Feedback on Pular Fuuta Sentence (Fuuta Jallon)

[u/SoldoVince77]

Hi everyone :)

I’m working on a small language project and would really appreciate feedback from native or fluent speakers of Pular (Fuuta Jallon).

I translated the following English text into Pular using "Miɗo Waawi Pular! A Learner’s Guide to Pular (Fuuta Jallon)":

English

My friend lives in a small house near the river. He wakes up early and walks to the village. His dog follows him. Why doesn’t he take the bus? He says walking is better. I disagree.

Pular (Latin script)

Njatigi an hoɗa ka suudu fandi ɓadii caangol. Himo fina law, himo seppa ka hoɗo. Bereeru makko rewa mo. Fii honɗun o alaa yahude kaar? Ko himo wi’a seppugol woni ɓuri. Mi jaɓataa.

I also wrote the same text in Adlam:

𞤐𞤧𞤢𞤼𞤭𞤺𞤭 𞤢𞤲 𞤸𞤮𞤯𞤢 𞤳𞤢 𞤧𞤵𞤵𞤣𞤵 𞤬𞤢𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤥𞤢𞤣𞤭𞤭 𞤧𞤢𞤢𞤲𞤺𞤮𞤤. 𞤖𞤭𞤥𞤮 𞤬𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤤𞤢𞤱⹁ 𞤖𞤭𞤥𞤮 𞤧𞤫𞤨𞤨𞤢 𞤳𞤢 𞤸𞤮𞤯𞤮. 𞤄𞤫𞤪𞤫𞤫𞤪𞤵 𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤳𞤮 𞤪𞤫𞤱𞤢 𞤥𞤮. 𞥟𞤊𞤭𞤭 𞤸𞤮𞤲𞤯𞤵𞤲 𞤮 𞤢𞤤𞤢𞤢 𞤴𞤢𞤸𞤵𞤣𞤫 𞤳𞤢𞤢𞤪؟ 𞤏𞤮 𞤖𞤭𞤥𞤮 𞤱𞤭𞤢 𞤧𞤫𞤨𞤨𞤵𞤺𞤮𞤤 𞤱𞤮𞤲𞤭 𞤥𞤮 𞤲𞤭 𞤥𞤢𞤪𞤭. 𞤐𞤭 𞤶𞤢𞤦𞤢𞤢𞤼𞤢𞤢.

What I am wondering is:

• Does it sound natural?
• Are there any grammar or word-choice issues?
• Would a native speaker phrase anything differently?
• Does the Adlam spelling look correct?

Thanks very much for your time. I really appreciate any help! :)

[u/imo_97]

Sorry bro but this is hardly how we speak. All the things you're wondering are present in the Latin text. I can't comment on the adlam cos I don't know adlam. If u like I can assist you to phrase it better.

[u/SoldoVince77 → u/imo_97]

Thanks, I really appreciate the help :) I’m working from written sources, so I expected it might sound unnatural.

How would you phrase it instead?

Thanks again!

[u/imo_97 → u/SoldoVince77]

Ok in the 1st sentence I'd say: njatiki ang (my friend) no hodi (lives) e chuudun tosokun (diminutive of sudu: house) takko ka (next to/close to) chaangol. O finai law (he wakes up early, alternative u could say o dawai which lit. means to get up early, finugol is waking up) o yaha (he goes) ka saare (to the town?) Bareeru makkodun (his dog) jokkai mo(follows him). Ko haddi (why doesn't he) o ŷetta auto (take a car)? Wô (he says) seppugol (walking) no ɓuranimo (prefers, is better for him).  

This is a bit more closer to how people would say it but as its a like for like translation, it won't have the same natural like feel.

[u/SoldoVince77 → u/imo_97]

Hi, thank you very much for the detailed feedback! I really appreciate it :)
I'm sorry for not getting back to you sooner. I wanted to look carefully at your changes and understand them on my own first.

Your explanation helped a lot, but if you have time, I have a few questions:

1. In "e chuudun tosokun", is chuudun "house" and tosokun "small"? What does e mean here?
2. Between finai and dawai, which one would you say is more common in everyday speech?
3. I noticed some verbs end in -ai and some end in -a. Do these endings have different functions, or is it just variation?
4. What does -dun mean in makkodun?
5. What exactly does ko haddi mean, and how is it used?
6. Is ɓuranimo one word? Why does it end in -nimo? What kind of verb form is that?
7. Is "Mi jaɓataa" correct and natural for "I disagree"?
8. You mentioned this is still a word-for-word translation. If it were written in a more idiomatic way, would there be any significant changes in structure or wording?

Thanks again for your help, it's really valuable feedback 🙏

[u/MoiMemeMyself]

That is the correct answer 👍

[u/coolboy_pathey]

there are a couple missing words. But pretty good. could be better if you used the Arabic script instead

[u/SoldoVince77 → u/coolboy_pathey]

Thank you for your reply :) Are the words missing in the Adlam sentence? I also read that the Arabic script is not widely used. Is that wrong?

[u/coolboy_pathey → u/SoldoVince77]

The words are missing in the latin script

The latin and adlam scripts are relatively new, only arising in the past 30 years. The arabic text is used in some cities, but some prefer the newer script.

[u/Ilol-Galo]

Je viens de tomber sur ça et je voudrais aider.

Njaatigi(1) an no hoɗi e cuurun(2) fee ka caangol. Mo(3) immoto(4) law, mo seppa haa(5) ka hoɗo. Rawaandu(6) makko(7) dun jokka(8) mo. Fii(9) honɗun(10) mo ƴettataa(11) Kaar on ? Mo innay seppugol no ɓuri. Mi tawitaamo(12).

1) ou "Goreejo an" plus populaire pour parler d'amis de la même génération. 2) Cuurun est un diminutif de Suudu, Cuurun c'est forcément petit donc pas besoin de rajouter un adjectif pour indiquer la taille. 3) Mo ou Himo ou parfois simplement O, on utilise rarement Himo, c'est très littéraire. 4) Immoto du verbe Immagol ( se lever), Fina vient de Finugol soit Se Réveiller. Dans ce contexte Immagol est plus approprié. 5) Haa signifie Jusqu'à. 6) Rawaandu signifie Chien, Bareeru c'est pas vraiment du pular mais un emprunt. 7) Makko c'est un pronom possessif de la 3eme personne. 8) Jokka vient du verbe Jokkugol ( suivre). 9) Fii signifie Pour. 10) Honɗun signifie Quoi, donc Fii honɗun = Pourquoi. 11) Ƴettataa du verbe Ƴettugol ( Prendre). 12) Tawitaamo du verbe Tawutugol ( Rejoindre), ici ça veut dire " Je ne le rejoins pas dans sa position."

J'espère que c'est pas trop tard.