Text This monologue was recorded in Timbuktu in 1986. It describes the 1840 battle of Toya in which Tuaregs defeated a force from the Fula “Empire” which had its capital in Hamdallahi (near Mopti). The named personages are Sékou Amadou, the Fula leader in Hamdallahi, and Amadou Sambourou Kolado, who died at Toya. See Sanankoua (1990) for the historical background. Comments and section references are added in parentheses after the relevant lines. surgu di yo saa di kaa na i Sinti— i hisa ka din Tuareg Def Pl time Def Rel @ 3PIS begin— 3PIS do-much Inf take The Tuaregs, when they began—. They took a great deal of (saa di kaa (na) ... ‘when..’, §8.3.6; scrial verb hisa ka ... §9.7.6) gandoo alkaasu, i faraa-ndi gi nda laamu, i din this-land tax, 3PIS suffer-Caus 3PIO with rule, 3PIS take this land’s taxes, they oppressed them (=local people) with their iron rule. They took (gandoo §4.2.2) alkaasu di hal i Hisa ka faraa-ndi boro di yo, tax Def until 3PIS do-much Inf suffer-Caus person Def PI taxes to the point that they oppressed the people very much. saa di i hantum i se i koy hamdallaay, time Def 3PIS write 3P1 Dat 3PIS go Hamdallahi So, they (=people) wrote to them (=distant leaders). They went to Hamdallahi (a town). (saa di, very end of §8.4.3) i har seecku se a ma faaba ngi-ye nda—, 3PIS say Sékou Dat 35gS Subju help LogoPlO with—, They, told (=asked) S€kou (=a leader) to help them, with—, (jussive §9.6.3; logophoric pronoun coindexed with quoted speaker §10.1.1-2; syntax of faaba ‘help’ end of §9.7.3) ka yenje surgu di yo, seeku, a gar ngu wane taalib foo Inf fight Tuareg Def Pl, Sékou, 3SgS find 3ReflSgPoss pupil one (help them) fight the Tuaregs. Sékou, he found one of his (own) pupils (a gar.... often with abstract subject §6.1.1, §9.5.9, but here = Sékou) kaa se i-i har ‘aamadu samburu koolado dursudi’, Rel Dat 3PIS-Impf say ‘Amadou Sambourou Kolado Dursudi’ whom they called ‘Amadou Sambourou Kolado Doursoudi’, (dative relative with fronted postposition §8.3.3) 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)436 Text ni si yee-kate, nda n koy no-o bun dooti,” 25gS ImpfNeg retun-Centrip, if 2Sg go 2SgS-Impf dic there,’ you won't come back; if you go, you'll die there.’ (Centripetal suffix §6.3.3) a har a se kaa ngu guna ga jaa aljumaadi &iji 3SgS say 3Sg Dat that LogoSgS see 3SgO since Friday Def night He (=Amadou) told her that he had (fore-)seen it since Friday evening, kaa pgu guna kaa pgu o bun, nda ngu koy that LogoSgS see that LogoSgS Impf die, if LogoSgS go that he had (fore-)seen that he was going to die; (he knew that) if he went, (first kaa ... ‘that ...” either delayed complement of ‘see’, or perhaps used in sense ‘such that ..." or ‘when ...” §8.3.10) ngu si yee-kate, a koy, a har ga LogoSg ImpfNeg return-Centrip, 3SgS go, 3S5gS say 35gO0 he would not come back. He (=Amadou) went, (and) he told it baba di se, baba di har a se kaa ngu guna ga, father Def Dat, father Def say 3Sg Dat Rel LogoSgS see 3S5gO, to the (=his) father. The father told him that he (=father) had (fore-)seen it, nda a koy, a-a bun dooti a si yee-kate, if 3SgS go, 3SgS-Impf die there 3SgS ImpfNeg return-Centrip, if he (=Amadou) went, he would die there without coming back. a har ngu guna ga, i ma