Learning to Speak Ivoirian

I thought French was the official language of Cote d'Ivoire. I was wrong.

Of course that's not to say I don't understand the folks around me. But, the interesting twists of the French in Cote d'Ivoire remind you (in case, for some reason, you forgot) that you are not quite in Paris. In two months, I have the pleasure of discovering, getting used to and, yes, going native with Ivoirian and using it myself.

As I detail a few of these idiosyncrasies, I have a caveat. One of the issues I've come across a lot while traveling, that I imagine others have as well, is knowing how much to read into the differences of a new place. When, on one hand, is a different just a simple choice that isn't meaningful. For example, driving on the left side of the road isn't indicative of deep-seated communist leanings. On the other hand, when is a difference a revealing cultural/historic/social choice? I'm not sure the answer to that question, but I'll do the best I can.

"Payer"

"Acheter" - to buy - does not really exist in Cote d'Ivoire. Instead, "payer" - to pay for - is the word of choice. For instance, the mother of the family I was staying with would ask me if I wanted her to "payer du pain," literally to pay for bread. An interesting choice, that I don't think is random. My theory is that when you are living in a place where time is plentiful, but the means to buy something are not, it makes sense to place the emphasis on the actual paying. In states, we tend to focus on the purchasing process "do you want me to go buy some bread" since the effort of hopping in the car and going to the bakery is the main barrier to getting that bread, not the $2 the baguette costs.

"Envoyer"

Instead of asking for someone to give you something by saying "donner" - to give - the phrase envoyer - to send - is employed. It's an interesting term because its rather abstract - the bread is being sent, not given or handed to you. Not too sure what to make of this, though.

"Il faut..."

French usually reserved the phrase "il faut" for general cases where something should be done. For instance, you might say "il faut appeler la police en cas d'urgence" - one must call the police in case of emergency.

In Cote d'Ivoire, il faut has morphed into a broad expression for anything someone wants, and is how Ivoirians ask for just about anything. For instance, at a restaurant, one might say to the waiter "il faut m'envoyer de l'eau" to ask for water.

It's a rather abstract way to ask for something specific that is perhaps born out of a culture where people have fairly clear roles. For instance, a family in a village knows who's responsible for getting water, preparing dinner and getting groceries from the market. The context of the hierarchy and defined roles tells you all you need to know; there is no question of the father walking to market to get bananas.

But - and I'm not sure if this is rational - but this expression has bothered me a little. When a colleage asks for a favor that leads with "il faut;" my reflex is : No I do not need to do that! But if you ask me nicely I will!

I don't think they mean any harm, but I guess I'm used to an individualist culture when doing something for someone is heartily acknowledge and appreciated, not assumed.

"On dit quoi?"

The "wassup" of Cote d'Ivoire meaning literally "what do we say?." It's a fairly indirect phrase, not asking someone how they are doing, but not wholly different than "ca va..."

"Ca va...un peu"

Ca va is not exactly rare French phrase. In fact you can have an entire conversation with just these two words that mean at once "how's it goin" and "it's going fine." (For instance Ca va? Ca va. Ca va? Ca va.)

But in Cote d'Ivoire, the addedum "un peu" - a little - is interesting. Responding to "ca va?" with this almost seems a way to dampen enthusiasm and keep expectations low. Yeah things aren't super, but they're going OK. The product of a country that has seen the highs of economic boom, the lows of civil war and the stagnant malaise of the past 10 years? It's possible.

"Il n'y a pas de problème"

"There's not a problem" is a common way to say yes here. But, be careful. It doesn't necessarily mean that there's not a problem. In fact, especially when you are bargaining for something, this phrase might tip you off to the fact that there is a problem.

For instance, I was in the market looking for a Didier Drogba jersey for my 6 year old half-brother. I saw one that looked about his size, but it had a long white line across it. After mentioning that it looked like Drogba has been stabbed, the salesman asserted "il n'y a pas de problème" at first trying to scratch off the white, and then pretending that it was part of the jersey. Yeah, right.

The Articles that didn't Bark

Ivoirian is definitely not as, shall we say, refined as Parisien French. For one, articles (the the's, a's etc.) are often dropped. So, to ask for bread, one might just say "envoie pain" instead of "envoie du pain" While this doesn't communicate if you want all the bread (le pain) or just some bread (du pain), it gets the crux of the message across. In a place where French is often a second langauge (though less and less so) communication, rather than beautiful, elegant French is key. Yes, this is certainly not Paris!