɔnbili Car Mɔnbililu Cars
Da Door Dalu Doors
Banaku Cassava Banakulu
Sambara Shoe Sambaralu Shoes
jɛ Fish jɛlu Two fish
Deni Child Denilu Children
Tamati Tomato Tamatilu Tomatoes
Fani Clothe Fanilu Clothes
Baa Goat Baalu Goats
Mansa Chief Mansalu Chiefs
Tasa Dish Tasalu Dishes
Matralila Beggar Matralilalu Beggars
Sife Chair Sifelu Chairs

3.4 POSSESSSIVES

The possessive (or genitive) is the case which denotes the owner or possessor of a thing. Examples:
daddy’s car; ladies’ bags; children’s toys etc. the possessive case is very important in languages.

In the English language the possessive of noun is formed by an apostrophe ( ‘ ) and an “-s” or just the
apostrophe ( ‘ ) in some case. These are used with nouns to show possession. Examples:

(a) I know the student’s name. (singular)

(b) I know the students’ names. (plural)

(c) I know the children’s names. (plural)

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Notice the patterns:

i. Singular possessive nouns are:
noun + apostrophe ( ‘ ) + “-s”
Examples:

A man = A man’s name.
My baby = my baby’s name.

ii. Plural possessive noun are:
noun + “-s” + apostrophe ( ‘ )

iii. Example :

My babies = my babies’ name.
The students = the students’ name.

iv. Irregular plural possessive nouns.
noun + apostrophe ( ‘ ) + “-s”
Examples:

Men = Men’s names.
The children = the children’s names.

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Unlike the English language, in the Mandingo language, the possessive in noun is not attested by an
apostrophe ( ‘ ) + “-s” or just the apostrophe ( ‘ ). The Mandingo singular possessive in noun is attested
by the singular possessive noun Marker “la” or “ta” depending on the dialect.

The following sentences illustrate the singular possessive in Mandingo nouns.

1. Mohamed la sɛnɛdiya ye miŋ?
Mohamed/his/farmland/is/where
(where is Mohamed’s farmland?)

2. Saran la boŋ ye miŋ?
Saran/his/house/is/where
(where is saran’s house?)

3. John la baradiya ye miŋ
john/his/office/is/whose
(where is john’s office?)

Note: the above Mandingo singular possessive noun marker “la” is an auxiliary in the sentence not an
affixation like the English apostrophe ( ‘ ) + “-s”. .

In the case of Mandingo plural possessive noun marker, this is indicated by the plural of the noun “-lu”
and the possessive marker “-la”.

Below are illustrated examples of the Mandingo plural noun possessive case is a sentence.

1. Konatelu la boŋ ye miŋ
konates/’s/house/are/where
(where are the konate’s house?)

2. Dinilu la tolonfelu ye miŋ?
Children/’s/toys/are/where
(where are the children toys?)

3. Meŋlu ye keelu la fani dedi
those/are/men/’s/clothes/there
(those are men’s clothes?)

For easy and clearer Mandingo sentence, the possessives are normally expressed by the following
possessive pronouns and possessive adjectives.

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Possessive pronouns

PERSON SINGULAR PLURAL
First person ŋtaa (mine) Ntaa (ours)
Second person Itaa (yours) Altaa (yours)
Third person Ataa (his/her/its) Altaa (thiers)

Examples:

Singular plural

ŋtaa le (its mine) Ntaa le ( it’s ours)
itaa le (it’s yours) itaa le (it’s yours)
ataa le (it’s his/hers) altaa le (it’s theirs)

Note: a possessive pronoun is used alone without a noun following it, as it is shown above.

Possessive adjectives

PERSON SINGULAR PLURAL
First person Nna (my) Ana (our)
Second person Ila (your) ila (your)
Third person Ala (his/her/its) Alla (their)
Examples:

Nna wɔdi (my money) ana bik (our pens)
ila kee (your husband) ila keelu ( your husband’s)
ala jida ( his/her water pot) alla bik (their pens)

Note: a possessive adjective is used only with a noun following it, as shown above.

