Jola or
Diola is the name for a dialect cluster spoken in
SenegalSenegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
,
The GambiaThe Republic of The Gambia, commonly referred to as The Gambia, or Gambia , is a country in West Africa. Gambia is the smallest country on mainland Africa, surrounded by Senegal except for a short coastline on the Atlantic Ocean in the west....
, and Guinea Bissau. It belongs to the
Bak branch-Bijago:Bijago is highly divergent. Sapir classified it as an isolate within West Atlantic. However, Segerer showed that this is primarily due to unrecognized sound changes, and that Bijago is in fact close to the Bak languages...
of the
Niger–CongoThe Niger–Congo languages constitute one of the world's major language families, and Africa's largest in terms of geographical area, number of speakers, and number of distinct languages. They may constitute the world's largest language family in terms of distinct languages, although this question...
language family.
BayotBayot is a language of southern Senegal, southwest of Ziguinchor in a group of villages near Nyassia, in northwestern Guinea-Bissau, along the Senegalese border, and in The Gambia....
, spoken around
ZiguinchorZiguinchor is the capital of the Ziguinchor Region, and the chief town of the Casamance area of Senegal, lying at the mouth of the Casamance River. It has a population of over 230,000...
, is grammatically Jola apart from a non-Jola pronominal system, but maybe half its vocabulary is non-Jola and even
non-AtlanticThe Atlantic or West Atlantic languages of West Africa are an obsolete proposed major group of the Niger–Congo languages. They are those languages west of Kru which have the noun-class systems characteristic of the Niger–Congo family; in this they are distinguished from their Mande neighbors, which...
. It may therefore be a
language isolateA language isolate, in the absolute sense, is a natural language with no demonstrable genealogical relationship with other languages; that is, one that has not been demonstrated to descend from an ancestor common with any other language. They are in effect language families consisting of a single...
with substantial Jola borrowing (
relexificationRelexification is a term in linguistics used to describe the mechanism of language change by which one language replaces much or all of its lexicon, including basic vocabulary, with that of another language, without drastic change to its grammar. It is principally used to describe pidgins, creoles,...
). In any case it is clearly distinct from (other) Jola languages.
The primary branches of Jola proper and to some extent Central Jola are not mutually intelligible. The main varieties are:
- ? Bayot
Bayot is a language of southern Senegal, southwest of Ziguinchor in a group of villages near Nyassia, in northwestern Guinea-Bissau, along the Senegalese border, and in The Gambia....
- Jola proper
- Central Jola
- (Jola) Fonyi (Kujamatay), spoken around Bignona
Bignona is a town located in the Ziguinchor Region of Senegal. It briefly appears in the movie Binta and the Great Idea.-Notable people:*Landing Savané, politician*Ibrahima Sonko, footballer*Lamine Diarra, footballer*Séni Camara, sculptor...
. The official standard.
- Banjaal (Bandial), spoken in a small area south of the Casamance River
The Casamance River flows westward for the most part into the Atlantic Ocean along a path about 200 miles in length. However, only 80 miles of it are navigable. The Casamance is the principal river of the Kolda, Sédhiou, and Ziguinchor Regions in the southern portion of Senegal between The...
.
- Gusilay
Gusilay is a Jola language of the Casamance region of Senegal....
, spoken in the village of Tionk Essil.
- Ejamat (Jola Felupe), spoken in a handful of villages south of Oussouye. Kerak may be a dialect.
- (Jola) Kasa
Kasa, or Jóola-Kaasa is a Jola language of the Casamance region of Senegal and neighboring Gambia....
, spoken around Oussouye.
- Kuwaataay, spoken along the coast south of the Casamance River
The Casamance River flows westward for the most part into the Atlantic Ocean along a path about 200 miles in length. However, only 80 miles of it are navigable. The Casamance is the principal river of the Kolda, Sédhiou, and Ziguinchor Regions in the southern portion of Senegal between The...
.
- Karon–Mlomp
- Karon
The Karon language is an endangered language of Senegal and Gambia. It belongs to the Atlantic branch of the Niger–Congo language family, and is particularly closely related to the Mlomp language.- External links :* *...
, spoken along the coast of CasamanceCasamance is the area of Senegal south of The Gambia including the Casamance River. It consists of Basse Casamance and Haute Casamance...
south of Diouloulou.
- Mlomp
The Mlomp language, also known as Gulompaay. The language is spoken in Senegal. It belongs to the Atlantic branch of the Niger–Congo language family, and is particularly closely related to the Karon language.- External links :*...
, spoken in the village of Mlomp.
External links