The Epic of Kelefaa Saane

Note on Spelling and Pronunciation

NOTE ON SPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION I have to a large extent followed the spelling conventions adapted by the Centre de Linguistique Appliquée de Dakar (CLAD) for the transcription of the Mandinka text. Interested readers should be aware that each symbol in the text represents a distinct sound. The geminate consonants are doubled in writing. In pronunciation, they are held approximately twice as long as normal before release. Some of the consonants can be prenasalized. The symbols c and η represent sounds similar to sounds in English but shown in that language by a combination of letters. Below is an illustration . For Mandinka words I have adopted an orthography reflecting underlying structure in lieu of one which focuses on superficial details of pronunciation. Mandinka English c /c/ (voiceless palatal stop) caabóo (the key) child (but palatal) Ƞ/η /η/ (velar nasal) dindiη (child) singing ηanaa (warrior) x /x/ (voiceless velar fricative) xani (no) hate ñ (voiced palatal nasal) as in the Spanish word: señor r is an alveolar trill. Here is an illustration of the Mandinka oral vowels with their approximate match in English. Mandinka English 1. short vowels a /a ˛/ jali (griot) Guyana e /e/ kele (fight) set i /i/ kili (call) seek o /o/ soto (have) gold u /u/ bulu (hand) glue 2. long vowels aa /a ˛:/ kaanaa (lizard) lava ee /e:/ deemaa (to help) bread xxxiv / Note on Spelling and Pronunciation ii /i:/ siinóo (sleep) feed oo /o:/ toolaa (to name after) born uu /u:/ wuluu (birth) pool 3. short vowels with diacritics é /ε/ jélu (how many) jail ó // wó (that) vote 4. long vowels with diacritics à /a:/ bàndi (finish) éé /ε:/ téérimaa (friend) day (without offglide) óo /:/ móol (people) poll óó /:/ jóónóo (bead) poll The vowel à is phonologically a long vowel. THE EPIC OF KELEFAA SAANE ...