4.5 ADJECTIVE

The word we use to describe people, place, and things are called adjectives. According to Glencoe:

An adjective is a word that describes,
or modifies, a noun or a pronoun

Glencoe: Grammar and composition Handbook

The word “modifies” in the above definition of Glencoe means to change a little. An adjective give a little
different meaning to a noun. It describes or gives information about a noun.

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An adjective tells us something about
a noun or a pronoun.

Sheku kamara: English language key topics

According to this other definition we could deduce that an adjective can “tells us something about a noun
or a pronoun” by limiting the meaning of the noun. This could be indicating what kind? Which one? How
many? or how much?

Examples:

a) Round window

b) Six oranges

c) That hat

d) Adult cat

e) Romantic story

Like the English language, all other languages have words to describe a person and some other things,
even though it may be attested in a way or form different from the English language.

In Mandingo, an adjective is also used to describe a noun and a pronoun, but the only thing is that, there
is a slight difference in position and some other aspect different from the English language.

The following are some examples of Mandingo adjectives and how they are realized in Mandingo.

Adjectives used

1) kɔrɔ (old) k ɛ k ɔr ɔ ( old man)
man/old

2) fhiŋ (black) muso fhiŋ (dark woman)
woman/black

3) gbɛ (fair) muso gb ɛ (fair woman)
woman/fair

4) ba (big) boŋ ba (big house)
house/big

5) fitini (small) kini fitini (small rice)
rice/small

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6) kuda (new) k ɛkuda ( new son)
male/new

7) fadafhiŋ (African) fadafhiŋ muso (African woman)
African/woman

8) kuduni ( short) muso kuduni (short woman)
woman/short

9) jan (tall) k ɛ jan (tall man)
man/tall

10) kalmia (warm/hot) ji kalima (hot water)
water/hot

From the above example data of the Mandingo adjective, it could be observed that the adjectives in
Mandingo are post-nominal attributive position, just like the Spanish and Arabic adjective and also in
front of the noun they modify, in some case just like the English language.

The similarity between the English language and the Mandingo language is that in both languages
adjectives are neither singular nor plural. An adjective do not have a plural form.

Nouns can also be used as adjectives in Mandingo just like the English language. They tell what kind? Or
which one, about the noun they modifies.

Examples:

Adjectives (noun) used

a) muso (woman) muso sambaralu (woman shoes)
woman/shoes

b) bolo (hand) bolola b ɔr ɔ (hand bag)
hand/bag

c) kɔɔ (salt) k ɔji (salt water)
salty/water

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d) mɔnbili (car) mɔnbili k ɔŋi (car key)
car/key

Possessive pronouns such as “our” and “his” can be considered as adjectives because they modify nouns
in addition to their usual function as pronouns.

Examples:

1) ana lɔkɔli (our school)

2) ala jida ( this water pot)

3) alla boŋ (his house)

4) nna wɔdi (my money)

Similarly possessive nouns can be considered adjective in English but this is not so in Mandingo because
the possessive nouns in Mandingo are attested differently from the way is done in English.

3.6 DISCRIPTIVES

Descriptive adjectives are the adjectives that describe a noun by indicating the quality and the quantity of
the noun. Examples: sad story, ugly Betty, interesting book, enough cups and many ideas.

Illustrated examples of descriptive adjectives in Mandingo are below.

