Wolofal alphabet

Wolofal alphabet
Label of a specimen of Striped Kingfisher indicating the Wolof name of the bird in Latin alphabet and Wolofal.
Script type	Abjad
Time period	c. 17 c. to the present
Direction	Right-to-left
Languages	Wolof
Related scripts
Parent systems	Proto-Sinaitic Phoenician Aramaic Nabataean Arabic Wolofal alphabet

Wolofal is a derivation of the Arabic script for writing the Wolof language. It is basically the name of a West African Ajami script as used for that language.

Wolofal was the first script for writing Wolof. Although the Latin alphabet is the primary official script of the language in today's Senegal, Wolofal is still used by many people as a symbol of Islamic Wolof culture. Furthermore, Wolofal orthography has been standardized in 1990 by Directíon de la Promotion des Langues Nationales (DPLN) (now known as Directíon de l'alphabétisation des langues nationales), an initiative of Senegal's Ministry of Education as part of a harmonized national "Arabic script". This "harmonized script is used for Wolof, Pulaar, Soninke, Mandinka, Seereer, Joola, and Balant.

The standardization of the Arabic script in Senegal was followed by an effort to teach the correct orthography to over 20,000 people, mostly Imams and their students, to write in the script. But despite the efforts of the Senegalese government in the matter, the alphabet has not been officially decreed by the government. The reason for this is that standardization of writing in Ajami script in West Africa is supposed to be a multi-national effort.

Alphabet

Wolofal, like its parent system, the Arabic script, is an abjad. This means that only consonants are represented with letters. Vowels are shown with diacritics. As a matter of fact, writing of diacritics, including zero-vowel (sukun) diacritic as per the orthographic are mandatory.

In order to represent sounds in Wolof that are not present in Arabic, letters as well as diacritics have been created. Historically, there was different conventions among different writers and schools, but one of the aims and achievements of the push for standardization by the Senegalese Ministry of Education has been to agree upon a unified set of letters.

Letters

There are 23 letters in Wolofal alphabet. The list does not include consonants that are used exclusively in Arabic loanwords and do not occur in Wolof words, nor does it include digraphs used for showing prenasalized consonants.

