Ajami Scripts in the Senegalese Speech Community

Abstract

Wolofal (from Wolof: Wolof language or ethnic group and ‘-al’: causative morpheme) is an Ajami writing (a generic term commonly used to refer to non-Arabic languages written with Arabic scripts) used to transliterate Wolof in Senegal. It results from the early Islamization of the major Muslim ethnic groups in the country, especially the Pulaar, the Wolof and the Mandinka. Although Senegal is considered to be a French-speaking country, ironically over 50% of the Senegalese people are thought to be illiterate in French. French literacy is restricted to the minority educated group mostly found in urban areas. Because the literacy rate in French is very small in the country, especially among older people, Wolofal remains a major means of written communication among people who are illiterate in French and who have attended Qurʾānic schools. It is used by these people to write letters, run their informal businesses and read religious poems and writings. This paper is based upon fieldwork conducted in Senegal in the summer of 2004. It discusses the orthographic system of Wolofal (compared to Arabic) and provides a sociolinguistic profile of communities in which it serves as major means of written communication.

Which multilingualism do you speak? Translanguaging as an integral part of individuals� lives in the Casamance, Senegal

“…Moreover, Arabic plays a central role in Senegal as the language of the most widespread religion, Islam, to which over 90 per cent of the Senegalese population officially belongs. The language is taught in connection to studying the Quran in Quranic schools; however, the private education sector also offers education in Arabic, opening avenues to religious leadership and the Arabic world (Lüpke & Bao-Diop 2014;Ngom 2017).…”

The Role of Islam, Ajami writings, and educational reform in Sulemaana Kantè’s N’ko

“…Wolofal is still extensively practiced in Senegal today in both formal publications and more mundane record-keeping, signs, and correspondence (Ngom 2010). Fallou Ngom (2009; 2016) suggests that the nineteenth century flourishing of Wolof Ajami can be traced to the personality and teachings of Amadu Bamba. The Muriddiya’s leader asserted a strong African identity as part of his broader Islamic message; he addressed French colonialism and its supposed superiority but he also “differentiated the essence of Islamic teaching from Arab and Moorish cultural practices with no spiritual significance” (Ngom 2009:104).…”

A expressão da esperança na diáspora mouride em Caxias do Sul

“…Foi fundada por Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba (1850-1927), um líder espiritual senegalês que ficou exilado de 1895 a 1902 sob a acusação de proselitismo religioso na colônia (Babou, 2007;Sy, 1969). Em Touba, cidade sagrada fundada por Bamba, há uma mesquita onde estão os restos mortais do profeta e mais de sete toneladas de manuscritos das khassida, poemas corânicos escritos pelo líder religioso por onde sua doutrina foi registrada em wolofal, uma escrita inspirada no árabe (ajami) para a transliteração do wolof (Ngom, 2010). Estas khassida contém diversos ensinamentos religiosos práticos para os mourides, como posturas, códigos de condutas e interpretações do Alcorão (Bava, 2005).…”