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A Wolof speaker, recorded in Taiwan. Wolof (/ ˈ w oʊ l ɒ f / WOH-lof; [2] Wolof làkk, وࣷلࣷفْ لࣵکّ) is a Niger–Congo language spoken by the Wolof people in much of the West African subregion of Senegambia that is split between the countries of Senegal, The Gambia and Mauritania.
Wolof (/ ˈ w ɒ l ɒ f /) is a language of Senegal, the Gambia, and Mauritania, and the native language of the Wolof people. Like the neighbouring languages Serer and Fula, it belongs to the Senegambian branch of the Niger–Congo language family. Unlike most other languages of Sub-Saharan Africa, Wolof is not a tonal language.
Senegal is a Francophone country, where, as of 2024, 5.13 million (27.73%) out of 18.50 million people speak French. [2] In terms of usage, Wolof is the lingua franca and the most widely spoken language in Senegal, as a first or second language (80%). [3] Mande languages spoken include Soninke, and Mandinka.
Wolofization or Wolofisation is a cultural and language shift whereby populations or states adopt Wolof language or culture, such as in the Senegambia region. In Senegal, Wolof is a lingua franca [1] [2] [3] The Wolofization phenomenon has taken over all facets of Senegal and encroaching on Gambian soil. [3]
It is basically the name of a West African Ajami script as used for that language. Wolofal was the first script for writing Wolof. Although the Latin alphabet is the primary official script of the language in today's Senegal , Wolofal is still used by many people as a symbol of Islamic Wolof culture.
The most populous unitary language is Wolof, the national language of Senegal, with four million native speakers and millions more second-language users. There are perhaps 13 million speakers of the various varieties of Fula , and over a million speakers of Serer [ citation needed ] .
The prevalence of the Wolof both linguistically and politically has continued to increase throughout the years; this tendency has been called the "wolofisation" of Senegal. [6] The Fula, those who speak the Fula language, are the second most populous group, representing 27.5% of the country's population.
Wolof oral traditions hold that the Wolof language was created at Ndiaye's court by mixing the diverse languages of the empire including Fula, Serer and Mandinka. [34] The Wolof people originated in part from the mixing of Serer, Toucouleur and other peoples, and so contemporary ethnic and linguistic labels may have had very different meanings ...