Pulaar Language

Bissimillah! Welcome to an introduction and glimpse into an amazing language and culture.

The most important part of most West African cultures is the appreciation of one another.  This is demonstrated in the language through greetings, which become the most important thing you could possibly master when new to any country.  Greet everybody because… they are human, you are human, you both exist in this space we call Earth, we are encountering each other in this thing we call life.  To ignore is to miss.  To shun.  To ignore.  Acknowledging and appreciating one another is the most basic (and, should be, self-evident) form of human respect.  Humans are social beings.  The most (what some consider) ‘basic’ human societies understand this so much better than ‘advanced’ societies, and the overall happiness and interconnectedness is evidence of this fact.

 

Mariama Diallo, member of the Fulani Women’s Association of North America, and Cheikh Niang the Senegalese Ambassador to the United States

This is a basic overview of the language called Pulaar, or as some call it, Tukelleur, or as a reference to the region of Senegal where this dialect is spoken, Pulaar du Nord.  This is the dialect of Fula/Fulfulde/Fuladu/Fulakunda/Pul that is spoken in the Northern region of Senegal and the Southern region of Mauritania.  Fula is a language that has many dialects and spans across West Africa.  This language is spoken in more than 20 countries.  I am by no means an expert about this language.  This is basically an overview that I would have appreciated having upon my arrival to Senegal, and I hope that it becomes helpful to others who will be traveling to the beautiful countries of Senegal and Mauritania.  Language will enrich your experience.

 

Chez Dior, Hyattesville MD

 

Pulaar (Tukelleur, Pulaar du Nord,) Language Introduction

Long vowels are denoted as double vowels (aa = ‘aahhh’, ee = ‘ehhh’, oo = ‘oh’).  All words are written phonetically in English phonetics.

Greeting (hello) *Arabic origin	Asalaam Maleykum
–       Response	–       Maleykum Salaam
Hello/How are you	No mbad daa?
–       Response to ‘how are you’ = peace only	–       Jam tan
Are you well/how is your health?	Ada selli?
–       I am fine	–       Mawdum
How are you doing with the tiredness?	No mbadu-daa e tampere?
–       Peace only	–       Jam tan
How are you doing with the heat?	No mbadu-daa e nguleeki?
–       Peace only (it’s hot)	–        Jam tan (ina wuuli)
How is your family/house?	No galle ma wadi?
–       They are well/in peace	–       Ebbe e jam
Yes	Aye
No	Alla (not to be confused with Allah = God)
Welcome	Bissimillah

This can go on indefinitely, asking about different aspects of the family, the day, etc.  Time-specific greetings are important as well.

 

Morning Greetings

Did you spend your night in peace?	A waalen e jam?
–       Peace only	–       Jam tan
Did you wake up? (Representative of a country with a high death rate, this is a real question)	A finii?
–       Peace only, praise god	–       Jam tan Alhamdullilah

 

Afternoon Greetings

Have you passed the day in peace?	A niallen e jam?
–       Peace only	–       Jam tan

 

Evening Greetings

Have you passed the day in peace?	A hiiren e jam?
–       Peace only	–       Jam tan
Goodnight	Mbaalen e jam
–       May you live	–       Yaa wuur

 

If it isn’t evident, peace is a central tenant of the Senegalese society.  In more than one language in the country of Senegal, peace is the response to the most common questions throughout the day.  Senegalese people will tell you that Senegal is the land of ‘peace and hospitality’ and they are not exaggerating.  Look at the history of the country; there have been very few wars or conflicts.  There are tribes in Senegal, but tribal conflicts rarely exist.  There is, instead, a joking culture among tribes who consider each other cousins.  Even with a ‘slave’ class of people, tribal inequalities do not present themselves in ways in which we would assume.  Instead, in the villages, they present themselves as functional groups, each tribe contributing a specific job type or resource with pride of its heritage.

Grammar

This is where the language becomes the most difficult and intricate.  There are many dialects of Pulaar/Fula/Fulani.  Most of the dialects are mutually intelligible, having mostly similar roots.  Grammar is what distinguishes the dialects (as well as the greetings being different).  There appears to be an argument about which dialect preceded the others.  However, I have not been successful in finding the linguistic research on this subject.  [NOTE: If you have more information about this, please send it my way.]  The Pulaar speakers in Northern Senegal believe that their language was the earlier dialect, evidenced by the fact that it is the most linguistically complicated and structured.

