Bambara (Manding < West Mande < Mande < Niger-Congo) has a specialized clause chaining (cosubordinative) construction where the fi rst clause has a verb full-fl edged for TAM and polarity, and verbs of subsequent clauses are in infi nitive; non-initial clauses are not embedded into the initial one and cannot be therefore regarded as subordinate. Characteristics of the Bambara clause chaining are analyzed: scope of operators (illocutionary force, negation), TAM characteristics, same-and different-subjectness. From the evidence of peripheral Manding varieties, a hypothesis concerning the origin of infi nitive from an archaic preposition is advanced.