L1: 7.1 million (2013–2021)[1] L2: 16 million (2021)[1]
Language family
Niger–Congo?
Atlantic–Congo
West Atlantic
Senegambian
Fula–Wolof
Wolof
Dialects
Baol
Cayor
Jolof
Lebu
Jander
Dakar–Wolof
Writing system
Latin (Wolof alphabet) Arabic (Wolofal) Garay
Official status
Regulated by
CLAD (Centre de linguistique appliquée de Dakar)
Language codes
ISO 639-1
wo
ISO 639-2
wol
ISO 639-3
Either: wol – Wolof wof – Gambian Wolof
Glottolog
wolo1247
Linguasphere
90-AAA-aa
Areas where Wolof is spoken
A Wolof speaker, recorded in Taiwan
Wolof (/ˈwoʊlɒf/WOH-lof;[2] Wolof làkk, وࣷلࣷفْ لࣵکّ) is a Niger–Congo language spoken by the Wolof people in much of West African subregion of Senegambia that is split between the countries of Senegal, Mauritania, and the Gambia. Like the neighbouring languages Serer and Fula, it belongs to the Senegambian branch of the Niger–Congo language family. Unlike most other languages of its family, Wolof is not a tonal language.
Wolof is the most widely spoken language in Senegal, spoken natively by the Wolof people (40% of the population) but also by most other Senegalese as a second language.[3] Wolof dialects vary geographically and between rural and urban areas. The principal dialect of Dakar, for instance, is an urban mixture of Wolof, French, and Arabic.
Wolof is the standard spelling and may also refer to the Wolof ethnicity or culture. Variants include the older French Ouolof, Jollof, or Jolof, which now typically refers either to the Jolof Empire or to jollof rice, a common West African rice dish. Now-archaic forms include Volof and Olof.
English is believed to have adopted some Wolof loanwords, such as banana, via Spanish or Portuguese,[4] and nyam, used also in Spanish: 'ñam' as an onomatopoeia for eating or chewing, in several Caribbean English Creoles meaning "to eat" (compare Seychellois Creole nyanmnyanm, also meaning "to eat").[5]
^ abWolof at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Gambian Wolof at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
^"Wolof". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
^"Wolof Brochure" (PDF). Indiana.edu. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2013-09-04. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
^Harper, Douglas. "banana". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
^Danielle D'Offay & Guy Lionet, Diksyonner Kreol-Franse / Dictionnaire Créole Seychellois – Français, Helmut Buske Verlag, Hamburg, 1982. In all fairness, the word might as easily be from Fula nyaamde, "to eat".
Wolof (/ˈwoʊlɒf/ WOH-lof; Wolof làkk, وࣷلࣷفْ لࣵکّ) is a Niger–Congo language spoken by the Wolof people in much of West African subregion of Senegambia...
the Wolof are the largest ethnic group (~39.7%), while elsewhere they are a minority. They refer to themselves as Wolof and speak the Woloflanguage, in...
Wolof in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Wolof or Wollof may refer to: Wolof people, an ethnic group found in Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania Wolof language...
with their languages from Senegal across the western and central Sahel. The most populous unitary language is Wolof, the national language of Senegal...
Lebu Wolof (Lebou Oulof) is a language of Senegal that is closely related to, but not mutually intelligible with, Wolof proper. The distinctiveness of...
is a multilingual country: Ethnologue lists 36 languages, Wolof being the most widely spoken language. French, which was inherited from the colonial era...
The Wolof Wikipedia is the edition of Wikipedia in the Woloflanguage. It currently has 1,694 articles. The Wikipedia was started in the beginning of...
consonants and 14 vowels. It is used in particular for the writing of the Woloflanguage, spoken mostly in Senegal, although it is more often written in the...
system in West Africa include Pular, Wolof, Sereer-Sine and East Limba. These quinary-decimal counting languages can be found in the west African regions...
Irish Gaelic literature) Classical Wolof (language of the Wolof Empire, 13th to 19th centuries) Middle English (language of The Canterbury Tales, 14th to...
on a pitch accent due to its proximity with non-tonal neighboring languages like Wolof. Mandinka is here represented by the variety spoken in Casamance...
An IETF BCP 47 language tag is a standardized code that is used to identify human languages on the Internet. The tag structure has been standardized by...
Yoruba language, and karité in the Woloflanguage of Senegal. It is also known as Moo-yaa in the Acholi language. The common name is shísu ߛ߭ߌ߭ߛߎ (lit...
the slogan "Diomaye mooy Ousmane", which means "Diomaye is Ousmane" in Wolof, and expressed hope that Sonko's charisma and popular appeal among Senegal's...
is the official language, but it is understood by only a minority of the population. Over 30 languages are spoken in Senegal. Wolof is the most widely...
official language in much of West Africa) is relatively widespread. Mandinka is spoken as a first language by 38% of the population, Pulaar by 21%, Wolof by...
Senegal. The version of tiep called thieboudienne, Ceebu Jën or chebu jen (Wolof: ceebu jën; French: thiéboudiène) is prepared with fish, broken rice and...
Ahmadu Bamba Ibn Anta Saly Mbacke (Wolof: Ahmadu Bamba Mbacke, Arabic: أحمد بن محمد بن انت صلي Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Anta saly, 1853–1927) also known...
character. In September 2021, Sonko launched the coalition "Free the People" (Wolof: Yewwi askan wi) with the aim of gaining seats in municipal and departmental...
Dravidian languages of India, into Arabic as a Wanderwort. The word "banana" is thought to be of West African origin, possibly from the Wolof word banaana...
2003, expanding to include other languages in July 2004. As of May 2024, there are active Wikiquote sites for 73 languages comprising a total of 321,868...
Soninke, and Wolof also serve as national languages. Despite having no official status, French is used as an administrative language and as a medium...
cultural and language shift whereby populations or states adopt Woloflanguage or culture, such as in the Senegambia region. In Senegal, Wolof is a lingua...
in his native Woloflanguage. Since most of the Senegalese population do not understand French, Sembène wanted to create cinema for Wolof speakers. This...
Serer, Lutte sénégalaise or simply Lutte avec frappe in French, Laamb in Wolof, Siɲɛta in Bambara) is a type of folk wrestling traditionally performed...
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