gaara ngu se, 3Sgs say LogoSgS see 35g0O, 3PIS Subju bless LogoSgS Dat, He (=Amadou) said he had (fore-)seen it, (and asked) that they bless him. (seamless combination of indicative and subjunctive clauses complementing a single instance of har ‘say‘; gaara ‘bless’ takes dative NP) maabe di moo koy ngu wande di doo a har ga a se, griot Def too go 3ReflSg wife Def chez 3SgS say 3SgO 3Sg Dat The griot, for his part, went to his (own) wife, and he told it to her. (typical use of moo ‘too’ indicating parallel action §8.5.5) i sarre, | kaa i jow i-i dira, hal i too—, 3PIS set-off, 3PIS come 3PIS take 3PIS-Impf walk, until 3PIS reach—, They (=Amadou and griot) set off, they went and began their trip, until they reached—, (jow ‘become actively involved in ..." is usually a serial verb followed by infinitival VP, but for this speaker it has imperfective indicative complements §9.5.3) i too mopti i kani, i bisa hal i too—, 3PISreach Mopti 3PIS lie-down, 3PIS pass until 3PIS reach—, they reached Mopti. They lodged overnight. They went on until they reached—,Text 437 surgu-saarey, saa di kaa i too kaa i honno surgu di yo, Tuareg-cemetery, time Def Rel 3PISamrive when 3PIS espy Tuareg Def PI, Tuareg-cemetery (place). When they had arrived, when they espied the Tuaregs, (surgu-saarey, name of a place near Toya in the province of Timbuktu) surgu di yo hisa ka bow, saa di kaa i kaa Tuareg Def Pl do-much Inf be-much, time Def Rel 3PIS come the Tuaregs became very numerous. When they (=Tuaregs) came, i Sinti, I Jow I yenje, mais a Jow 3PIS begin, 3PIS take 3PIS-Impf fight, but 35gS take they began, they launched into battle. But he (=Amadou) launched a-a yenje surgu di yo hal surgu di yo kul ben, 3SgS-Impf fight Tuareg Def Pl until Tuareg Def Pl all finish, into fighting the Tuaregs until all of the Tuaregs were wiped out. boro joggu hinja nda waranja Cindi hinja boro di kaa person hundred three and thirty remainder three person Def Rel Three hundred thirty men, the man (=men) who (boro di here singular in form, but denoting a collectivity, cf. 3Pl below) goo, a banda, a har i se kaa | ma yee, be 3Sg behind, 3SgS say 3Pl Dat that 3PIS Subju return, were with him (=Amadou), he told them to go back, i ma koy har seeku se kaa a ma samba-kata 3PIS Subju go say Sékou Dat that 3SgS Subju send-Centrip and to go ask Sékou to send here ngu se boro ngu ta ngu 0 hima ka bun LogoSg Dat person LogoSg Top LogoSgS Impf ought Inf die some people (=reinforcements) to him; as for himself, he was destined to die aljumaa di alaasara, saa di kaa boro di yo—, Friday Def aftermoon-prayer, time Def Rel person Def Pl—, on Friday at the late-afternoon prayer. When the people—, i sarre i koy, a kar alwalaa, a Jingar, 3PIS set-off 3PIS go, 3SgS hit ablution, 3SgS pray, (when) they had departed and gone, he (=Amadou) did the ablutions and prayed. a har ngu wane maabe di se a ma koy kate 3SgS say 3ReflSgPoss griot Def Dat 3SgS Subju go bring He (=Amadou) told his griot to go fetch438 Text ngu se hari, kaa ngu fiin, maabe di koy LogoSg Dat water, Rel LogoSgS drink, griot Def go some water for him, for him (=Amadou) to drink. The griot went. (‘water [for X to drink]’ construction often with perfective aspect §7.2.2) a gar woy higka