 

Similar to Latin-based languages I have learned, learning grammar can be accomplished by following a basic structure of pronouns: me, you, he/she/it, we (inclusive and exclusive), you plural, and they.  The beginning of the verb will change depending on if it is singular or plural.  The end of the verb will change depending on if it is present/past/conditional/etc.  The ending of the verb also changes depending on if it is the first group: direct action, second group: semi-active, or the third group: indirect or passive action.  The root (middle) of the verb is the only way to distinguish what is being said.  And even that can change…

Here are some verbs

First group verbs (direct action verbs)

Yahde              To go (root: yah-)

Yarde               To drink (root: yar-)

Finde               To wake up

Anndude         To know

Windude         To write

Second group (semi-active)

Jogaade           To have (root: jog-)

Joodaade        To sit (root: jood-)

Daanaade        To sleep

Third group (indirect or passive)

Waleede          To be helped (root: wal-)

Nodeede         To be called (ex: on the phone)

Topiteede        To be taken care of

Conjugation

Yahde              To Go (present tense)

Mi Yahat                      I go

Aan yahat                    You go

O yahat                       He/she/it goes

Enen/minen njahat     We (inclusive/exclusive) go

Onon njahat                You (plural) go

Kambe njahat             They go

(notice how the beginning vowel changes when plural. When a verb starts with ‘a’, ‘c’, ‘g’, ‘h’, ‘j’, ‘s’ ‘u’, ‘y’, it changes when plural)

 

More conjugations of ‘Yahde’

Aa yahii                       You went (past)

O yahatno                   He was going (often, in the past) or, used to go

On njahii                     You all went

Be njahatno                They were going (often, in the past) or, used to go

 

Negation

Negatives are made by simply changing the ending.  To make something negative, like, ‘I did not go,’ you would change the ending to the negative ending -aani.  Mi yahii – I went… Mi yahaani – I did not go.  -aani is the negation ending that applies to the present and past tense.  There are other endings to negate present/future verbs.

 

Examples of Consonant changes

A – changes to ng (amde – to dance, changes to ‘Be ngamat’ – they dance)

F – changes to p (finde – to wake up, changes to ‘Min pinii’ – we woke up)

H – changes to k (hokkude – to give, changes to ‘On kokkat’ – you guys give)

J – changes to nj (joodaade – to sit, changes to ‘Be njoodima’ – they sat)

Wa – changes to mb (walleede – to be helped, changes to ‘En mballeete’ – we were helped)

Wu – changes to ng (wuujude – to steal, changes to ‘Kambe nguusti’ – they stole)

Y – changes to nj ( yahde – to go, changes to ‘Min njehii’ – we left/went)

It continues with most letters except B and L and the funny letters that we don’t have on an English/French keyboard, but they include the Spanish n, a B with a tail, and a D with a tail.)

Interesting language notes

‘I want’ and ‘I like’ are said using the same phrase

To drive, to ride a bike, or to drive any other form of transportation, you use the verb ‘to run’ and change it to mean ‘to make run,’ adding whatever it is that you are making run, be it car, bike, etc.

It is very rude to tell someone that what they said is not true, which essentially would be accusing them of being a liar.  There are many ways to beat around the bush, saying things like, ‘I don’t think so’ or ‘maybe….’.

Also, saying ‘no’ to someone, turning them down, would be generally rude, so requests are often brushed off or deflected, excuses made, etc.  Anything can be avoided with a joke, especially if that joke involves talking about beans.

 

