What does the contraction of “n’a” mean in “U n’a mɛn”. I am sure that it means something like they will hear it.
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Yes. It means ‘they will hear’.
U b’a mɛn means he or she hears your message or information.
Example:
– E ye somɔgɔ fo!
– U n’a mɛn!
(NOTE: In standard Bambara, one would typically use ye instead of ka as the optative predicate marker in the first line)
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The n’a if expanded out is na à:
U na à mɛn
‘They will hear it’
The word nà is a predicate marker that is used for the certain future. You can see it in the dictionary here.
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I see, so na marks the future here. Is it the same as when we say bɛna or bɛ na in a sentence like n bɛna taa so (I will go home)? Thanks
The predicate markers na and bɛna are both related to the future, but the former is the “certain future” and the latter is the general future. In general, I’d say use bɛna.
Note that bɛna/tɛna is generally written as one word:
N bɛna taa
N tɛna kuma
etc.