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 Mandinka, Mandika, Mandinkha, Mandinko, or Mandingo may refer to:
Media
* ''Mandingo'' (novel), a bestselling novel published in 1957
* ''Mandingo'' (film), a 1975 film based on the eponymous 1957 novel
* ''Mandingo (play)'', a play by Jack Kir ...
word ''joolaa'' 'one who pays back'.
[Wilson, William André Auquier. 2007. ''Guinea Languages of the Atlantic group: description and internal classification''. (Schriften zur Afrikanistik, 12.) Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.] There is no widespread endonym used by all of the Jola speakers.
Languages
The primary branches of Jola proper and to some extent Central Jola are not mutually intelligible. The main varieties are:
*
Bayot
*Jola proper
**
Kwatay (Kuwaataay), spoken along the coast south of the
Casamance River.
** Karon–Mlomp
***
Karon, spoken along the coast of
Casamance south of
Diouloulou
Diouloulou is a small town and commune in the Bignona Department of the Ziguinchor Region
Ziguinchor is a region of Senegal (regional capitals have the same name as their respective regions). The region is also referred to historically and popul ...
.
***
Mlomp
**Central Jola
***
Jola-Fonyi (Kujamatay), spoken around
Bignona
Bignona is a town with commune status located in the Ziguinchor Region of Senegal (Casamance). It briefly appears in the movie ''Binta and the Great Idea.''
Its population on 2013 was 27,826.
Notable people
*Landing Savané, politician
*Ibrahi ...
. The official standard.
***
Bandial
Bandial is a village in the commune of Enampore, Nyassia Arrondissement, Ziguinchor Department in the Ziguinchor Region of Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤠(Senegaali); Arabic: Ø§Ù„Ø³Ù†ØºØ ...
, spoken in a small area south of the
Casamance River.
***
Gusilay, spoken in the village of
Thionck Essyl.
***
Jola-Felupe (Ediamat), spoken in a handful of villages south of Oussouye in
Oussouye Department
Oussouye Department is one of the departments of Senegal, located in the Ziguinchor Region. It's situated in Basse Casamance, on the right bank of the mouth of the Casamance River.
Administration
Oussouye is its main village, which is also t ...
. Kerak may be a dialect.
***
(Jola) Kasa, spoken around
Oussouye.
Bayot
Bayot, spoken around
Ziguinchor, is grammatically Jola, apart from a non-Jola pronominal system. However, perhaps half its vocabulary is non-Jola and even non-Atlantic. It may therefore be a
language isolate
Language isolates are languages that cannot be classified into larger language families. Korean and Basque are two of the most common examples. Other language isolates include Ainu in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, and Haida in North America. The num ...
with substantial Jola borrowing (
relexification). In any case, Bayot is clearly distinct from (other) Jola languages.
Reconstruction
Some Proto-Joola reconstructions of stable lexical roots by Segerer (2016) are:
[Segerer, Guillaume. 2016. ]
The unusually unstable basic vocabulary of the Joola languages
'
Paris, September 1-3, 2016.
References
External links
Kujamaat Jóola Folklore and Language materials
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jola Languages
Bak languages
Languages of Senegal