Bon anniversaire

Language Bambara/Dioula-Français
1

Someone recently wrote to me directly and asked about how to translate “Bon anniversaire” into Jula for the purposes of a film:

[The name of the film in] french it is : « Bon anniversaire ». As the film is in french and dioula, I wish to name it in Dioula.
I have made some researches and found « I ni sanyelema » (I suppose it means "many good returns », right ?).
The girls suggested : "I ni san kuura ». The problem is that they dare not sure about the spelling. Could you write the right spelling please ?

  • “I ni sanyɛlɛma” literally means “You and year-change”. The word sanyɛlɛma often is used to refer to New Year’s. You could use it, I guess, but I think that I ni san kura is a better choice

  • The expression I ni san kura literally means “You and new year”, but it’s the more typical greeting expression that is used for annual holidays (and potentially birthdays [though the concept of celebrating one’s birthday isn’t really a traditional cultural practice]). So, all that to say, I’d use the spelling “I ni san kura”, which is official and standard in Latin-based Jula and Bambara

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