1) Keŋi (beautiful)
ŋ keŋi = I am beautiful
/i/beautiful/

2) Ba (big)
alla boŋ ba = his big house
his/house/big/
alla boŋ ka bon = his house is big
/his/house/is/big/

3) dɔman (small)
musa la kini dɔman = musa rice is small.
/musa/’s/rice/small/

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4) Kaŋi (nice)
boŋ kaŋi = nice house
/house/nice/

5) Ju (bad)
kɛju = bad man
/man/bad/
sun ju = bad habit
/habit/bad

6) Ŋuma (fine)
sun ŋuma = good habit.
/habit/good/

3.7 DEMONSTRATIVES

Basically, demonstrative adjective are demonstrative pronoun used as an adjective just as the way a
noun can be use as an adjective to modify a noun by pointing out the specific person or thing and
showing his or its position or location and at the same time, it or his singular or plural status.

Neŋ = this

Meŋ = that

Examples:

1) kɛ neŋ = this man

2) muso meŋ keŋi = that woman is beautiful

3) wɔdi neŋ ta = take this money

4) den meŋ gbasi = beat that child

As mentioned earlier, demonstrative locates or show position whether proximal or distal from the speaker
or context of the situation.

3.8 COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES

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An adjective can also be comparative and superlative. The comparative form of an adjective indicates the
greater extent to which the normal form of the adjective applies, whiles the superlative form indicate the
maximal extent.

In another sense comparative make it comparison between two people or things whiles on the hand the
superlative one part of a whole group as against the rest of the group.

Below are illustrated examples of comparative and superlative.

Normal form comparative form superlative form

Great Greater Greatest
Full Fuller Fullest
Good Better Best

From the above examples it is clear that English has a specific suffix marker for the comparative and the
superlative forms, except on exceptional irregular form.

In Mandingo adjective do not have a suffix marker to indicate the comparative form or the superlative
form. What is used in Mandingo is the word “ta + di”or just “di” which means more than, for the
comparative marker, and “bɛ +di” which means pass all or than all, for the superlative marker.

3.8.1 COMPARATIVE FORM

Ta + Di = more than

Examples:

1. saran dɔma marie di
saran/small/marie/than
(saran is smaller than marie)

2. ala mɔnbili kaŋi musa ta di
his/car/good/musa/more/than
(his car is more beautiful than musa’s)

3. ŋ deŋkɛ karani ata di
i/son/educated/his/more/than
(my son is more educated than his)

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4. ala kogbɛlɛlan ŋ ta di
his/difficult/i/more/than
(he is more difficult than I am)

3.8.2 SUPERLATIVE FORM

bɛ + di = pass all.
or this one
al +bɛ + di = pass all.

Examples:

1. ŋ dɔma al bɛ di
i/small/pass all
(I am the smallest)

2. a keŋi al bɛ di
he/beautiful/pass all
(he is the most beautiful)

3. ali juma al bɛ di
ali/worst/pass all
(ali is the worst)

4. sheku karani bɛ di
sheku/educated/pass all
(shehu is the most educated)

Note: “bɛ di”in the above examples could be understand as the short form or contracted form of the
Mandingo superlative marker “al bɛ di”

Also in Mandingo the superlative form can equally be expressed with the use of the absolute form of
adjective “tamini” which literally means the best or the highest degree of something and the superlative
marker “bɛ di”

Examples:

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1. hussain bolt tamini borila bɛ di
(hussain bolt is the fastest runner)

2. saran la taa de tamini bɛ di
(saran’s child is the best)

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CHAPTER FOUR

VERBS (MAIN) AND ADVERBS

4.1 MAIN VERB

A verb is a word that expresses action (walk, talk, read) or a state of being (be, exist, and stand) and is
necessary to make a statement. In most languages, verbs are inflected to encode tense, aspect, mood and
voice. A verb may also agree with the person, gender and number of some of it argument, such as its
subject and object.

A verb in Mandingo tells what a noun or a pronoun does in a sentence. The actions or activities of persons
or things are made known through the use of verbs.

Below are examples of some Mandingo verbs and how they are used in a sentence.