Inshallah

If you make plans to do something or say you are going to do something, always add ‘Inshallah’ – god willing, or ‘So Alaah jabbii’ – if god agrees.  Nothing is for certain and you would not want to jinx anything, so if anything is said to be happening in the future, it is always unsure.  This maybe comes from a history of the outcomes of things being unsure and things not always working out as planned.  Even ‘until tomorrow’ a common evening goodnight phrase, is followed by ‘Inshallah’.  It is with god’s will that that person wakes up the next day.  Americans in Senegal often get frustrated at this phrase, however, because it can seem like an evasive tool to get out of doing work.  Senegalese people never say no.  They will always accept invitations, agree to work with you, but they don’t always mean it necessarily.  It would be rude to turn something down outright.  So many times, when making meetings or plans, the promise will follow with “Inshallah’, and, consequently, that person might not show up.  It may or may not have anything to do with the word.  Things happen and life is unpredictable.  It could just be the culture of not turning down invitations or requests, but nevertheless ‘Inshallah’ is an interesting aspect of the culture, defining both the history of life and it’s uncertainties in African regions, but also of the relaxed pace of life as it stands presently.  Things may or may not get done when you think they will get done.  People may or may not show up to meetings or work.  But life goes on and everything just has a way of flowing, of working out, usually in unexpected ways that you never could have planned for or expected.

Fété Coumba

Upon joining Peace Corps, I set a goal for myself.  If I change one person’s life in my two years in Senegal, my time here has been worth it.  What a surprise I got at my going-away party, when hundreds of people showed up to speak about what I have meant to them.  It’s not every day our expectations are exceeded hundreds of times over.  Machallah I am blessed.

This was not a work event.  This was not a training.  This was just my way of saying goodbye to my friends and family.

This day, from beginning, to end, and the days surrounding the event… this was the best experience in my whole Peace Corps career. This was a culmination of all the ‘work’ I had done throughout my life in Senegal.  It was my final program, my last ‘hurrah’ and the amount of people who attended proved to me that my two years in this village had been more than worth it!  It reaffirmed everything I had done and showed me exactly how many people cared and appreciated me and my work – hundreds.  It also made it easier to break the truth to people about my inevitable depart because, instead of telling people, ‘I am leaving soon, my contract is over,’ I would then add onto that the fact that I was to have a party in order to say goodbye to everyone. The reactions were classic: “I am going home soon”…”No!” (disappointment)…”But I’m having a goodbye party”…”Oh! Wonderful, we will be there, inshallah!” (No longer disappointed). It also kept me quite busy in the days leading up to the party because, it turns out, there’s a lot that goes into these events. I wanted to have dancing, theater, and thiossane (culture exposition). my impression, in attending previous celebrations was that these were activities that the kids already had together and they could just pull out of their pockets, but it turned out to be something we had to start from scratch.

“If you want to do theater or dance at all, Coumba, you need my help,” said Moussa Coumba. “And you should know that there’s a lot of preparation that needs to go into this, so I hope you’re prepared. You also should have really thought about this ahead of time, there may not be enough time to put it all together,” he warned.  I had myself a right-hand man. We began practices every afternoon with the kids for the dance performance and for the theater skit, with intermittent interruptions due to weddings and people traveling to farm in the wallo (see previous post).

This whole idea started off humble and small. I thought maybe I would have a nice party with my family and friends in our house. I purchased a sheep from my mother months ago and she had helped me raise it and take care of it.  It was now going to be our lunch.  When I began thinking of who I wanted at the party and which of them would be upset if I did not include them, and all of that, I realized that I actually had a lot of friends. And I actually wanted all of them to be there in order to see them before I left. Most of these friends had become more than just acquaintances… they were true friends. Many of them, I had spent the night at their house, or had gone to their wedding, or had been there for the birth of their child or death of their mother. These are many things I cannot say about most of my American friends.

 

Thillo, my sister-in-law and I

The scale of the event changed dramatically with some news from abroad: Maxi Krezy was returning to Senegal (or so he said, casually via Facebook Messenger) I had been in touch with my friend Maxi Krezy on and off since he had left for the U.S. to work on his new album and memoire. He was supposed to have come to the Pete English Day back in April (or was it May?), but was unable to when the date coincided with the date he was slated to leave for the states. He had been there ever since, but said he would be home before I left for the U.S. I didn’t buy it though. As time got closer to my Close of Service date, I really began to doubt the validity of this claim. I didn’t doubt his intentions though. He asked me about the details of my party; at that point still in the small in-my-house stages, but when he said he would be taking part in it, that would change everything. If Maxi Krezy, world-renouned Senegalese rapper, one of the spearheads of African rap in the world today, says he is coming to a party, you can bet he’s going to step things up. I was now preparing for a concert with a discussion panel prior to the show discussing my chosen topic: female education, as we had discussed back in April.

