Bambara, known to its speakers as Bamanankan, is a Manding language of the Mande group and the main lingua franca of Mali. Native speakers number several million, and counting second-language users the total in Mali is often put above ten million, far ahead of any other language in the country. It is close to Dioula, spoken in Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso, and to Malinke; the three are largely mutually intelligible. Bambara is tonal and is normally written in the Latin alphabet with a standard orthography, while some literate speakers use N'Ko, a script devised in 1949 for the Manding languages. Griots, the hereditary singers and historians of the region, perform in Bambara, and the language dominates Malian radio, markets and popular music.
Prism Linguistics provides Bambara translation, interpreting and transcription across the UK in 300+ languages. Whether you need a certified document for the Home Office, a court interpreter, an NHS appointment or a business meeting, our vetted native-speaker linguists are ready to help.
Tell us about your project and we’ll reply within 1 working hour with pricing and turnaround.
Get a free quote