The following is taken from BALANTA KENTOHÉ LANGUAGE LESSONS SERIES 3 by Balanta Press of the Balanta B’urassa History & Genealogy Society. We believe that one of the best ways to learn Balanta culture is through learning the Balanta language.
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Lesson 27
CULTURAL TOPICS : KWÂSSI= marriage.
Wâssa = to marry.
Kwdina = to kneel.
Alante= man, husband.
Anin= woman, wife.
Yéklee = bride.
Nkwd (yama nkwd) = maid of honor, bridesmaid, matron of honor.
Bdênh = official marriage ceremony at bride's father's house, with dancing, beautifying with wedding clothes.
Fâta = white piece of cloth given to the bride when having honeymoon in order to know if she has or not kept her virginity up to the marriage date. After sleeping with her husband in the first day, early in the morning the maid of honor go to take it and to verify if there is blood in it as sign of loss of virginity and then to show it to people.
Kbéle kléti = literally meaning holy bowl. A traditional bowl used in marriage. The bride put it on her head only if she is still virgin. If the bride put on it by mistake, she is not going to have children, staying barren.
Nhitha = to beautify, to embellish.
Knhithee = beautifying, embellishments.
Nhirina = to dance.
Nhiri = Dance.
Swmandina = to be happy, joyous...
Kswma = happiness, joy.
Natchana = to be glad.
Knâtch = gladness.
Kqpéldina = to have a conversation.
Fqpélde = conversation.
Kqpénha = to fuss; to argue.
Kqpénh = fuss, arguing.
Lôha = to refuse.
Nanha = to want, to accept.
Ywra = to pour a liquid like wine at an Idol place in order to communicate with it.
Kywr = pouring of liquid.
K-kwbe = traditional cup with a long handle used for pouring liquid
B-bâssi = idol.
Ksodi = dowry.
Fir = whistle (instrument: like referees').
Léfa = to blow (whistle, traditional flute...).
Riba = to sing.
Brib = song.
Sôka = to start singing when in group. Generally, there is one person who starts singing and others follow them.
Ksôk = start singing first in a group.
Asôk = the one who starts singing first in a group.
Kwkana = shout.
Knkwk = shouting.
Kwmba = pig.
Arâhe= goat.
Nhék = chicken.
Mbânh = knife.
Fdés = machete.
Ksâhâm = blood.
Tibat/ tibatna = to be patient.
Ktibat = patience.
Yônkana = to wait.
Kyônka = waiting
Haba= to kill.
Gwil= clothes.
Nhôme = clothe for covering oneself. Women use them instead of skirts.
Mâla = traditional suitcase for keeping clothes made by woods.
Twmna gwil = to wear clothes.
Yontatna = to change clothes.
Momna = to impregnate a woman.
Moma = to be pregnant (Women) or to be full of food.
Déha = to give birth.
Wôhôrna = to have a miscarriage or to give birth a dead child.
Mbee (singular l), kbee(plural)= child, children.
Lesson 28
CULTURAL TOPIC: B-BÂSTI = Balanta marriage when a girl becomes pregnant before being married.
Literally it means cleansing ceremony, because in Balanta culture, it is not acceptable for a girl to get pregnant before marriage, the person is considered as unclean. And if this ceremony is not done, when that girl gives birth and it comes to pass someone pass over her blood, that person can get a sickness because of the impurity of the girl. Even the girl herself and man who impregnate her, if this ceremony is not done, they can get a sickness as result of it. This cleaning ceremony takes place at water stream generally in low altitude rice field with water called "FTHÂMBA" where both the girl and the man are washed and cleansed. It's done by specific people, not everybody is allowed to be there; generally, the ceremony is led by a witch doctor " ASSEEKEE". It is done either before the girl gives birth or after she gives birth. Sometimes it is done years after the pregnancy however the earlier it is done the better it is.
Wassana = to clean, to cleanse.
Afwlee = girl
Kfwlee = the period when a girl is in her youth when she behaves truly as girl generally before being pregnant, married.
(Kssâke) kfwlee = the sickness that comes when a girl get pregnant before marriage and the cleaning ceremony (B-BÂSTI) is not done.
Fthâmba = low altitude rice field with water.
Dwklina a fthamba = to go down to low altitude rice field with water.
Ywrâ (noun: kywr) = to pour a liquid like wine at an Idol place to communicate with it.
For the normal marriage that we saw in the previous lesson, it's done like this: the first four days the girl is brought to the future husband family house but does not sleep yet with the man. During these days, she dresses in a simple way with a traditional piece of cloth as skirt and a hat like AMILCAR CABRAL hat and they pour smooth talk in her neck. She goes house to house accompanied by people, singing and each family chief give her something like money...if the girl is a close relative, the family chief can even slaughter an animal generally a pig.
After these four days, on the fifth day she is taken to her father house. During next four days, this is when the true marriage ceremony starts. The family does a series of ceremonies and the girl stays only inside covered, assisted only by her maid of honor (Nkwd). She becomes very sensible in this period not being in contact with any strange person. She eats specific food and drinks specific water. If she can't finish the food it cannot be thrown away, only a woman who has just given birth (because she does not sleep with a man in this period so she is pure) can help her finish this food. The fallen food on the ground is carefully gathered by the maid of honor that takes it throw in a secret place generally in a termite house, because if someone with bad Faith get access to even a grain of rice of that food they can harm her or she can become barren.
After these four days in father's house, on the fifth day it's where "B-DÊNH" takes place by bringing out the girl, singing, shouting and enjoying. The girl is changed clothes in each instant. Only in the evening of that fifth day the girl is taken to husband's house and the marriage ends.
Lesson 39
CULTURAL TOPIC: MHÂH M-NANHI = temporary marriage arrangements.
In Balanta culture it is normal to give a girl/woman for temporary marriage. When you receive a male guest who you really respect, you give him a woman/girl that is your friend or to whom you talked to about the subject, and both agree to stay together during some days or nights. If the woman is already married, everything is done secretly.
Even women themselves give their female friends for temporary marriage to their male friends.
Nhaha M-nanhi = to give a woman/ girl for a temporary marriage.
Ananhi = lover, girlfriend, boyfriend.
Wertina k'ananhi= to pass a night with a lover.
Fhênhi = love.
Nhênha = to love.
Bwssa klôt a hal = to no longer love someone.
Between ‘forced marriage’ and ‘free choice’: social transformations and perceptions of gender and sexuality among the Balanta in Guinea-Bissau
Published online by Cambridge University Press:
27 March 2019
Abstract
African women are frequently portrayed as a subaltern group in need of external support, used as property in forging social relations, producing wealth in people and doing most of the agricultural work to feed household members in societies where ‘modernization’ does not always seem to change their unfortunate predicament. This article destabilizes such narratives by showing the complexities of marriage practices and the difficult dialectics between freedom and subjugation in one West African agrarian society – the Brassa-speaking people of Guinea-Bissau. Among this patrilineal and virilocal group, marriage was usually arranged at birth or when girls were still small children. However, after marriage, women enjoyed great freedom of movement to have distant sexual partners and to pursue private profit-making activities. Paradoxically, while at present most young women are allowed to marry a young husband of their choice, having lost the support of their descent groups they are becoming more subjected to their husbands’ power and control.