Set phrases, like greetings, farewells, and idioms, are an important part of Lio Sabaalè. It will pay off to learn to use them fluently.
Many phrases have a call-and-response pattern, with two corresponding phrases. They will be written as such here.
Most of these phrases can be shortened to just one or two words, but here they are written in full.
In the following phrases, you can change ki “you” to unù “y’all” whenever you are greeting more than one person.
You can also replace ki with a kinship term:
nua — brother, sister, cousin
àmu — uncle, aunt
bobo — grandmother, grandfather
àci — son, daughter
Yes and No
There are two words for saying “no”: ài asserts the opposite of a positive question, while mii asserts the opposite of a negative question.
En. / Een — “Yes”. Agreement, confirmation, affirmation.
Ài. — “No”. Disagreement with a positive statement or question.
Mii. — “No”. Disagreement with a negative statement or question.
Kàfa co fan ki ma? “Do you like coffee?”
En. “Yes, I do.”
Ài. “No, I don’t.”
Kàfa man co fan ki ma? “Do you not like coffee?”
Mii. “No, I do.”
Greetings | ߌ߬ߓߊߙߊ
When you are in a Sabaalè-speaking setting, it is very important to greet people. This creates a sense of community.
An important word for greetings is yaa. This means something like “hi”, “hey”, or “hello”. It can be placed before the greeting to get attention.
Another important word is oo. This is an all-purpose response. It basically means “Yes, alright” or “Thanks, you too”.
Situational greetings
These take the form [Noun] + nà ki. The basic noun is bia, literally “errand”, “activity”, “chore”, or “labor”.
Call: Bia nà ki.
Response: Oo, bia..
Other nouns can be used, for example times of day:
Sùba nà ki. — Good morning.
Tuna nà ki. — Good afternoon. (Early in the afternoon.)
Kùkuli nà ki. — Good evening. Good afternoon. (Late in the afternoon.)
Lei nà ki. — Good night. (Unlike English, this is a greeting.)
In informal speech, nà can be dropped, so that one simply says Sùba ki “good morning” etc. Oo is not optional; without it, you have not properly acknowledged a greeting.
You can greet with other activities or context:
Ìce nà ki. — Hello. (To someone at work.)
Nenkon nà ki. — Hello. (To someone who is commuting on the road.)
Jèn nà ki. — Hello. (To someone who you have not seen for a long time; jèn means “absence”.)
Sugu nà ki. — Hello. (To someone who is shopping or at market.)
Meela nà ki. — Hello. (To someone who you have not seen for a long time; Meela means “disappearance”.)
Wete nà ki. — Hello. (To someone who has just returned from somewhere.)
Question greetings
Call: Ki kene ma? “How are you?” (“Are you well?)
Response: Oo, n kene sà. “I’m fine, thanks.” (“I am well.”)
Follow-up: Ki dun? “And you?”
Call: Ki de nin? “How are you?”
Response: N de sì. “I’m fine, thanks.” (Literally, “I am here.”)
Follow-up: Ki dun? “And you?”
Call: Sàlan de ki ma? “Do you have peace?”
Response: Oo, sàlan lan. “Yes, thank you, nothing but peace.”
Call: Wa lei sàlan de ma? “Did you have a peaceful night?”
Response: Oo, sàlan lan. “Yes, nothing but peace.”
This greeting is used first thing in the morning, right after people have woken up and started their day.
After exchanging this sequence, you can ask after someone’s family and friends using the particle dun:
Lucan ki dun? “And how is your family?”
Nnaa ki dun? “And how is your mother?”
The responses will use the pronouns o “he/she” or yo “they”:
O kene sà. “He/she is well”.
Yo de sì “They are fine.”
Sàlan de yo. “They have peace.”
Call: Ni […] dun? “And how are you faring with X?”
Response: Sè […]. “It’s fine.”
This is used to ask about specific things, especially the weather, work, school, or anything else going on in someone’s life. For example:
Ni sao dun? “And how’s it going with the rain?” Sè sao. “Fine.”
Ni ìce dun? “And how’s it going with work?” Sè ìce. “Fine.”
Other common nouns:
temè — drought, dry weather
tunara — hot weather
saɲi — cold weather
Name greetings
You can greet someone by saying their first name or their last name, depending on the culture.
Call: Ya [name]. (Say the name of the person who you are greeting.)
Response: Oo, ya [name]. (Say the name of the person who greeted you.)
Religious Greetings
You can also use translations or transliterations of religious greetings.
Call: Sàlamààlekùn — As-salāmu ʕalaykum
Response: Wààlekùnsàlan. — Wa-ʕalaykumu s-salāmu.
Other greetings
To greet someone on their arrival:
Call: Gangan. “Welcome!”
Response: Sàlan. “Peace.”
Small Talk
Call: Kopò ìni? “What’s up?” (Literally, “What news?”)
Response: Koco lan. “Nothing much.” (Literally, “Nothing but pleasant things.”)
Question: Ki lati ninbe? “Where are you from?”
Answer: Mo lati […]. “I am from […].”
Question: Ki ɲùmà ninbe? “Where do you live?”
Answer: N ɲùmà […]. “I live in […].”
Mo lati fàlastin jè ène ɲùmà Wundun. “I come from Palestine but now I live in Jordan.”
Question: Ki sè lu ǹbe alè? “What is your nationality?”
Answer: N sè lu [country]. “I am (American, Chinese, Brazilian, etc.).”
N sè lu tàwacinton. “I am U.S. American.”
Farewells | ߌ߬ߞߊ߬ߙߊ
The phrase no a, “well then”, can be placed before any farewell call in order to make it flow more naturally.
Call: Ye buɲa. “Well then, let’s get together again.”
Response: Ye buɲa sà. “Indeed, let’s get together again.”
Call: Won sai. “We’ll see each other again.”
Response: Won sai.
Call: N sen ja. “Well then, I will leave first.”
Response: (Use another farewell call.)
This can be used especially when talking on the phone.
Call: Ke yeke i nen. “Take care.” Literally, “go slow”.
Response: Oo.
Said to someone if they are leaving to go somewhere.
Functional phrases
Call: Yaa. “Hey.”
Call: Ki kewun. “Thank you.”
Response: Òwun la. “No problem.”
This is used when someone has done something, it is not used as thanks for a compliment.
Call: Sè ja sibu. “Thank you.”
Response: Sibu la. “No problem.”
Same meaning as ki kewun, but a bit more emphatic.
Call: N kà [verb] bai ma? “Is it okay if I [verb]?”
Response: Bai sà. “Of course.”
Call: Korokuma. “Sorry,” “excuse me”.
Call: Yeekò. “Well done.” “Congratulations.”
Response: Òwun la. “It was nothing.”
Call: Bara ki. “There there.” (An expression of condolence.)
Introductions
Call: Suma ki ko nin? “What is your name?”
Response: Suma mo ko […]. “My name is […].”
Call: Òcuru ki ko nin? “What is your surname?”
Response: Òcuru mo ko […]. “My surname is […].”
Call: Barakà. “Pleased to meet you.”
Response. Oo. “Thanks, and you too.”
Lio Sabaalè | ߟߌߐ ߛߊߓߊ߯ߟߍ߬ 