Wolofal Letters

Name	Forms				Sound represented	Latin equivalent	Example		Notes
	Isolated	Final	Medial	Initial			Wolofal	Latin
alif اَلِف‎	ا‎	ـا‎		ا‎	/a/	- / a	اِتَمْ‎ گَالْ‎	itam gaal	The alif has two functions: first, to be the carrier of vowel diacritic as word initial, and second to indicate long vowel "-aa".
beh بࣹهْ‎	ب‎	ـب‎	ـبـ‎	بـ‎	[b]	b	بَاخْ‎	baax
peh ݒࣹهْ‎	ݒ‎	ـݒ‎	ـݒـ‎	ݒـ‎	[p]	p	ݒࣹݒّ‎	pepp	Character not found in Arabic. Obsolete Alternatives: پ, ݑ‎ Unicode U+0752
teh تࣹهْ‎	ت‎	ـت‎	ـتـ‎	تـ‎	[t]	t	تَارْ‎	taar
ceh ݖࣹهْ‎	ݖ‎	ـݖ‎	ـݖـ‎	ݖـ‎	[c]	c	ݖَابِ‎	caabi	Character not found in Arabic. Obsolete Alternatives: چ‎, جۛ‎ Unicode U+0756
seh ثࣹهْ‎	ث‎	ـث‎	ـثـ‎	ثـ‎	[s]	s			Character only used in writing of Arabic Loanwords
jeem جࣹيمْ‎	ج‎	ـج‎	ـجـ‎	جـ‎	[ɟ]	j	جَايْ‎	jaay
hah حَهْ‎	ح‎	ـح‎	ـحـ‎	حـ‎	[h]	h			Character only used in writing of Arabic Loanwords
xah خَهْ‎	خ‎	ـخ‎	ـخـ‎	خـ‎	[x]	x	خَمْ‎	xam
dal دَلْ‎	د‎	ـد‎		د‎	[d]	d	دَانُ‎	daanu
sal ذَلْ‎	ذ‎	ـذ‎		ذ‎	[ɟ]~[z]	j			Character only used in writing of Arabic Loanwords
reh رࣹهْ‎	ر‎	ـر‎		ر‎	[r]	r	رَاس‎	raas
seh زࣹهْ‎	ز‎	ـز‎		ز‎	[ɟ]~[z]	j			Character only used in writing of foreign Loanwords
seen سࣹينْ‎	س‎	ـس‎	ـسـ‎	سـ‎	[s]	s	سَنتْ‎	sant
cheen شࣹينْ‎	ش‎	ـش‎	ـشـ‎	شـ‎	[s]~[ʃ]	s			Character only used in writing of foreign Loanwords
saad صَادْ‎	ص‎	ـص‎	ـصـ‎	صـ‎	[s]	s			Character only used in writing of Arabic Loanwords
daad ضَادْ‎	ض‎	ـض‎	ـضـ‎	ضـ‎	[d]	d			Character only used in writing of Arabic Loanwords
taay طَايْ‎	ط‎	ـط‎	ـطـ‎	طـ‎	[t]	t			Character only used in writing of Arabic Loanwords
saay ظَايْ‎	ظ‎	ـظ‎	ـظـ‎	ظـ‎	[ɟ]~[z]	j			Character only used in writing of Arabic Loanwords
ayn عَيْنْ‎	ع‎	ـع‎	ـعـ‎	عـ‎	-	-	اِسْرَعࣹلْ‎ دࣴعࣴلْ‎	Israel dëel	‌ Used for writing vowel sequences, and mid-word syllables that start with vowels. Used for marking long vowel "ëe", where it's written with diacritic ◌ࣴ‎.
gayn غَيْنْ‎	غ‎	ـغ‎	ـغـ‎	غـ‎	[ɡ]	g			Character only used in writing of Arabic Loanwords
ŋoon ݝࣷونْ‎	ݝ‎	ـݝ‎	ـݝـ‎	ݝـ‎	[ŋ]	ŋ	ݝَامْ‎	ŋaam	Character not found in Arabic. Obsolete Alternatives: ݤ‎,ڭ‎ Unicode U+075D
feh فࣹهْ‎	ف‎	ـف‎	ـفـ‎	فـ‎	[ɸ]	f	فَارْ‎	faar
qaf قَفْ‎	ق‎	ـق‎	ـقـ‎	قـ‎	[q]	q	نَقَرْ‎	naqar
kaf کَفْ‎	ک‎	ـک‎	ـکـ‎	کـ‎	[k]	k	کَانِ‎	kaani
geh گࣹهْ‎	گ‎	ـگ‎	ـگـ‎	گـ‎	[ɡ]	g	گَالْ‎	gaal	Character not found in Arabic. Obsolete Alternative: ڭ‎
lam لَمْ‎	ل‎	ـل‎	ـلـ‎	لـ‎	[l]	l	لَجّ‎	lajj
meem مࣹيمْ‎	م‎	ـم‎	ـمـ‎	مـ‎	[m]	m	مَامْ‎ مبَارْ‎	maam mbaar	Used either as an independent consonant, or as part of a digraph in prenasalized consonants.
noon نࣷونْ‎	ن‎	ـن‎	ـنـ‎	نـ‎	[n]	n	نَانْ‎ نجࣷولْ‎	naan njool	Used either as an independent consonant, or as part of a digraph in prenasalized consonants.
ñoon ݧࣷونْ‎	ݧ‎	ـݧ‎	ـݧـ‎	ݧـ‎	[ɲ]	ñ	ݧَانْ‎	ñaan	Character not found in Arabic. Obsolete Alternatives: چ‎, جۛ‎ Unicode U+0767
waw وَوْ‎	و‎	ـو‎		و‎	[w]	w	وَاوْ‎ بُورْ‎	waaw buur	The waw has two functions: first, to be a consonant with the sound /w/, and second to indicate long vowels "-oo" "-óó", and "uu".
heh هࣹهْ‎	ه‎	ـه‎	ـهـ‎	هـ‎	[h]	h	اَهَکَايْ‎	ahakaay
yeh يࣹهْ‎	ي‎	ـي‎	ـيـ‎	يـ‎	[j]	y	يَايْ‎ نجِيتْ‎	yaay njiit	The yeh has two functions: first, to be a consonant with the sound /j/, and second to indicate long vowels "-ee" "-éé", and "ii".

