Jola (; Jola: ''Joola''), also called Jola-Fonyi () and Kujamataak, is a language spoken by 475,000 people in the

Casamance Casamance is the area of Senegal south of the Gambia, including the Casamance River. It consists of the Lower Casamance (, —i.e. Ziguinchor Region) and the Upper Casamance (, —i.e. Kolda and Sédhiou Regions). The largest city of Casamance ...

region of

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

, and neighboring countries. Jola-Fonyi is one of several closely related

Jola languages Jola (Joola) or Diola is a dialect continuum spoken in Senegal, the Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau. It belongs to the Bak branch of the Niger–Congo language family. Name The name ''Jola'' is an exonym, and may be from the Mandinka word ''joolaa ...

spoken in the area.

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels

Vowel length is also phonemic.

Writing System

In Senegal

In Senegal, the decree No. 2005-981 created the official orthography of Jola. Long vowels are indicated by doubling the letter: . The acute accent over a vowel <á é í ó ú> indicates that the

advanced and retracted tongue root In phonetics, advanced tongue root (ATR or +ATR), or expanded pharynx, and retracted tongue root (RTR or −ATR) are contrasting states of the pharynx during the pronunciation of vowels in some languages, especially in Western and Eastern Af ...

for that vowel and the other vowels of the words by vowel harmony.

References

Bibliography

* Hopkins, Bradley L. 1995. Contribution à une etude de la syntaxe Diola-Fogny. ''Cahiers de Recherche Linguistique'', 4. Dakar: Société Internationale de Linguistique. * Hopkins, Bradley and Elizabeth Hopkins. 1992. ''Apprentissage de la langue Diola-Fogny: Un cours pratique''. Dakar: Société Internationale de Linguistique.

External links

* J. David Sapir
Linguistic and Folklore materials from the Kujamaat Jóola
Languages of Senegal Jola languages {{Senegal-stub