Within older French publications a spelling "Ouolof" is typically utilized instead of "Wolof". Inside occasionally English publications, preponderantly people on to Gambian Wolof, a spelling "Wollof" is utilized, because this spelling might cause native English speakers to pronounce a term right as a Wolof speaker. Within publications of a 19th century & prior to the spelling "Volof" & "Olof" can too exist as observed. - A term "Wolof" itself might too refer to a ethnic class action of the Wolofs or even to people world health organization speak the Wolof language.

Spreading and Neighborhood of the Wolof Language

All about 40% (approximataly Trinity.Two million humans) of Senegal's people speak Wolof when first language. Even more, an extra 40% of the people speak Wolof when 2nd or even acquired language. In the totally region from either Dakar to Saint-Louis, & as well west and south-west of Kaolack, Wolof is spoken per immense majority of the population. Around Casamance and Senegal's west, Wolof is rarely utilized. A official language of Senegal is French.

In the Gambia, about 15% (just about 200 thousand people) of the population speak Wolof as the 1st language, however Wolof has a disproportional influence because of its prevalence inside Banjul, the Gambia's capital, in which fifty percent of the people let it run as a number one language. A official language of the Gambia is English. A Gambia's dominant languages, Mandinka (40%), Wolof (15%) & Fula (15%), likewise use at times official status.

Around Mauritania, about 7% (just about 185 thousand humans) of the people speak Wolof. There, a language is utilized lone as much as a southern coastal regions. Mauritania's official language is Arabic; French is utilized when lingua franca.

Useful Phrases

This paragraph utilizes a precise writing system developed per CLAD institute, which may be noticed around Arame Fal's lexicon (understand bibliography beneath). For a literal translation please note that Wolof doesn't keep close at h& tenses around the feel of the Indo-European languages, prefer e.g. the Present Progressive Tense in English: Expressions come like mass produced higher by Aspect & Focus of an action (and each translation into an English tense is good an approximation of the original meaning). A literal translation given in a table in the image below is an accurate word-by-word translation in the original word the correct sequence, in which the meaning of the only words come seperated by dashes.

Orthography and Pronunciation

(Note: Phonetic transcriptions come printed between brackets [] ensuing a system of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).)

No officially standardized writing system for Wolof, however a language institute "Centre de linguistique appliquée de Dakar" (CLAD) is widely acknowledged as an authority while it comes to spelling system for Wolof. Wolof is written sustaining a letters of the Latin alphabet.

While learning foreign languages, a disadvantage for English & French native speakers is, that it, although using a Latinside alphabet as well, run neither pronounce the letters in an unambiguous way, nor launder it pronounce virtually all of the letters by having their original "Latin" phonetic value. Within near altogether more languages using a Latin alphabet, there exists, by using the select few minor exceptions, the clear the single-to-of these correspondence between a letter & a phonetic healthy, thus that the alphabet could at the same time help when phonetic transcription. Case: Inside English, a letter "i" potty either exist when pronounced prefer [i] as within "kill" or even such when [ay] as within "life". Around near wholly more languages, a letter "i" isUtilized by having its original Latin value [i] sole. Wolof utilizes a Latin alphabet by owning its original unambiguous phonetic values. A few extra sounds were added, when these are a outbreak for the letter "x" which is pronounced rather [x], which sounds such when a letter combination "ch" as in German "Bach" or even within Scottish "loch". Moreover, Wolof adds a select few diacritical symbols to the vowel letters to distinguish between open & closed vowels, & between yearn & short vowels. Lesson: "o" is open such as English "often", "ó" is closed similar to the o-healthy within English "most". Lone vowels come short, geminated vowels come yearn, and so Wolof "o" is short & pronounced prefer "o" around English "soft", however Wolof "oo" is yearn & pronounced prefer the "a" inside English "call". A super most common Wolof letter "ë" is pronounced super similar to the English article "a" when around "a book", whenever these are non stressed.

Grammar

Special Characteristics of the Wolof Language

Pronoun Conjugation instead of Verbal Conjugation

Inside Wolof, verbs come unchangeable words which can't exist as conjugated. To express different tenses or even aspects of an action, a family pronouns come conjugated - does'nt a verbs! So, a term Temporal Pronoun has turn into constituted for this a portion of speech.

