- Also spoken in
- Guinea
- Script
- Latin
Where it's spoken
The dialect in this app, which a Peace Corps learner's guide calls Pular Fuuta, is spoken in the area that once made up the theocratic kingdom of the Fuuta Jallon, most of which is in modern-day Guinea. The same guide lists other dialects of the language elsewhere, such as Pulaar in northern and southeastern Senegal and southern Mauritania.
Senegal's constitution names French the official language of the Republic of Senegal and lists the Pular among the country's national languages.
Sources
Script & pronunciation
According to the Peace Corps learner's guide, Pular is written the way it is pronounced, in an orthography adopted in the second half of the twentieth century at a UNESCO conference in Bamako on the principle of one symbol for one sound. The guide singles out three implosive consonants as the only sounds completely unfamiliar to speakers of Spanish or Italian, and calls them the "funky" b, d and y. In this app's cards the implosives are written with hooked letters: ɓ appears in Si Alla jaɓii. ("God willing") and ɗ in Kori hiɗon e jam? ("I hope you are well? (respectful)").
Sources
Grammar essentials
The Peace Corps learner's guide says that the particle ko fills in for the verb "to be" in sentences such as Ko o Faranseejo. ("He is French."), and gives the question words hondun (what), hombo (who), honto (where) and honde tuma (when), as in Ko honto Fatu woni? ("Where is Fatu?"). This app has a card built like that example: Ko honto gaaru on woni? means "Where is the station?".
Sources
- Caudill, Gale; Diallo, Ousmane Besseko (2000). Learner's Guide to Pular (Fuuta Jallon). Peace Corps. Via the Internet Archive — Introductions (ko - wonaa); question words
Politeness & etiquette
The Peace Corps learner's guide gives a as the singular "you" and on as the plural, and notes that the plural pronouns also serve to denote respect, as they do in French. It also says that older people, authority figures and strangers are referred to in the plural. This app's cards show the same split in thanks: A jaaraama. is "Thank you (to one person) / Hello", and On jaaraama buy. is "Thank you very much".
The guide also presents Jam tun, "Peace only", as the correct answer to questions such as whether you have passed the evening or the day in peace. This app's cards use the same words: On hiirii e jam! is "Good evening", and Jam tun. is "Fine, thanks (only peace)".
Sources
- Caudill, Gale; Diallo, Ousmane Besseko (2000). Learner's Guide to Pular (Fuuta Jallon). Peace Corps. Via the Internet Archive — Greetings (pronoun note); Notes: Respect; Jam tun