Fula language
| Fula Fulfulde, Pulaar, Pular |
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|---|---|---|
| Spoken in: | Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Guinea, |
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| Total speakers: | 10–16 million | |
| Language family: | Niger-Congo Atlantic-Congo Atlantic Northern Senegambian Fula-Wolof Fula |
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| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1: | ff | |
| ISO 639-2: | ful | |
| ISO 639-3: | variously: ful — Fulah (generic) fub — Adamawa Fulfulde fui — Bagirmi Fulfulde fue — Borgu Fulfulde fuq — Central-Eastern Niger Fulfulde ffm — Maasina Fulfulde fuv — Nigerian Fulfulde fuc — Fula language fuf — Pular language fuh — Western Niger Fulfulde |
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| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. | ||
The Fula language is a language of West Africa, spoken by the Fulɓe (Fula or Fulani people) from Senegambia and Guinea to Cameroon and Sudan. It is also spoken as the first language by the Tukulor in the Senegal River Valley and as a second language by peoples in other areas.
There are several names applied to the language, just as there are to the Fula people. They call their language Pulaar or Pular in the western dialects and Fulfulde (pronounced full-full-day) in the central and eastern dialects. Fula(h) and Fulani in English come originally from Manding and Hausa, respectively; Peul in French from Wolof.
Classification
Fula belongs to the Atlantic branch of the Niger-Congo language family.
Fula is based on verbo-nominal roots, from which verbal, noun and modifier words are derived. It also uses infixes (a syllable inserted in the "middle" of a word, actually following the root and before the ending) to modify meaning. There are about 26 noun classes (the number may vary slightly in different dialects). Initial consonant mutation between singular and plural forms is another feature of the language. The language also has inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns. Fula has the reputation of being complex, but it is very regular (few exceptions or "irregular" forms).
Dialects
While there are numerous dialects of Fula, it is typically regarded as a single language. Wilson (1989) states that "travellers over wide distances never find communication impossible." Bible translators estimate that at least 7 different translations are needed to make it comprehensible for all Fulfulde speakers. Ethnologue, however, treats several of the varieties as separate languages:
East Central
Fulfulde, Western Niger (Niger)
Fulfulde, Central-Eastern Niger (Niger)
Fulfulde, Nigerian (Nigeria)
- 1.700.000 in Nigeria (2000)
Eastern
Fulfulde, Adamawa, fub
- 700.000 speakers in Cameroon (1993)
- 128.000 in Chad (1993)
- 90.000 in Sudan (1982)
Fulfulde, Bagirmi, fui
- 24000 speakers in Chad
- 156.000 speakers in Central African Republic (1996).
West Central
Fulfulde, Maasina, ffm
- 900.000 speakers in Mali (1991)
- 7000 speakers in Ghana (1991)
Fulfulde, Borgu, fub
- 280.000 speakers in Benin (2002)
- 48.000 speakers in Togo (1993)
- also spoken in Nigeria
Pular
Alternative name is sometimes given as Fuuta Jalon (which is actually the name of the region in which it is spoken).
- 2.550.000 speakers in Guinea (1991)
- 50.000 speakers in Mali (1991)
- 136.000 speakers in Senegal (2002)
- 178.000 speakers in Sierra Leone (1991)
Pular is an official regional language in Guinea, and many speakers are monolingual. The language has borrowed a lot from Arabic and French, but also from English, Portuguese, Malinke, Susu, Wolof and others.
Western
Pulaar
- Mauritania, Senegal and The Gambia
Writing systems
Latin alphabet
When written using the Latin alphabet, Fula uses the following additional special "hooked" characters to distinguish meaningfully different sounds in the language: Ɓ/ɓ, Ɗ/ɗ, Ŋ/ŋ, Ɲ/ɲ, Ƴ/ƴ (i.e. implosive B, implosive D, velar N [sounds like "ng" in "king'], palatal N, ejective Y). The apostrophe (ʼ) is used as a glottal stop. In Nigeria ʼy substitutes ƴ, and in Senegal ñ is used instead of ɲ.
Arabic script
Fula has also been written in the Arabic script or Ajami since before colonization. This continues to a certain degree and notably in some areas like Guinea.
Fula alphabet
a, aa, b, mb, ɓ, c, d, nd, ɗ, e, ee, f, g, ng, h, i, ii, j, nj, k, l, m, n, ŋ, ny, o, oo, p, q, r, s, t, u, uu, w, x, y, yy, z
References
- Arnott, David W. (1970). The nominal and verbal systems of Fula. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- Wilson, W. A. A. (1989). Atlantic. In John Bendor-Samuel (Ed.), The Niger-Congo Languages, pp. 81-104.
External links
- http://www.jamtan.com
- http://www.kawtal.org
- http://www.kawtal.com
- Miɗo Waawi Pular! Learner's guide to Pular (Fuuta Jallon) by Herb Caudill and Ousmane Diallo
- Online learner's guide to Adamaoua Fulfulde
- Ethnologue entry for Fula
- Fulfulde Language Family Report (SIL) - includes maps of the dialects
- FULA (Fulfulde, Pulaar, Fulani, Peul) Language Page from MSU's Webbook of Afrian Language Resources (from the 1980s)
- Pular Language Ebooks, freely downloadable PDFs
- PanAfrican L10n page on Fula
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