Now time to step it up…

• Rent speakers
• Find DJ – luckily a friend of Maxi Krezy is a nearby DJ and immediately showed up to help, bringing all his equipment with him.
• Procure shade structure
• Procure chairs – from both the mayor’s office and the Qur’anic students
• Approval by Mayor of both Galoya and Mbolo Birane
• Clearance by Police
• Invite everyone who’s phone numbers I had
• Hold a Radio show

Sure enough, as promised, the day before the fété, Maxi Krezy showed up. Having had electrical difficulties that prior Monday at the radio station, we decided to go back to the radio that day. Better late than never. We (me, Maxi, DJ Fada, and Mr. Niang- an amazing counterpart in Thilambol) went to the radio station to announce the event. We announced to the world that Coumba Demba will be leaving. I was able to inform everyone about the event and express my gratitude towards everyone who has taken me into their family, as their friend, under their wing; taught me everything from, how to eat, how to milk a cow, to how to predict sand storms.

The day of the fete was perfect. I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off, of course, but so was everyone else. They all really stepped it up, running to the neighbors to enlist more help with the cooking. My sisters made begniets and popcorn outside my room while my brothers took the sheep out back and slaughtered him, butchering him and bringing the meat to the group of mothers/neighbors/and friends who were working on the job of cooking the lunch. Alicia, my sitemate/sister/twin/best friend (pictured above) was my saving grace of the day as well, as she helped me keep my head on straight and even helped serve lunch! She was also the photographer.

The kids took the charett (horse-drawn cart) to Mbolo Birane to get the chairs and another group arrived at the house to get the shade structure and set it up. Ropes were procured to make crowd barriers. The village bustled with excitement. (And this was all happening on a Thursday, not even a weekend). Guests arrived from Ndioum, Aire Lao, and neighboring villages and spent the day.

After the DELICIOUS meat-filled lunch, we began our procession to the school.  Guests began to arrive from as far as Boke Diawe, Thilogne.  Important people arrived from the mayor’s office.

The Eaux et foret (forestry officer) Abou Ly, pictured above, right, showed up, (among countless other important people). He was one of the people I have worked with in all of my agroforestry-related projects and is integral in much of our work here. I was honored that he came, as well as Madame l’mayor, Nafi Kane, who was even so kind as to bring me a gift of beautiful fabric!

Slowly, in ‘African time’, the music began to play and the village trickled in. After multiple suggestions and coaxing, I finally had to get decisive and say: “njehen! Puddorden joni joni!” Let’s go! We are starting right now! And it began!

I started it off with a speech to explain why I had brought everyone together on this day: “Today is for you. In these last two years, you have given me everything. I have gained a mother, a father, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, even children and grandparents. Today, I give to you in appreciation for all you have done for me and given to me and taught me. I arrived here as Dana: shy, unaware, unable to speak or tie my own head wrap. But today, I leave as Coumba Demba Thiam: strong, confident, and able to accomplish even the most difficult busumbura stitch in Senegalese needlepoint. Now I must leave so that I can return, successfully employed, so that I can make you all proud…”

When finished, I ducked inside the classroom to change into my next outfit, having promised myself that I wouldn’t get emotional in front of people. Speeches followed while I was in the classroom working to organize the people dressed in traditional wear and the theater performers. The speeches were an opportunity for everyone to talk about how they know me, our relationships, how we have worked together, reflecting on things I’ve done, things I’ve said, things I stand for, etc. Then we began the conference where Maxi Krezy spoke about women’s education and the importance of keeping girls in school, an issue of which I have dedicated much of my service towards, as many of you know after donating to my Michelle Sylvester Scholarships (THANK YOU). This is an issue that I had previously discussed with him, an issue of which I feel quite passionately. I knew, coming from him, it would hold that much more weight.

After many others had voiced their aggreance on the subject, it was time for the cultural display, or, thiossane (pronounced ‘cho san’) where all of us dressed in traditional wear paraded onto the stage.  I had not informed anyone of the fact that I would be participating in this core event. I insisted on coming out last. The reaction was unparalleled. The crowd lost it. Even Alicia and my guests had had no idea of my plan.

‘Thiossane’

As we, the thiossane participants, danced to one Baaba Mal song after the other, my host mother Kadja broke through the crowd and danced towards me! I was beaming, and my joy was reflected on her face.

