Text 435
nga wane taalib foo kaa a-a hisa ka naaney ga,
3SgF Poss pupil one Rel 3SgS-Impf do-much Inf trust 35g0
(who was) a pupil of his (=Sékou’s) whom he (=Sékou) had much confidence in.
(parenthetical, not in apposition to ‘pupil’ above, hence no 3ReflSg possessor; 3SgF
is facultative instead of 3Sg in possessor function §8.4.2)
seeku har a se kaa aywa maa na a-a baa ?,
Sékou say 3Sg Dat that well, what? Foc 3SgS-Impf want?
Sékou asked him (=Amadou), well, what did he (=Amadou) want?
(even reported speech often begins with aywa or similar exclamation; WH-
interrogatives usually fronted and focalized §8.2.2)
wala a-a baa ngu ma  koy yenje wala?,
or 3SgS-Impf want LogoSgS Subju go fight yes/no?
Did he (=Amadou) want to go (to the north) and fight (with the Tuaregs)?
(baa ‘want’ takes finite subjunctive clause even for coreferential subject §9.6.1; in koy
yenje ‘go to fight, go to battle’, yenje can be construed as noun or verb)
a har a se ngu goo, ngu o baa ngu ma koy
3SgS say 3Sg Dat LogoSgS be, LogoSgS Impfwant LogoSgS Subju go
He (=Amadou) told him (=Sékou), yes he did; he was willing to go
(pgu goo is logophoric version of echo answer ‘yes I do’ §8.2.1)
yenje, a har a se, aywa nda a koy a si yee-kate,
fight, 3SgS say 3Sg Dat, well if 35gS go 3SgS ImpfNeg return-Centrip,
and fight. He (=Sékou) told him, well, if he (=Amadou) went, he would not come back.
(typical conditional with perfective antecedent and imperfective consequent §9.5.1)
a har a se ngu o bey, saa di kaa a kani
3SgS say 3SgS Dat LogoSgS Impf know, time Def Rel 3SgS lie-down
He (=Amadou) told him that he knew. When he (=Amadou) went to bed
(kani variously ‘lie down, go to sleep, retire for the night, stay overnight’)
ka lelinde, nga nda ngu wane maabe di, 1| har
Inf getready, 3SgF and 3ReflSgPoss griot  Def, 3PIS say
and got ready (to travel), he and his griot, they (=Amadou and griot) said
(“griot’ is a caste of bards who specialize in singing the praises of nobles)
qgi-yg_‘ 0o koy yenje, nga wane wande di har a se kaa—
LogoPIS Impf go  fight, 3SgF Poss wife Def say 3Sg Dat that—
that they were going to fight, his (=Amadou’s) wife said to him that—
(‘said they were going to ..." can also mean ‘were intending to ...")
aamadu har ‘m?’' a har a se kaa ‘nda n koy,
Amadou say ‘huh? 3SgS say 3Sg Dat Rel ‘if 2S5gS go,
Amadaou said, ‘what?’ She said to him that, ‘if you go,
(kaa... ‘that..." can be used even with following direct quotation §9.5.8)