I notice many times that Bambara speakers will make speak with a sort of quickness that changes how certain words are pronounced.
I believe that this is an example but fact check me if you think otherwise: “I y’a faamu wa?” will sound like “I y’a faamu ya?” when speaking.
Hi Malik! Yes, when speaking some sounds can change just like in English (“I want to” → “I wanna”, etc.), but here that is not what is happening.
It is not that wa is becoming ya. It is that that they are using the verb k’à faamuya instead of k’à faamu.
Obviously, the two verbs are related — -ya is a sort of abstraction suffix for verbs — but they are they distinct.