1) Tama (walk): Abu tama ta karandiya loŋ-o-loŋ
Abu/works/to/school/everyday
(Abu walks to school every day)

Fanta tamara karandiya kunuŋ.
Fanta/walked/to school/yesterday
(Fanta walked to school yesterday)

Ali di tama karandiya sini
ali/will/walk/to school/tomorrow
(Ali will walk to school tomorrow)

2) Bara (work): ŋ bara la bakɛ
i/work/ very hard/
(I work very hard)

Al barala bakɛ kunuŋ.
They/worked/a lot/yesterday/
(they worked a lot yesterday)

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Al di bara bakɛ sini
they/will/work/a lot/tomorrow/
(they will work a lot tomorrow)

With close examination of the above Mandingo examples, the Mandingo language unlike the English
language does not have any subject verb agreement. That is to say, there is no agreement between the
Mandingo verbs and the subject in terms of singular or plural, or agreement on number or persons.

3.2 TENSE

The primary characteristic of verb is its ability to express time by means of tense. Tense is a grammatical
expression of time reference. The idea of time is frequently perceived as a continuum of three main
categories or division –past, present and the future.

Depending on the language, a verb may express grammatical tense by the use of auxiliary verbs or
inflections to convey whether the action or state is before (past), simultaneous with (present) or after
some reference point (future). The reference point could be the time of utterance, in which case the verb
expresses absolute tense, or it could be a past, present, or future time of reference previously established
in sentence, in which case the verb expresses relative tense.

In Mandingo, the concept of time, even though expresses by the verb and its auxiliary or just the main
verb, it is sometime only made crystal clear by the time adverbials such as, the list below.

Ten-ten (just now)

Siseŋ (now)

Sɔnyima (earlier today)

Keleŋ keleŋ (occasionally/once in a while)

Loŋ-o-loŋ (every day)

Kunuŋ (yesterday)

Bii (today)

Sini (tomorrow)

Kunaŋ siniŋ (day before yesterday)

A bara miŋ

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The illustrated examples below would explain the concept further. Observe the illustrated examples for
confirmation.

1. ŋ wara bii
i/go/today
(I go today)

2. ŋ wara kunuŋ
i/went/yesterday/
(I went yesterday)

3. ŋ wara yeŋ siseŋ
/I/went/there/awhile ago/
(I went there awhile ago)

4. ŋ di wa sini
I/will/go/tomorrow/
(I will go tomorrow)

Note: the above verb “wara” is used not only for present but also for the past tense. So in that sense the
tense is only made clear by the time adverbials or the context in which the verb is use.

4.3 PRESENT TENSE

The simple present expresses daily habits or usually activities, general statement or fact, and the used for
event or situation that exist always.

Examples are:

1. David takes shower every day.

2. The earth revolves around the sun.

3. The sky is blue.

4. Babies cry.

In English the simple present tense may be formed by the inflection plural “-s”, depending on the subject
and verb agreement. If the subject is singular the verb takes the plural “-s”, and if the subject is plural the
singular verb is use to expressed the simple present tense.

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Unlike English, the Mandingo language do not have subject and verb agreement so the simple present
tense is form with just the verb (unmarked) and sometime with the time adverbial.

Below are illustrated examples of the simple present tense.

THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

1. Musa tama karandiya lombɛ
musa/walks/to school/everyday/
(musa walks to school every day)

2. Fanta ye barala lombɛ
Fanta/is/works/everyday/
(Fanta works everyday)

3. Al wara
he or she/goes/
(he/she goes)

4.4 PAST TENSE

The simple past is used to talk about activities or situations that began and ended in the past. In English
most simple past verbs are formed by adding “-ed” to the verb, as in (a) and (b) below.

A. Abu worked downtown yesterday

B. Our car arrived on time.

And some have irregular past forms, as in (c) and (d) below.

C. She ate breakfast this morning.

D. Marie took a taxi to the airport.

In Mandingo, most simple past verb tens is formed by suffixing “-ra” on the main verb. This is illustrated
below.

