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July 22, 2004

Fulfulde implosives

Fulfulde is easy. It is written in Roman script so it is easier than Arabic. It is not a tonal language so it is easier than Chinese. Fulfulde is easy - if you keep telling yourself that, you will learn it quickly.

Here are a few phrases to get you started:

Leffol makko na juuti de (His turban is surprisingly long)
Hokkaram ndiyam mi yara (Give me some water to drink)
Nagge maa ina yaaбi kam (Your cow is standing on my foot)

You will notice that in the last example, the б of yaaбi is hunch-backed. This indicates an implosive consonant. There are three implosive consonants in Fulfulde: an implosive b, an implosive d and (most inconvenient of all) an implosive y.

You pronounce an implosive by drawing breath in on the consonant rather than out. This usually results in a faint click at the back of your throat. There is a world of difference between Nagge nge na бawli (the cow is black) and Nagge nge na bawli (The cow is urinating).

The easiest implosive is the δ. I first learnt it by saying δiδi (the number 2) over and over again until I started to hear the click. You will need the δ for verbs like raδude (to tie a calf to the front leg of a cow) and δaaninkinaade (to pretend to be asleep).

It is important also to take care with doubled implosive consonants. If you want to say Eбe kaббi (They are engaged to be married), make sure it does not sound like Eбe kaбi (They are fighting), which may not be the case.

Posted by sahelsteve at July 22, 2004 05:01 PM