kaa— j-i— I-i fumey-ndi, 3SgS find woman two Rel— 3PIS-Impf—, 3PIS-Impf bathe-Caus, He (=griot) encountered two women who—, they were—, they were washing clothes. i Gilili i har a se—, a har i se 3PIS ululate 3PIS say 3Sg Dat—, 3SgS say 3Pl Dat They cried for joy (welcoming him). They asked him—, (or rather) he asked them i ma noo ngu se hari kaa ngu ilin 3PIS Subju give LogoSg Dat water Rel LogoSg drink to give him some water for him (=griot) to drink. i har a se kaa npgiye @ si hin ka noo ga hari 3PIS say 3Sg Dat that LogoPIS ImpfNeg can Inf give 3SgO water They (=women) told him that they could not give him water kaa a fiin, maa se, npgi-yo o ta duu yow yo Rel 3SgS drink, what? Dat, LogoPIS ImpfFut get guest Pl for him to drink, because they were going to have (=were expecting) some guests, kaa ¢&i, aamadu samburu koolado dursudi nda ngu wane maabe di, Rel be, Amadou Sambourou Kolado Doursoudi and 3ReflSg Poss griot Def, namely, Amadou Sambourou Kolado Doursoudi and his griot; (reflexive possessor in conjoined NP of type ‘(X and his, Y]' §10.2.4) i hima ka gulli a! Cijoo alaaxara, 3P1S ought Inf come-in-evening ah! tonight Hereafter, they (=Amadou and griot) were destined for the Hereafter that evening; (here the griot learns that he too is destined to die with Amadou) ngi-yo boro higka di npga & ggiya wane wande di yo, LogoPl person two Def SFoc be 3PIF Poss wife Def Pl the two of them (=women) were their (=Amadou’s & griot's) wives; (for ‘the two of them’ see §5.4.8) saa di pgi-ye goo Cefie kuna pgi-ye si hin ka noo ga time Def LogoPIS be hurry Loc LogoPlS ImpfNeg can Inf give 3SgO so0, they (=women) were in a hurry and they couldn’t give him (=griot) (‘be [in hurry]’ is a marked progressive construction §7.2.6)Text 439 hari, maabe di koy a har ga aamadu se, water, griot Def go 35gS say 35g0 Amadou Dat, any water. The griot went and told it (=this) to Amadou. (‘any water’ is the end of the long indirect quotation beginning ‘they said ...") a har a se, jakanga ta a-a bey kaa 3SgS say 3Sg Dat, lo! 3SgF Top 3SgS-Impf know that He (=griot) told him, lo!, (in reality) he (=Amadou) knew that ngu, 0 bun, a si har ga nou se, LogoSgS Impf die, 3SgS ImpfNeg say 3SgO LogoSg Dat he (=griot) was going to die, (but) he (=Amadou) wasn’t telling it to him; (the first pgu denotes the griot, though grammatically it could also denote Amadou) a-a jamba, aamadu har a se kaa ngu nga, o bun, 3SgS-Impf deceive, Amadou say 3Sg Dat that LogoSg SFoc Impf die, he was being deceptive. Amadou told him that it was he (=Amadou) who would die; (‘he was being deceptive’ is arguably still within the griot's reported speech; subject- focus with nga §8.1.1 stresses that Amadou, hence implicitly not the griot, will die) ngu, 0 baa nga ta ma koy a ma si bun, LogoSgS Impf want 3SgF Top Subju go 3SgS Subju Neg die, he (=Amadou) wanted him (=griot) to go (afterwards) and not die. (weak Topic morpheme tain nga ta §8.4.3) maabe di Jjow ngu wane yenje jiney di yo griot Def take 3ReflSg Poss fight implement Def Pl The griot took his battle gear. (yenje jiney is atight compound §4.6.1, could be hyphenated) a kow ngu tra di yo a jur a hirow 3SgS take-out 3ReflSgamuletDef P1 3SgS run 3SgS enter He (=griot) took out his amulets (of