We danced for what seemed like hours, many people coming up and joining in to show their excitement and shared happiness.  Then came the theater performance.  I played the mother with two children who she hopes to enroll in elementary school that year.  Another family is in the same situation but decides, only after persistent begging, to enroll one child in school.  That child, due to pressures at home, drops out before taking her exams, and the family struggles to make ends meet.  Our children, however, succeed in their exams and get scholarships to study in America, showing how hard work and studying pays off.  Of course there are a lot of jokes (I play an illiterate woman with no idea what the words ‘surprise’ or ‘double-lined’ mean) and an obscene amount of scene changes.  It was all very funny.

Then for the rap!  Every aspiring rapper had a chance to take the stage.  Each was allowed one song.  The thing about rap in this country is that it didn’t really start to take hold until after American rap had been big for years.  American rap kind of tends to focus on topics such as sex, drugs, partying, drinking… you know what I mean.  The movement here, however, has had a chance to watch, from an outsider’s perspective, the effect that kind of music has on the youth of America and the kind of image it portrays for African Americans.  The rap and hip hop movement in Senegal (and I can see the trends expanding to many other African countries through popular music videos and songs passed around via bluetooth’ing) has taken a stand by using rap and hip hop for positive, developmental purposes.  This has been mobilized by those like Maxi Krezy and many of the other major musical artists and development agents.  Lyrics are now generally focused on topics of social mobilization towards development and aiming the energy of the youth towards building a better nation.  I never used to like rap and hip hop music, but since I have met Maxi Krezy and begun to listen to (and be able to understand) the lyrics of many of the local artists, I have found a new respect for the genre and for the musicians of this country as well.  Music has such a powerful influence over the youth of today.  It’s so inspiring to have musicians who really care about the culture of today and are working to improve the society of tomorrow, through youth and music.

About 7 local rappers performed their songs.  Then Maxi took the stage and did what he does best.  It was fantastic.  By the end of the night, the entire schoolyard was packed with people all the way to the walls.  People were arriving by charrett even after we had ended the show (we ended relatively early so as not to disturb those in the village) and many of the out-of-town guests spent the night at friends’ houses in the village.  It was an amazing day/night.  One of those moments that make you feel alive and remind you that all the difficulties getting to this point were all worth it.  No event is perfect, but from my view, this one was.  It was everything I could have asked for.  That goes for the entire two years I spent here.  My time spent in Mbolo Aly Sidy was perfect.  The ups and downs made it real.  This place and the people have changed my life forever and will forever be a part of it.

Intro to Pulaar Language

Introduction to Pulaar (Tukelleur).

First and foremost, greetings are the MOST important part of the language and culture of Senegal.

A)   Asalaam Maalekum                                    Standard Senegalese Greeting (Say this to everyone

B)   Maalekum Saalam

A)   No mbaad daa?                                    How are you?

B)   Jam tan                                                Peace Only

A) Ada selli?                        Are you well?

B) Maldoum                        Fine

A) No mbaadu-daa e tampere?            How are you doing with tiredness?

B) Jam tan                              Peace only

A) No mbaadu-daa e nguleki?            How are you doing with the heat?

B) Jam tan (walla ina wooly)            Peace only (or it is hot)

A) No galle maa wadi?                  How is your house?

B) Ebbe e jam                        They are in peace

And this goes on, asking about different aspects of the family, the day, etc.  (Pronunciation note: double vowels are said as elongated sounds, so ee is pronounced more like a longer ‘eh’ and aa is a longer ‘ah’, oo is a longer ‘oh’, etc.) There are different greetings for different times of the day as well.  Most are answered by ‘Jam tan’.

Morning

Wallen e jam?                         Did you spend your night in peace?

A daanima no moyya?                   Did you sleep well?

A) A finni?                              Did you wake up? (this is representative of a nation with a high death rate, this is a real question)

B) Eey, mi finni                        Yes, I woke up

Afternoon

Nallen e jam?                        Have you passed the day in peace?

Evening

Hiiren e jam                        Have you passed the later part of the day in peace?

Wallen e jam                        Pass the night in peace.

