{"id":50830,"date":"2011-06-18T19:19:03","date_gmt":"2011-06-18T17:19:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sorosoro.org\/?p=50830"},"modified":"2025-10-21T22:34:31","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T20:34:31","slug":"bedik-tale-3-the-monkey-who-turned-into-a-young-woman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sorosoro.org\/en\/2011\/06\/bedik-tale-3-the-monkey-who-turned-into-a-young-woman\/","title":{"rendered":"Bedik Tale 3: The monkey who turned into a young woman"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re still in eastern Senegal<\/strong>, in the Bedik<\/strong> village of Bandafassi, sitting around the bonfire with storyteller Aminata Camara<\/strong> and her audience.<\/p>\n

The characters of today\u2019s story are animals again, but the scenery is different: following last week\u2019s hyena and hippo, this time Aminata tells us a story of apes.<\/p>\n

For the Bedik as for many, monkeys have a clever cast. The ape\/woman of this tale does appear quite gifted, but does that always mean having the last word? You never know\u2026<\/p>\n

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

See Bedik tale 2: “the adventures of Tama the hyena”<\/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