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1. Abu tamara karandiya kunuŋ
/abu/walked/to school/yesterday/
(abu walked to school yesterday)

2. A nara watidɔ
he/came/very long time ago/
(he came very long time ago)

3. Ali borira kunuŋ
ali/ran/yesterday/
(ali ran yesterday)

However not all verbs in Mandingo follow the above illustration, that is to say, the “-ra” suffix to form
their past form. For examples:

A. Ten ten de a tambida
just now/he/passed/
(he passed her just now)

B. Ba (to finish) bana (finished)

C. John ka damonikɛ kunuŋ
/john/ate/yesterday/
(john ate yesterday)

The above examples of the past tense used the suffix”-da”, “-na”and the ‘ka” auxiliary working with the
“-kɛ” suffix to indicate the past tense because of dialectal variation and irregular verb forms.

4.5 FUTURE TENSE

On the time line, future locates a situation or even t subsequent to the present moment. In English, the
future tense is formed by the auxiliary verb will/shall or the verb phrase “be going to” as in the following
examples:

A. I am going to leave at nine tomorrow morning.

B. I will leave at nine tomorrow morning.

C. I shall leave at nine tomorrow morning.

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In Mandingo, the future tense is equally straight forward but more fixed than the English language’s
future tense. The future tense in Mandingo is expressed by a fixed auxiliary verb “di” which means will,
and thus, no controversy of interchanging with an alternative.

Below are illustrated examples of sentences of the Mandingo future tense.

1. A di na
he/she/will come/
(he/she will come.)

2. Deŋninlu di wa lɔkɔlila
children/will/go/school to/
(the children will go to school.)

3. A di wa lɔkɔlila
he/she/will walk school to/
(he/she will walk to school.)

4.6 ADVERB

An adverb is any word that modifies verbs or any part of speech other than a noun (modifiers of nouns are
primarily adjectives and determiners). Adverbs can modify verbs, adjectives 9inluding numbers), clauses,
sentences, and other adverbs.

The above explanation is supported by Bas Aarts in his book: English syntax and argumentation

Adverbs modify verbs adjective
or other adverbs.

Adverbs are words like slowly, tomorrow, now, suddenly and etc. adverbs provide information about the
manner, place, or circumstances of the activity denoted by the verb phrase.

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Examples:

1. She walked slowly. (Here the adverb slowly provides information about the manner in which she
walked)

2. The kids are playing upstairs. (Here the adverb upstairs provides information about the place of
activity.)

In Mandingo, adverbs are modifiers. They modify verbs in sentences. They explain and describe the
action in a construction.

Below are some illustrated examples of Mandingo adverbs and how they are used in a sentence.

1. Bii (today): ŋ din a bii
/I/will/come/today/
(I will come today)

2. Dafɛ (near): a sini dafɛ
/he/sitting/near/
(he is sitting near me.)

3. Lododon (sometimes): lododon a di na
/sometimes/he/will/come/
(he comes sometimes.)

4. Sanfɛ (up): kɛ ye yiri sanfɛ
/man/is/tree/up/
(the man is up the tree.)

5. kunuŋ (yesterday): a wara sɛnɛdɔ kunuŋ
he/she/went/the farmland/yesterday
(he/she went to the farmland yesterday)

4.7 POSITION

Adverbs are the most mobile element in a sentence construction. However the most common position of
adverbs in Mandingo is at the end of a sentence. Adverbs in Mandingo take the final position. Below are
illustrated examples of Mandingo adverbs at sentence final positions.

1. Sini (tomorrow): ŋ di wa sini

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I/will/go/there/tomorrow

(I will go there tomorrow)

2. Teledɔ (afternoon): ŋ di wa a bada teledɔ

I/will/go/you/place/afternoon

(I will go to your place in the afternoon)

3. lombɛ (usually); ŋ wala karandiya lombɛ

I/ go/ school/ usually

(I usually go to school)

However this is not constant as in other cases it could be unpredictable. That is to say, it could take
different position within a given syntactic construction, as illustrated below.

