The Gambia Languages

The Gambia Wiki Topics

The Gambia Beginning Research

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The Gambia Background

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The Gambia

Languages

Description

English is the official language in The Gambia and is used for official purposes and education. Gambian English is the variety of English spoken here.
Other languages spoken are:

• Mandinka is spoken as a first language by 38% of the population
  
• Pulaar by 21%
  
• Wolof by 18%
  
• Soninke by 9 percent
  
• Jola by 4.5 percent
  
• Serer by 2.4 percent
  
• Manjak by 1.6 percent
  
• Bainouk by 1.6 percent
  
• Portuguese Creole by 1 percent
  
• English by 0.5 percent
  
• Gambian Sign Language is used by the deaf
  

Word List(s)

Mandinka

• Mandinka Greetings for Everyday Life (Polyglot)
• Counting in Mandinka (languagesandnumbers)
• Traditional Phrases Spoken in Gambia (accessgambia)

Pulaar

• Some Pulaar Words (JangaWolof)

Wolof

• Useful phrases in Wolof (Omniglot)
• Traditional Phrases Spoken in Gambia (accessgambia)

Alphabet and Pronunciation

Mandinka

• Mandinka Alphabet and Pronunciation (Omniglot)

Pulaar

• Pulaar Lessons (PeaceCorps)

Wolof

• Wolof Alphabet and Pronunciation (Omniglot)

Language Aids and Dictionaries

Mandinka

• English to Mandinka Dictionary (Glosbe)
• Mandinka - English Dictionary (PeaceCorps)
• English-Mandinka Dictionary Online (ats-group)
• Gamble, David P. Mandinka language. San Francisco: Dept. of Anthropology, San Francisco State University, 1977. Available at: WorldCat.

Pulaar

• English to Pulaar Dictionary (Glosbe)
• Online Pular dictionary (linguashop)
• Fofana, Amadou Tidiane and Antonia Yétúndé Fọlárìn Schleicher. Pulaar learners' reference grammar. Madison, Wis.: NALRC Press, 2002. Available at: WorldCat.

Wolof

• English to Wolof Dictionary (Glosbe)
• Wolof dictionary (Lexilogos)
• Ka, Omar. Nanu dégg Wolof : let's speak Wolof : a first-year textbook. Madison, Wisconsin: NALRC Press, 2009. Available at: WorldCat.

Additional Resources

• The Gambia (Britannica)