Whyyyy!

The first thing you'd notice upon conversing with a Burkinabe (presumably in any language, but more often with women in villages than say, the Peace Corps staff in Ouaga) is that they use a lot more sounds than we do, for exclamation and to indicate that they're listening.

For example, the two most common are simply "uh huh" and "eh!" indicating agreement and (somewhat displeased) surprise, respectively.

I wish I was sharing this in person because you'd be able to hear that even though I've spelled them the same way I would spell "uh huh" and the stereotypical Canadian "eh," they're veryyyy different.

Say "uh huh" to yourself as though you were casually agreeing with someone (in your head if you want). Notice how both syllables are about the same length (although a bit more emphasis on the second), and the tone kinda goes up or stays the same at the end?

The Burkinabe "uh huh" is much more dramatic sounding - it's a quick "uh" followed by the drawn out "huuuuh" which actually goes down at the end. It's also used just periodically throughout a conversation to be like "yeah, I follow."

As for "eh," it sounds less like "eh?" and more like a startled "hey!" (like when you see a dog or child doing something wrong and you want to catch their attention) - but without the "h." It's used in those animal/child contexts, but also just in general conversation.

But now we come to my favorite....the only way I can think of to spell it is "whyyy!" and it's kind of a high pitched, drawn out sound. But the best part is that it sounds just like a reeeeally dramatic "why" in English, and I'd say it's used to indicate astonished confusion.

I'm going to share the story of the first time I heard it, but keep in mind that some of my neighbors like to practice the bits of the English that they remember from school with me - usually it's about as basic as the Mooré I know (i.e., greetings and phrases like "I go to the market").

This was before Christmas, and my neighbor Rosalie was asking about my plans for the break (in French obviously):

Rosalie: What are you doing for New Years?

Me: Oh, I'll be here!

Rosalie: Whyyyy!! 

[she is so astounded at this it's insane]

Me: Well I'm going to Fada on the 1st, so I figured I'd stay here the 31st. You?

Rosalie: Well! I'm going to Ouaga. Oueguedo is not interesting.

[I'm fighting laughter here]

So that's it for that conversation but you see that I actually thought she was asking "why" (in English)?

It wasn't until a couple weeks later when I told my 5eme class that, yes, they DID need to know this information for the test, that I realized it was just a general sound of astonishment. Once I did, I could not stop laughing and so I had to explain to them that every time they said "whyyy!" I was hearing a pretty distressed "pourquoi," which is just amusing to hear from one's students.

Note: These kiddos have now had a year and a half of English classes, so they do know that "pourquoi" in English is "why" - although I did spell it out for them on the board just in case.

--

While "whyyy!" is my favorite because it sounds so much like "why" in English, and it's used at a time when "why" in English would be fairly appropriate, the "uh huh" is what I consider a fluency sound. Not only does it make you sound more like a Burkinabe, but you can use it in conversations when you kinda understand the gist, and whoever you're talking to will think you reeeeally understand. :)

PS: This is most applicable when people extend the Mooré greetings too far and exceed my vocabulary. Greetings usually include asking about someone's day, health, and family, and they can include house and work...but if it goes beyond even that, I don't really have to know what specifically they're asking about to know the answer's gonna be yes.

The end for now!

xo, chlo