Manding (Bambara, Dyula, & Malinké)

Numbers in Context (Currency Conversion)

Currency: CFA

The currency in Côte d’Ivoire is CFA, which is divided into its smallest bill unit of 500. When you go the market and ask “______ jeru jeru?” the seller will respond by saying “For one, (drassi) _____.” Drassi, while not always spoken aloud, is a term which shows the CFA conversion.

-Malo boro jeru jeru? How much is a bag of rice?

-Malo boro kelen, drassi waga wolonfila. One bag of rice is worth 7000 (35,000 CFA).

-Waga wolonfila? Baraka! 7000? Discount! 

-Waga woro di n ma. I can do 6000 (30,000 CFA) then.

While the buyer and seller spoke in Jula, they both understood the conversion by a factor of 5 into CFA (7000 x 5 = 35,000). Also notice how it is customary to haggle in the markets. An important word that comes from Arabic is baraka, which in the context of commerce is used to lower the price of an item (the original word does not actually mean “discount”).

Example Number Chart with Currency Conversion

How many of these words can you recognize below? Try to make your own list of numbers and conversions, practicing them written and aloud. Note that in all cases, the number comes AFTER the noun in Manding. Also note that the prices below may not reflect actual costs, and that not every noun below is meant to be bought/sold.

Number Drassi Wari / drassi + #
misi (1) kelen 1 5 CFA
Ba (2)  fila 2 10 CFA
mangalon (3) saba 3 15 CFA
ban (4) naani 4 20 CFA
sise (5) loru 5 25 CFA
baranda (6) woro 6 30 CFA
mogo (7)  wolonfila 7 35 CFA
negeso (8)  segin 8 40 CFA
djembe (9) konondo 9 45 CFA
wulu (10) tan 10 50 CFA
sura (11) tan ni kelen 12 55 CFA
sagajigi (20) munga 20 100 CFA
filabru (21) munga ni kelen 21 105 CFA
bokoronu (30) bisaba 30 150 CFA
muso (40) binaani 40 200 CFA
ce (50) biloru 50 250 CFA
logo (60) biworu 60 300 CFA
seben (70) biwolonfila 70 350 CFA
bala (80) bisegin 80 400 CFA
guitarri (90) bikonondo 90 450 CFA
kunu (100) keme 100 500 CFA
safina (200) keme fila 200 1000 CFA
Lamuru (300) keme saba 300 1500 CFA
Dunun (400) keme naani 400 2000 CFA
sogo (500) keme loru 500 2500 CFA
tora (1000) waga kelen 1000 5000 CFA
mobili (2000) waga fila 2000 10,000 CFA
telefon (3000) waga saba 3000 15,000 CFA
drekke (10,000) waga tan 10,000 50,000 CFA

Want to define a word above? Check it here in the dictionary.

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