Pragmatics in Moore

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 
𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐅𝐚𝐬𝐨

𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐞

(1) Context: A husband, about a meal he has just had.

Moore
Husband: “Wayy! A Hawa zẽedã 
nooma !”

English equivalent 
Literally: INTERJECTION – Hawa – sauce –
taste good !”
Meaning: Wow! Hawa’s sauce is really good!

(2) A guest just after a meal, talking to a child:

Moore 
Visitor: “Wayy! Yeel f ma t’a 
zẽedã nooma!

English equivalent
Literally: INTERJECTION, Tell-your- mother-
that- her- sauce – taste good!
Meaning: Wow! Tell your mother that her 
sauce is really good!

(3) Context: A visitor talking to a child in the mother’s presence after a delicious 
meal cooked by the child’s mother.

Moore 
Visitor: “Wayy! F ma zẽedã 
nooma!”

English equivalent
Literally: INTERJECTION. Your-mother-
sauce – tastes – good.
Meaning: Wow! Your mother’s sauce is 
really good!

(4) Context: The complimentee, a teenager, is being complimented by an unknown 
man for brilliantly passing his exams.

Moore 
Man: “Wayy! F ma rog biiga!” Literally:

English equivalent
INTERJECTION – Your- mother-bear- child!
Meaning: “What a fantastic child you are!”
Teenager: [smiles]… Teenager: [smiles]…

𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐞

(5) Context: A Mossi man who actually compliments a Gulmancema man (a “jok-
ing relative” from another ethnic group) for his new garment.

Moore 
Complimenter: “Yaa bõe me maam 
fu yonglg la woto?

English equivalent
Literally: It is- what-also-my-dress-
loose-that-this?
Meaning: What a nasty garment 
(you’re wearing)!

Complimentee: Fo tõe n paam yãoã ? Literally: You- can -afford-this?
Complimenter: Karisa! Meaning: Certainly not the sort you can afford! INTERJECTION (Yuck!)

(6) Context: A Mossi girl complimenting a dressed-up Gulmancema, young man, 
her joking relative.

Moore 
Mossi girl: “Õ-õ ! Ad pa tog ne f ye !

English Equivalent
Literally: INTERJECTION Behold-this-not-suit-with-you!
Meaning: “Yuck! It doesn’t suit you!”

Gulm. man: Fo pa ges f rẽndã la? Ad 
yãoã ya naam fuugu!

Literally: You-not-look 
at- your-own-then? Behold 
-this – is-chieftaincy-garment!

Meaning: Haven’t you had a look at 
yours? Mine is a royal garment!

Mossi girl: Kẽng n menem!
Literally: Go-disappear!
Meaning: Go away!

(7) A woman ‘complimenting’ her daughter who has just broken a valuable plate 
(a “shoddy job” as Agyekum (2010) puts it):

Moore 
Woman: Ayay! F tʋʋmde! 
F tʋʋm-toogo!

English equivalent
Literally: INTERJECTION Your-work! 
Your-work-hard!
Meaning: Well done! Excellent job!”

(8) Speaker (C) ‘compliments’ her addressee for inadvertently giving her purse to 
a scoundrel.

Moore 
C: Fo pa kõ-a la f pot maanã la? 
F maan neere!

English equivalent
Literally:You-not-give-him-your-purse ? 
You-did-beautiful!
Meaning: You have given him your purse, 
haven’t you? Well done!

(9) Context: A guest from the village of Niangouela visiting a relative 
in Ouagadougou

Moore 
Guest: Iye! Yaa fo roog la wã bɩ?

English equivalent
INTERJECTION literally : Is-your-house-that-this-or (not) ?

Meaning: Is this your house?
Host: N yeyn. Literally: Yes.
Meaning: Yes, it is!
Guest: … Guest: …
Host: … Host: …

𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲

(10) Context: Speaker (S) is excusing an absent, honourable third person for not 
showing up at a meeting, and proposes to take his share to him.

Moore 
S : “B pa na n tõog n wa rũndã ye. M 
na rɩk b pʋɩɩrã n taas-ba.”

English equivalent
Literally: They-not – can-come-today. I-will- take-their-share -reach- them.
Meaning: “He can’t come today. I will 
take his/her share to him/her”.

N.B: Data on Moore compliments were collected in naturally occurring discourse. In an attempt to exclude or minimize influence from other (local or foreign) languages 
or cultures, I shunned large, cosmopolitan cities like Ouagadougou, the capital city 
of Burkina Faso and of the Mossi people as well, and went to a small and remote 
Mossi village, Niangouela (in the northern part of Burkina Faso), to hunt for what 
I assumed to be genuine Moore complimenting. As a matter of fact, some studies suggest the high possibility of such influence from other cultures in similar situa-
tions, which is referred to as “pragmatic transfer” or “sociolinguistic transfer” (see 
Othman (2011) and Franch (1998)). The data were collected in recording or by note 
taking completed by interviews of resource people, and by my own introspection 
(since I am a native speaker of Moore).

Source
Mahamadou Sawadogo
Ouaga I Pr Joseph Ki-Zerbo University, Burkina Faso

Robert Kiswendsida Kabore 
Illustrative Picture

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