1. Sini (tomorrow) sini ŋ di wa

Tomorrow/i/will/go


2. Sumamani(quietly) ama sumamani sini

He/is/quietly/sitting

(He is quietly sitting)

3. Londodɔ (sometimes) londodɔ a di na

Sometimes/he/will/come

(He comes sometimes)

4.8 TYPES

There are many kinds of adverbs in Mandingo.

ADVERBS OF MANNER IN MANDINGO

1. Jona( quickly) damuni kɛ jona

44

Eat/quickly

(Eat quickly)

2. Aŋumala(beautifully): a di donkilila aŋumala

He/can/sing/beautifully

(He can sing beautifully)

3. kaliya (fastly): a la kaliya

Do/it/fastly

(Do it fastly)

4. Sumamani (quietly): ama sumamani sini

He/is/quietly/sitting

(He is sitting quietly)

ADVERBS OF TIME IN MANDINGO

1. Sini (tomorrow): sini ŋ di wa

Tomorrow/I/will/go


2. Kunu(yesterday): aŋ wara yen kunu

We/went/there/yesterday

(We went there yesterday)

3. Siseŋ (now): ŋ di wa siseŋ

I/will/go/now

45

(I will go now)

4. Bi(today): a kɛ bi

Do/it/today

Do it today

ADVERBS OF PLACE IN MANDINGO

1. Dafɛ (near): a sini ŋ dafɛ

He/sitting/near

(He is sitting near me)

2. Jan (afar) a ka jan na

He/afar/me

(He is a far from me)

3. Sanfɛ (up) kɛ ye yiri sanfɛ

Man/is/tree/up

(The man is up the tree)

4. Dula (down) muso ye dula

Woman/is/down

(The woman is down)

ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY IN MANDINGO

1. Londodɔ (sometimes) londodɔ a di na

Sometimes/he/will/comes

(He comes sometime)

46

2. Abadan (never) a ma damuni kɛ Abadan

He/ate/never

(He never ate)

4. lombɛ (usually/always)

ŋ di wa karandiya lombɛ

I/go /to/school/usually/always

(I always go to school)

CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSION

SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 SUMMARY

This chapter would show the number of chapters the work contains and what each chapter discusses. It
would go on to discuss the findings made in the study Mandingo of lexical items. Having done that, it
would then conclude the work and make recommendations based on the findings made.

This dissertation examined the lexical items in the Mandingo language. The entire dissertation was
divided into five chapters.

CHAPTER ONE

This basically constituted the introduction to the study. The introduction gave the general background to
the study and the reasons for undertaking such study. It went on to explain the scope of the study, the
objectives of the study, the hypothesis, the research methodology, limitations of the proposed
methodology, motives of the study, historical background of the Mandingo, the life of the Mandingo, It
also looked at the Mandingo language by illustrating the Mandingo orthography, which is made up of 7
Vowels, 16 consonants, and 4 diphthongs.

CHAPTER TWO

This chapter reviewed some literatures available on the subject understudy. Topics reviewed are lexical
item and the open class category. In the review some propositions, assertions, and postulations were
supported, agreed with, or partially agreed with by the researcher. In this chapter the researcher put

47

forward his argument for supporting and partially disagreeing with the various authors. The works
reviewed were those of Carson berdsen (1993), R. D. Huddleston: (1984), Wallwork J.F (1985:68),
R.H. Robin (1989:214), Joe Pemagbei (1997:6), George Yule (1985:19) and Ur, penny
(1988:21).

