Miɗo Waawi Pular! Learner's Guide to Pular (Fuuta Jallon)

Publisher: Peace Corps
Publication date: 2002
Pages: 128Pular is in the Atlantic branch of the Niger-Congo language family. Other languages in the Atlantic branch are Wolof, Serer, Koñagi, Baga, Landuma, and Kissi. The Mandé branch is also in
the Niger-Congo family, and includes Maninka, Susu, Jakanke, Jalonke, and Soninke. The dialect taught in this book, known as Pular Fuuta, is spoken in the area that once comprised the theocratic kingdom of the Fuuta Jallon (most of which is in modern-day Guinea). Other dialects in the area are Fulakunda, spoken in Casamance (southern Senegal) and parts of Guinea-Bissau and Gambia; and Pulaar, the language of the Torooåe (Toucouleur) in Northern and southeastern Senegal and southern Mauritania (as well as in Dinguiraye in Guinea). Other
forms of Pular are spoken in Niger, Mali, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and Cameroon. Linguists sometimes refer to Pular and its first cousins by the generic name of Fulfulde. It is a useful language in West Africa, not only because it has relatives in so many different countries, but also because the Fulåe-Fuuta are everywhere. As a result of large emigration movements over the last 50-60 years, every West African capital has a colony of Fulåe traders, merchants, etc. Today there are over 2.5 million speakers of the Fuuta Jallon dialect, out of around 14 million Pular speakers total.