‎«ߦߋ߫» with “Ala ka ...” benediction

Language / Langue N'ko-English
1

(although the topic is closer to N’Ko<->Bambara rather than English, I’ll post my question here. sorry if this makes more troubles.)

I’m confused about the N’Ko word «ߦߋ߫» in greetings such as this holiday post (x.com):

Seliba don! Aw san bɛɛ san bɛɛ! Ala ka san hɛɛrɛ caya! ߊߟߊ ߦߋ߫ ߛߊ߲߭ ߤߙߍ߫ ߛߦߊߦߊ߫ ⁦

If the word «ߦߋ߫» here works as like particle “ka” in “Ala ka…” benediction, then is the word «ߦߋ߫»

  1. identical to N’Ko equivalent of copula “ye”, and
  2. different from N’Ko equivalent of exhortation type of “ka”, as in “An ka taa”? (I saw it is transcribed as «ߧߋ߫» or «ߞߊ߫» in recent AKT videos.)
2

Hi @ni_pu !

Wow, a niche question about my tweets/videos – i ni ce! :slight_smile:

The marker ߦߋ߫ ye is the typical optative/subjunctive marker used in N’ko writings. It is also the optative marker that is used in spoken in Maninka (and often in Côte d’Ivoire Jula).

It lines up with the optative/marker ka in Bambara.

In the holiday tweet therefore the Latin-based sentence and the N’ko-based sentence are equivalent but neither one is a one-to-one transcription of one into the other:

Ala ka san hɛɛrɛ caya! ߊߟߊ ߦߋ߫ ߛߊ߲߭ ߤߙߍ߫ ߛߦߊߦߊ߫ ⁦

I think that should answer your questions, but I am not 100% sure what you are asking actually

3

Thank you for helpful response! I’ll organise my thoughts on this topic again after exploring Maninka dictionary, too.

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