protection). He (=griot) rushed into surgu di ye ra, surgu di yo wii ga, Tuareg Def Pl Loc, Tuareg Def Pl kill 35gO, the midst of the Tuaregs. The Tuaregs killed him. aamadu jow-kata maabe di, a jingar a beene Amadou take-Centrip griot Def, 3SgS pray 3Sg on-top Amadou took (the body of) the griot. He prayed over him. a kar alwalaa a Jjipgar a beene a Jisi ga, 3SgS hit ablution 3SgS pray 3Sg on-top 3SgS put-down 3SgO, He (=Amadou) did the ablutions and prayed over him. He put him (=corpse) down,440 Text a kasanfe ga a koy a fi¢&i ga, 3SgS enshroud 3SgO 3SgS go 3SgS bury 3SgO, He put a shroud around him, he went and he buried him. a duv ka goro hal a Jipgar aljumaa di alaasara, 3SgS get Inf sit until 3SgS pray Friday Def afternoon-prayer He then sat (=waited) until he prayed the afternoon Friday prayer. a Jingar alaasara a duu ka kar alwalaa, 3SgS pray afternoon-prayer 3SgS get Inf hit ablution, He prayed the afternoon prayer. He proceeded to do the ablutions, (then) a Jjingar, a duu ka kow ogu wane tira di yo 3SgS pray, 3SgS get Inf take-out 3ReflSg Poss amulet Def Pl he prayed. He proceeded to take out his (own) amulets. a Jisi gi a kata npgu wane kasante di 38gS put-down 3PIO, 3SgS bring 3ReflSgPoss shroud Def He deposited them (=amulets). He brought his (own) shroud. (we learn later that the amulets were put in the horse’s saddlebags as a message) a hirow a kuna a kani, a har surgu di yo se 3SgS enter 3Sg Loc 3SgS lie-down, 3SgS say Tuareg Def Pl Dat He got into it (=shroud). He lay down. He told the Tuaregs i ma hay ngu, surgu di yo hay ga, 3PIS Subju jab LogoSgO,Tuareg Def Pl jab 3SgO to pierce him (with a sword). The Tuaregs pierced him. a bun, bari di jur a koy hirow hamdallaay— 3SgS die, horse Def run 3SgS go enter Hamdallahi He died. The (=his) horse galloped, it went and entered Hamdallahi (town). a na too hala hamdallaay kala 3SgS Neg reach as-far-as Hamdallahi except It didn't reach Hamdallahi until (‘not ... except’ construction §8.5.4) suba di wane addvhaa di ra, a gar sceku aamadu tomorrow Def Poss morning Def Loc, 3SgS find Sékou Amadou in the mid-morning of the next day. It happened that Sékou Amadou (Sékou Amadou = full name of Sékou, distinct from the other Amadou; 35gS a in a gar could conceivably denote the horse but here it is probably abstract)Text 441 nda aamadu woo wane baba di, i-i boyrey ganji di ra, and Amadou Dem Poss father Def, 3PIS-Impfconverse wilderness Def Loc and this Amadou’s father, they were conversing out in the bush. (“this Amadou’ = the protagonist Amadou Sambourou ...; ‘the bush’ here means anywhere outside of settled areas) woo di har a se, ‘seeku?' a har ‘m?’ Dem Def say 3Sg Dat, ‘Sékou?" 3SgS say ‘huh?” That one (=Amadou’s father) said to him, ‘Sékou?" He (=Sékou) said, ‘what?’ ‘Yaa ijemeyre di yo koy yer na duu ngi wane alxabar,’ ‘since child-small Def Pl go 1PIS Neg get 3PIF Poss news,’ (Father:) ‘Ever since the boys went away (to fight), we haven’t had news of them.’ a har a se kaa ‘ije-meyre di yo 3SgS say 3Sg Dat that ‘child-small Def Pl He (=Sékou) replied to him, ‘(concerning) the boys, ni si haa i-kur parce que ni ije foo di 2SgS ImpfNeg inquire AbsolPl-all because 2Sg child one Def you’re not (really) asking about all of them; (it's) because your son (=Amadou) alone kaa goo i ra, woo di se na no-o hai ga,’ Rel be 3Pl Loc, Dem Def Dat Foc 2SgS-Impf inquire 3SgO,’ who is among them (=boys), that’s why you are asking about it.’ (woo di seis focalized postpositional phrase) a har a se kaa a na &—, a na ¢&i 3SgS say 3Sg Dat Rel 3SgS Neg be—, 35gS Neg be He (=father) replied to him that it wasn't—, it wasn't ngu wane jje foo di, aljamaa kaa koy, ngi-ye na duu LogoSg Poss child one Def, group Rel go, LogoPIS Neg get his own son alone, the group (=army) that had gone, they (two) had not had ngi alxabar ngu si bey i bun wala i huna, 3PIF news LogoSgS ImpfNeg know 3PISdie or 3PIS live, any news of them; he (=father) didn’t know whether they were dead or alive. haya keyna bari di kaa, a kaa ta gar a Jjow thing small horse Def come, 3SgS come Inf find 3SgS take Shortly thereafier the horse amived. It happened that he (=Amadou) had taken (haya keyna ‘little thing’ often has temporal sense ‘a while’) ngu wane Citaab di, a kan-ndi a beene, 3ReflSg Poss book Def, 3SgS lie-Caus 3S5g on-top, his (own) Koran, (and) he had laid on top of it (=book) (éitaab~kitaaw denotes a Koran as a physical object)442 Text ngu bomo di, seeku har a se 3ReflSghead Def, Sékou say 3Sg Dat his own head. Sékou had told him (This seems to be a report of an earlier dialogue between Sékou and Amadou) ‘kow Citaab di beene ni bomo di,’ a har a se ‘take-off book Def on-top 2Sg head Def,’ 3SgS say 3Sg Dat ‘take your head from off the top of the book.” He (=Amadou) had said to him kaa ngu bomo di nga nda Citaab di kul that LogoSg head Def 3SgF and book Def all that his (own) head, it (=head) and the Koran were & a-foo, parceque haya kul kaa goo (Citaab di kuna, be Absol-one, because thing all Rel be book Def in, one and the same, because everything which was (written) in the Koran, a goo ngu bomo di ra, a har a se 35gS be LogoSg head Def Loc, 3SgS say 3Sg Dat it was (also) in his head. He (=Sékou?) said to him (=father) (i.e., Amadou claims that he has memorized the Koranic text and has thus become mystically consubstantial with the tome) kaa aywa ban di kaa ban di kaa i koy Rel well, horse Def come horse Def come 3PIS go that, well, the horse had come, the horse had come. They (=Sékou and father) went i feer ga | fuuney, npga wane dangaa di w00 3PIS open 3SgO 3PIS search, 3SgF Poss saddlebag Def Dem They untied it (=saddlebag) and they searched. This saddlebag of his (=Amadou’s) kaa goo Jere di yo beene, i gar a kuna Rel be side Def Pl on-top, 3PI1S find 3Sg in which was up on the (horse’s) sides, they found in it (long ‘saddlebag’ NP including relative clause is a preposed topic NP) tira di kaa aamadu bun, ngu maabe di bun amulet Def that Amadou die, LogoSg griot Def die the amulet (indicating) that Amadou had died; (first) his griot had died, (*amulet’ is treated as a message from Amadou, hence logophoric possessor in ngu maabe di coindexed with Amadou; /aamadu bun/ is chronologically out of order and the narrator will repair this) woo di banda aamadu kaa ta bun, bari di kaa, ‘ Dem Def behind Amadou come Inf die, horse Def come, (and) Amadou had died after that. The horse came (as a messenger). (kaa ta ... ‘come and ..." often used to indicate a brief lapse of time §9.7.7)