{"id":50200,"date":"2011-06-16T11:51:50","date_gmt":"2011-06-16T09:51:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sorosoro.org\/?p=50200"},"modified":"2025-10-21T22:35:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T20:35:13","slug":"bedik-tale-2-the-adventures-of-tama-the-hyena","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sorosoro.org\/en\/2011\/06\/bedik-tale-2-the-adventures-of-tama-the-hyena\/","title":{"rendered":"Bedik Tale 2: The adventures of Tama the hyena"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s a second tale from the Menik<\/strong> community of the village of Bandafassi, in the East of Senegal<\/strong>. We\u2019re back around the fire with the children and Aminata Camara<\/strong>, spinning a spindle as she tells her story.<\/p>\n

This is still a world where animals speak as well as humans, and where they experience a hundred adventures that\u2019ll leave some of us with lessons to dwell.<\/p>\n

The main character this time is a hyena, Tama, hopping from one misfortune to the other, first swindled by yellow birds, and then embarked on some odd story with a hippo and a hare\u2026 Definitely not for the faint of heart; please experience outside meals.<\/p>\n

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See Bedik tale 1: “the orphan avenged by the forest”<\/a><\/p>\n

See Bedik tale 3: “the monkey who turned into a young woman”<\/a><\/p>\n

See Bedik tale 4: “the young girl who wanted to drink beer”<\/a><\/p>\n

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Linguist<\/span>: Adjaratou Oumar Sall
\nImage & sound<\/span>: Muriel Lutz assisted by Cheikh Tidiane Sall
\nTranslation<\/span>: Marcel Camara
\nEditing<\/span>: Caroline Laurent<\/p>\n

Video created within the\u00a0ANR S\u00e9n\u00e9langues <\/em>project<\/p>\n

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Reminder: Menik is a\u00a0Niger-Congo<\/a> language (North Atlantic branch, West Atlantic group, Tenda subgroup). It separates into three dialects: Banapas, Biwol and B\u00eb\u00f1olo. The filming took place in Bandafassi, area of Kedougou, in Banapas dialect. An endangered language, Bapen, older that Menik, was discovered in 1961 by linguist Marie-Paul Ferry. This language could very well be the \u201cmother\u201d of the Menik and Oniyan (Bassari) languages. Our filming took place in Bandafassi, area of Kedougou, in Banapas dialect.<\/em><\/p>\n

In 2002, the Christian NTM (New Tribes Mission) missionaries, who were the second to work on the language, estimated 3,380 Bedik were living in Senegal at the time.<\/em><\/p>\n

With a few thousand speakers at the most, Menik can clearly be considered endangered on a relatively short term. However, it has been observed that the language is still being handed down to the young generations despite the fact that a majority of people in these villages speaks fluent Fula, Mandinka (Malink\u00e9) and French, used daily.<\/em><\/p>\n

Speakers of Menik, although perfectly accustomed to the environing culture and bearing a great sense of adaptability to the languages they\u2019re in contact with, are linked with a strong feeling of identity that protects their language.<\/em><\/p>\n

For more information on Menik<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

See an introduction to Menik<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n