Other vocab

Eey                              Yes

Alaa                              No (not to be confused with Allah – god)

Grammar

This is where this language becomes the most difficult and intricate of all of the Pulaar dialects, at least in Senegal.  Similar to other Latin-based languages I have learned, there is the basic structure of pronouns: Me, you, he/she/it, we (inclusive and exclusive), you plural, and they.  The beginning of a verb will change depending on if it is singular or plural.  The end of the verb will change depending on if it is present/past/conditional/etc.  The ending of the verb also changed depending on if it is in the first group – direct action, second group – semi active, or third group – indirect or passive action.  The root (middle) of the verb is the only way to distinguish really what is being said.  And even that can change… 

Here are some nouns

First group verbs (direct action verbs)

Yahde                              To go (Root- Yah-)

Yarde                              To drink (Root – Yar-)

Finde                              To wake up

Anndude                              To know

Windude                              To write

Second group (semi-active)

Jogaade                              To have

Joodaade                              To sit

Daanaade                              To sleep

Third group

Walleede                              To be helped

Nodeede                              To be called (phone)

Toppiteede                        To be taken care of

Conjugation

Yahde –                                                             to go

Mi yahat                                                             I go (present or future)

Aa yahii                                                            You went (past)

O yahatno                                                            He was going (often in the past)

Min/En njahat                                                We (inclusive/exclusive) go (present)

On njahii                                                            You all went (past)

Be njahatno                                                            They were going (often in the past)

If these are in a question, the Me, A, En, and On forms get switched around (pronoun after the verb) and the first consonant changes. 

A- changes to ng (amde – to dance, changes to Be ngamat – they dance)

F- changes to p (finde – to wake up, changes to Min pinnii – we woke up)

H- changes to K (Hokkude – to give, changes to On kokkat – you guys give)

J- changes to nj (joodaade – to sit, changes to Be njoodima – they sat)

Wa- changes to mb (walleede – to be helped, changes to En mballete – we were helped)

Wu-

Y-

It goes on from there.  Most letters change except B, L, and the funny letters that I don’t have on my keyboard so I can’t show them)

To make something negative, like, ‘I did not go’, you change the ending to the negative ending.  Mi yahii – I went.  Mi Yahaani – I did not go.  These are the past tense options.  Present/future also has different affirmative and negative endings.  

And this is just the beginning.  If you want to say something about how you did something, or that you went to do something, or that you do something with someone, you add letters after the root but before the ending. 

Interesting language notes

‘I want’ and ‘I like’ are the same phrase.

To drive or to ride a bike or any other form of transportation, you use the verb for ‘to run’ and change it to mean ‘to make run’ and then add whatever it is that you are making run, be it car, bike, etc. 

Never say ‘that’s not true’, which essentially accuses someone of being a liar.  There are many ways to beat around the bush by saying, ‘I don’t think so’ or ‘I disagree’. 

Greetings are always answered as ‘fine’ or ‘peace only’.  No one actually talks about hardships if they are having them.  Bad things are brushed aside, not acknowledged.  It is almost shameful to talk about difficulties. 

Inshallah

If you make plans to do something or say you are going to do something, always add ‘Inshallah’ – god willing, or ‘Si Alaah jabbii’ – if god agrees.  Nothing is for sure and they don’t want to jinx anything, so if anything is said to be happening in the future, it is always unsure.  This comes from a history of the outcomes of things being unsure and things not always working out as planned.  Even ‘until tomorrow’ a common evening goodnight phrase, is followed by ‘Inshallah’.  People historically haven’t made it through the night.  It is with god’s willing that that person wakes up the next day.  Americans often get frustrated at this phrase, however, because it can seem like an evasive tool to get out of doing work.  Senegalese people never say no.  They will always accept invitations, agree to work with you, but they don’t always mean it necessarily.  It is just rude to turn something down outright.  So many times, when making meetings or plans, the promise will follow with “Inshallah’, and, consequently, that person might not show up.  It may or may not have anything to do with the word.  It could just be the culture of not turning down invitations or requests, but nevertheless ‘Inshallah’ is an interesting aspect of the culture.  Defining both the history of life and it’s uncertainties in the African regions, but also of the lax pace of life as it stands presently.  Things may or may not get done.  People may or may not show up to meetings or work.  Tea must be made multiple times a day (can take over an hour).  Prayers must be said 5 times a day.  It is an interesting culture.  This one word embodies so much of it.