Languages Of Senegal
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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 ...
is a multilingual country: ''
Ethnologue ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensive catalogue of languages. It w ...
'' lists 36 languages, Wolof being the most widely spoken language. French, is the only official language of Senegal, used mainly by the administration, the education and spoken by 26% of the total population.La langue française dans le monde (2015-2018)
Éditions Gallimard Éditions Gallimard (), formerly Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française (1911–1919) and Librairie Gallimard (1919–1961), is one of the leading French book publishers. In 2003, it and its subsidiaries published 1,418 titles. Founded by G ...
,
Organisation internationale de la Francophonie The (OIF; sometimes shortened to ''La Francophonie'', , sometimes also called International Organisation of in English) is an international organization representing where there is a notable affiliation with French language and culture. ...
Senegal is a member State of the
Organisation internationale de la Francophonie The (OIF; sometimes shortened to ''La Francophonie'', , sometimes also called International Organisation of in English) is an international organization representing where there is a notable affiliation with French language and culture. ...
. A Senegalese, Abdou Diouf, held the position of its Executive Secretary between 2003 and 2014. Several of the Senegalese languages have the status of "
national language '' '' A national language is a language (or language variant, e.g. dialect) that has some connection— de facto or de jure—with a nation. The term is applied quite differently in various contexts. One or more languages spoken as first languag ...
s": Wolof, Balanta-Ganja,
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
, Jola-Fonyi, Mandinka, Mandjak, Mankanya,
Noon Noon (also known as noontime or midday) is 12 o'clock in the daytime. It is written as 12 noon, 12:00 m. (for '' meridiem'', literally 12:00 midday), 12 p.m. (for ''post meridiem'', literally "after midday"), 12 pm, or 12:00 (using a 24-hour cl ...
(Serer-Noon),
Pulaar Pulaar (in Latin script, Latin: , in Ajami script, Ajami: ), often referred to as Pulaar du Nord, is dialect of the Fula language spoken primarily as a first language by the Fula people, Fula and Toucouleur peoples in the Senegal River valley ar ...
, Serer, and Soninke. Senegal is a
Francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...
country, where, as of 2024, 5.13 million (27.73%) out of 18.50 million people speak French. In terms of usage, Wolof is the
lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, link language or language of wider communication (LWC), is a Natural language, language systematically used to make co ...
and the most widely spoken language in Senegal, as a first or second language (80%). Mande languages spoken include Soninke, and Mandinka. Jola (Diola) is a main language in the Casamance region. The Guinea Creole dialect, based on Portuguese is also spoken in that region. In 2008 Senegal, due to its historical connections to Portuguese colonisation in Casamance, was admitted as Associate Observer in the CPLP (Community of Portuguese Language Countries). Education for the deaf in Senegal uses
American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that i ...
, introduced by the deaf American missionary Andrew Foster. A local language is Mbour Sign Language. A report for the High Council of Francophonie in Paris stated in 1986 that in Senegal, 60,000 people spoke French as a first language and 700,000 spoke French as a second language. The total population of Senegal at the time was 6,500,000.


Languages taught at school

French is the only official language of education in the Senegalese system, for 96% of public education, and 90% of private education. English is taught as a subject in
secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
across the country.


Languages

*
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
*
American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that i ...
* Badyara * Banyum * Balanta * Bandial * Bassari * Bayot * Bedik *
Guinea-Bissau Creole Guinea-Bissau Creole, also known as Kiriol or Crioulo, is a creole language whose lexicon derives mostly from Portuguese. It is spoken in Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde, Senegal and The Gambia. It is also called by its native speakers as , , or . G ...
( Casamance Creole dialect) * French * Fula * Gusilay *
Hassaniya Arabic Hassaniya Arabic (; also known as , , , , and Maure) is a variety of Maghrebi Arabic spoken by Mauritanian Arabs, Malian Arabs and the Sahrawis. It was spoken by the Beni Ḥassān Bedouin tribes of Yemeni origin who extended their authority o ...
* Jola-Felupe * Jola-Fonyi * Kasa * Karon * Kassonke * Kobiana * Kwatay * Laalaa * Mandinka * Manjak * Maninka * Mankanya * Mbour Sign Language *
Mlomp Mlomp is a rural community and village in the Ziguinchor Region of Senegal in the Casamance, situated approximately south-west of Ziguinchor. As of 2000, it had a population of 7,628, rising to around 8,500 in 2006. Most inhabitants are of Diola ...
* Ndut * Nko *
Noon Noon (also known as noontime or midday) is 12 o'clock in the daytime. It is written as 12 noon, 12:00 m. (for '' meridiem'', literally 12:00 midday), 12 p.m. (for ''post meridiem'', literally "after midday"), 12 pm, or 12:00 (using a 24-hour cl ...
* Palor *
Pulaar Pulaar (in Latin script, Latin: , in Ajami script, Ajami: ), often referred to as Pulaar du Nord, is dialect of the Fula language spoken primarily as a first language by the Fula people, Fula and Toucouleur peoples in the Senegal River valley ar ...
* Pular * Safen * Serer * Soninke * Wamey * Wolof * Yalunka


References


Further reading

* Dumont, Pierre (1982). ''Le français et les langues africaines au Sénégal''. Paris: AACT and Karthala.


External links


Linguistic map of Senegal at Muturzikin.com''Ethnologue'' page on SenegalPanAfrican L10n page on Senegal
(In French) {{Senegal-stub stub