CHAPTER THREE

This chapter entailed an examined nouns and adjectives in Mandingo. In the case of nouns specific
attention was given to nouns generally, noun classes, plural case, and possessives. And on the other hand,
adjectives were looked at from descriptive, demonstrative, comparative and superlative point of view.
From analyses of this chapter, it was discovered that nouns in Mandingo have classes, the noun
possessive is formed by the noun plural and the suffix “-la”, and also noun plural is only formed by the
suffix”-lu”. Also from analyses of this chapter it was made to understand that in Mandingo, the
comparative and superlative adjectives are not expressed by affixation like the English language but
rather by the words better than (ta di) and pass all (b ɛ di).

CHAPTER FOUR

This chapter dealt with main verbs in Mandingo with specific attention to tense, present, past, and the
future tense. This chapter also looked at adverbs in Mandingo with specific consideration to position and
types of Mandingo adverbs.

CHAPTER FIVE

This chapter summarized and concluded the word. The conclusion was followed by recommendations
which were in turn followed by a bibliography.

5.2 RECOMMENDATION

The major focus of this research is based on the lexical items in the Mandingo language. Mandingo, if
given the necessary attention could be the official regional local language because it is widely spoke in
West Africa, almost all the West African countries have members of the Mandingo ethnic group. The
researcher therefore recommends that more research on the language in bid to promote mother tongue
literacy in the country and to continue the emphasis of the language and it possibility to become official
regional local language.

Based on the importance of the language stated above, the researcher also recommends that the
government of Sierra Leone should give more funds and encourage language planners to give attention to
the language.

48

And generally, the researcher recommends that, native speakers, the language studies department,
especially the linguistic unit and the government of Sierra Leone should give more attention to local
languages especially the Mandingo language because of its wide spoken factor in the sub-region.

BIBLOGRAPHY

1. Aarts Bas English syntax and argumentation
Palgrave Macmillan, united kingdom

2. Alie J.A.D. (1990) Anew History of Sierra Leone
Macmillan Publisher

3. Azar Betty Schrampfer (1992) Fundamentals of English Grammar – 2nd Ed
Printice- Hall, Inc, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

4. Berndsen carson (1993) structural semiotics
internet.

5. Best Wilfred D (1990) The Students’ companion
Long man group UK Ltd

6. Britannica Dictionary (2011) website

7. Delfosse Maurice (1901) Essai de Manuel Practique
de la Langue Mande

8. Delafosse Murice (1904) Vocabularie Comparatifs de plus
De 60 langue et Dialects
Parle a la Lêted Voire
Press universite de Lyon

9. Encyclopedia Britannica (2011) Website

49

10. Glencoe (2002) Grammar and Composition Handbook
McCray – Hill, New York

11. Hall R.A. Jr. (1950) Linguistic and Your language
Doubleday company Inc, New York.

12. Huddleston .R.D. (1984) A students’ introduction to English

13. Internet Grammar of English (2011) The survey of English
usage 1996- 1998
supported by Ring john
online Marketing UK
website.

14. Johnson .V.G.(2010) (dissertation unpublished)
An examination of open
words in Mende and loko
Fourah Bay college

15. Kamara .M.S. (2008) (Dissertation unpublished)
An examination of language
system in Mandingo
Fourah Bay college

16. Kamara Sheku: English language key topics
apex educational center.

17. Kirkpartrick .B. (2009) Better English
Scotland: Geddes and Grossed

18. Macmillan English Thinking and writing process
Macmillan publish inc

19. Pemagbei .J. (1971) An orthography of Mende language
government printing. Freetown

50

20. Robin .R.H (1971) General linguistics
An introductory survey (2nd edition)
Longman Group Limited

21. Tejan .M.H. (1994) (seminar paper unpublished)
word formation in Mandingo
Fourah Bay college

22. Ur, penny (1988:21) grammar practice activities
a practical guide for teachers
Cambridge university press

23. Wallwork .J.F. (1985) Language and linguistics
an introduction to the Study of language
Heinemann Educational books London.

24. Wardaugh Roland (1972) Introduction to linguistics
McGraw – hill Inc

25. Wikipedia (2011) website

26. Yule G (1985) the study of language
Cambridge university press, UK.

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