Lesson: A verb dem means "to go" & just can't become changed; a Temporal Pronoun maa ngi means "I/me, here and now"; a Temporal Pronoun dinaa means "I am soon / I will soon / I will be soon". Thereupon, a as a consequence sentences may be built currently: Maa ngi dem. "I am going (here and now)." - Dinaa dem. "I will go (soon)."

Conjugation with Respect to Aspect instead of Tense

Inside Wolof, tenses rather present tense, past tense & new tense come upright of secondary importance, it possibly play virtually there are no role. These are a aspect of an action from either a speaker's point of review, which is of important importance. A first aspect is, whether an action is perfective, i personally.e. finished, or even imperfective aspect, we.e. however running in, from either a speaker's point of watch, no matter, whether a action itself pass off it used to be that, present or even new. More aspects come, whether an action requires place regularly, whether an action may require place certainly, & whether an action wants to emphasize a role of the subject, predicate or even object of the phrase. Following, conjugation is non treat tenses, however by aspects. Withal, a term Temporal Pronoun became common for these pronouns to become conjugated, although Aspect Pronoun will exist as a better term.

Lesson: A verb dem means "to go"; a Temporal Pronoun naa means "I already/definitely", a Temporal Pronoun dinaa means "I am soon / I will soon / I will be soon"; a Temporal Pronoun damay means "I (am) regularly/usually". Nowadays a ensuing sentences may be constructed: Dem naa. "I go already / I have already gone." - Dinaa dem. "I will go soon / I am just going to go." - Damay dem. "I usually/regularly/normally go."

Whenever a speaker absolutely wants to express that an action took place it used to be that, this is non handle conjugation, however by adding a suffix -(w)oon to the verb. (Please mind, that withinside a phrase the Temporal Pronoun is already utilized in a conjugated form besides the retiring marker.)

Lesson: Demoon naa Ndakaaru. "I already went to Dakar."

Action Verbs versus Static Verbs and Adjectives

Consonant Harmony

Missing Gender

5-Base Number System

Numerals

Cardinal Numbers

A Wolof numeric body is according to a figures "5" & "10".

Ordinal Numbers

Personal Pronouns

Temporal Pronouns

Conjugation of the Temporal Pronouns

Bibliography

Michael Franke: Kauderwelsch, Wolof für den Senegal - Wort für Wort. Reise Understand-How else Verlag, Bielefeld, Germany 2002, ISBN Three-89416-280-Five. Jean-Léopold Diouf, Marina Yaguello: ''J'apprends lupus erythematosus Wolof - Damay jàng wolof (Unity school text sustaining Quadruplet audio cassettes). Karthala, Paris, France 199One, ISBN Two-86537-287-1. Arame Fal, Rosine Santos, Jean Léonce Doneux: Dictionnaire wolof-français (suivi five hundred'un stock français-wolof). Karthala, Paris, France 1990, ISBN Two-86537-233-Two. Michel Malherbe, Cheikh Sall: Parlons Wolof - Langue et culture''. 50'Harmattan, Paris, France 1989, ISBN Two-7384-0383-Two. - Note: This book utilizes a simplified writing system which is non compliant sustaining the CLAD standards. Jean-Léopold Diouf: Grammaire du wolof contemporain. Karthala, Paris, France 2003, ISBN Two-8458-6267-9. Fallou Ngom: Wolof. Verlag LINCOM, Munich, Germany 200Three, ISBN 3-89586-616-Four. Peace Corps A Gambia: Wollof-English Dictionary, PO Pack 582, Banjul, A Gambia, 1995 (there are no ISBN, available when PDF file via a net). - Note: This book refers exclusively to a idiom spoken in the Gambia & doesn't apply the standard writing system of CLAD! Nyima Kantorek: Wolof Lexicon & Phrasebook, Hippocrene Books, 2005, ISBN 0781810868. - Note: This book utilizes preponderantly a idiom spoken in a Gambia & doesn't apply the standard writing system of CLAD!