Learn Bambara

Where it's spoken

Mali, with speakers in Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea

Speakers

around 15 million including second-language speakers

Writing system

Latin alphabet with ɛ, ɔ and ɲ (N'Ko script also used)

Bambara is the everyday language of Mali and closely related to Dyula and Malinke, so it unlocks a wide region.

What makes Bambara different

• Two tones, high and low, carried on every syllable.
• Word order is subject–object–verb.
• Greetings are long and expected — cutting them short reads as rude.

Your first Bambara phrases

Each phrase is written the way it's spelled, then respelled for English speakers with the stressed syllable in capitals.

• I ni ceHello/EE nee CHEH/
• BarikaThank you/BA-ree-kah/
• Aw bisimilaWelcome/aw bee-see-MEE-la/
• K'an bɛnGoodbye/kahn BEHN/
• AwoYes/AH-wo/
• AyiNo/AH-yee/
• N'i sɔnnaPlease/n ee SAWN-na/
• HakɛtoSorry/ha-KEH-to/

Want the full list? Read the free Bambara phrasebook with pronunciation, grab the free printable Bambara starter kit, or compare SemaSoma with other African language apps.