« Fragile Beginnings | Main | Aribinda »

June 12, 2005

Nine ways to carry your briefcase to work

There are many different words in Fulfulde for 'to carry something', depending on where and how you carry it. Here are the ones I am aware of:

gillinde - to carry something in your hand down by your side, like an axe
tambaade - to carry something in your hand at shoulder-level, like a calabash
roondaade - to carry something on your head using a hand to steady it, like a bucket of water
yellaade - to carry something on your head without using your hands (very impressive), like a laundry basket
wukkaade - to carry something under your arm, like a newspaper
wakkaade - to carry something across your shoulders, like a staff or a mat
towude - to carry something on your upper back, like a sack of millet
bammbude - to carry something tied to your lower back, like a baby
daasude - to drag something behind you, like a dead goat

Mamadou Bagadoumba, normally so reserved, did a priceless impression this afternoon of a woman simultaneously gillin-ing and tamb-ing and yell-ing and wukk-ing and bammb-ing, and then suddenly ferg-ing (tripping over and dropping it all!).

In the translation of the New Testament into Fulfulde, the dazzling array of 'carry' words must have led to some agonizing hermeneutical decisions. Here are a couple of example verses:

Lukka 14:27 - Mo nanndaay hono bakkiiδo leggal muuδum palaangal faa yaha maaya de jokki kam fu waawaa laataade taalibaajo am.

In this verse from the Gospel of Luke, the translator has plumped for the word bakkiiδo, which is (believe it or not) a form of the verb wakkaade. Hence literally, 'Whoever is not like a carrier (across his shoulders) of a wooden cross…cannot become my disciple.' This translation emphasises the similarity between the cross of Jesus and the Fulani staff - whenever I see a Fulani man walking along on the horizon, I am struck by his cruciform posture.
(Incidentally, note the word taalibaajo in the same verse. Fulfulde has borrowed this word from the Arabic taalibe(disciple), whence the word Taliban also comes)

Matta 11:28 - Onon nannduбe hono roondiiбe ko teddi, ngaree to am faa mi ηottina on.

In this well-known verse from Matthew, the translator has gone for roondiiбe, a plural noun from the verb roondaade. Hence literally, 'You carriers (on your heads) of heavy things, come to me so that I might make you rest.' In a Fulani worship service in Djibo a few weeks ago, Mariama testified to the truth of this verse in her own life - she used to bear her problems (and those of her family) like heavy buckets of water on her head, but since following Jesus she has begun to experience the rest he promised.

Posted by sahelsteve at June 12, 2005 12:43 PM