Learn Wolof

Where it's spoken

Senegal, The Gambia, Mauritania

Speakers

around 12 million including second-language speakers

Writing system

Latin alphabet, historically also Arabic script

Wolof is the practical lingua franca of Senegal, spoken far beyond the group whose name it carries.

What makes Wolof different

• Verb conjugation is unusually light; sentence particles do much of the work.
• Long consonants and long vowels both distinguish words.
• Everyday speech borrows freely from French and Arabic.

Your first Wolof phrases

Each phrase is written the way it's spelled, then respelled for English speakers with the stressed syllable in capitals.

• Salaam aleekumHello/sa-LAAM a-LEH-koom/
• JërejëfThank you/jeh-reh-JEHF/
• Dalal ak jamWelcome/da-LAL ak JAM/
• Ba beneen yoonGoodbye/ba beh-NEHN YOHN/
• WaawYes/WAAW/
• DéedéetNo/deh-eh-DEHT/
• Su la neexeePlease/soo la nay-EH-kheh/
• Baal maSorry/BAAL ma/

Want the full list? Read the free Wolof phrasebook with pronunciation, grab the free printable Wolof starter kit, or compare SemaSoma with other African language apps.