Vowels

Wolofal, like its parent system, the Arabic script, is an abjad. This means that only consonants are represented with letters. Vowels are shown with diacritics. As a matter of fact, writing of diacritics, including zero-vowel (sukun) diacritic as per the orthographic are mandatory.

Arabic has 3 vowels, and thus 3 vowel diacritics. But in Wolof, there are 9 vowels, and as all vowels are shown with diacritics in Wolofal. This means that on top of the 3 original diacritics, 6 additional ones have been created.

Wolofal short vowels

Vowel	IPA	Latin eq.	Unicode	Example		Notes
				Wolofal	Latin
◌َ‎	[a]	a	U+064E	مَگْ‎	mag
◌ࣵ‎	[a]	à	U+08F5	مࣵگّ‎	màgg	Diacritic not found in Arabic. Only before a long (prenasalized or geminate) consonant. Obsolete Alternative: ◌َ‎
◌ࣴ‎	[ə]	ë	U+08F4	بࣴتْ‎	bët
◌ࣹ‎	[ɛ]	e	U+08F9	کࣹݒّ‎	kepp	Diacritic not found in Arabic. Obsolete Alternative: ◌ٜ‎
◌ࣺ‎	[e]	é	U+08FA	کࣺݒّ‎	képp	Diacritic not found in Arabic. Obsolete Alternative: ◌ٜ‎
◌ِ‎	[i]	i	U+0650	اِتَمْ‎	itam
◌ࣷ‎	[ɔ]	o	U+08F7	سࣷقْ‎	soq	Diacritic not found in Arabic. Obsolete Alternative: ◌ٝ‎
◌ࣸ‎	[o]	ó	U+08F8	نࣸبْ‎	nób	Diacritic not found in Arabic. Obsolete Alternative: ◌ُ‎
◌ُ‎	[u]	u	U+064F	دُگُبْ‎	dugub

When vowels appear at the beginning of the word, an alif (ا) is used as the carrier of the vowel.

Vowel as first sound of word

A	À	Ë	E	É	I	O	Ó	U
اَ‎	اࣵ‎	اࣴ‎	اࣹ‎	اࣺ‎	اِ‎	اࣷ‎	اࣸ‎	اُ‎

Vowels in Wolof are also distinguished by length, short and long. Short vowels are only shown with a diacritic. Similar to Arabic, long vowels are indicated by writing alif (ا), waw (و), or yeh (ي). But unlike Arabic, this does not mean that the vowel diacritic can be dropped. It cannot, as there 8 vowels and not 3. Vowel "à" (◌ࣵ) does not have a long version.

• For vowel "a" (◌َ), the vowel is lengthened (aa) with an alif (ا)
• For vowels "e", "é", or "i", the vowel is lengthened (ee, ée, ii) with a yeh (ي).
• For vowels "o", "ó", or "u", the vowel is lengthened (oo, óo, uu) with a waw (و).
• The vowel "ë" is an exception, where it is lengthened (ëe) as if it's a vowel sequence (ë-ë), with an ayn and an "ë" diacritic (عࣴـ)

Wolofal long vowels

Vowel	Latin equivalent	Example
		Wolofal	Latin
◌َا‎	aa	بَاتْ‎	baat
◌ࣴعࣴـ / ◌ࣴعࣴ‎	ëe	دࣴعࣴلْ‎‎	dëel
◌ࣹيـ / ◌ࣹي‎	ee	لࣹينْ‎	leen
◌ࣺيـ / ◌ࣺي‎	ée	لࣺينْ‎	léen
◌ِيـ / ◌ِي‎	ii	نجِيتْ‎	njiit
◌ࣷو‎	oo	وࣷورْ‎	woor
◌ࣸو‎	óo	وࣸورْ‎	wóor
◌ُو‎	uu	بُورْ‎	buur

The same principle is followed for when a long vowel is at the beginning of a word. An alif (ا) is used as the carrier of the vowel, followed by either waw (و) or yeh (ي) as appropriate. The exception is when a word starts with the long vowel "Aa". Instead of two alifs (اا) being used, an alif-maddah (آ) is used.

Vowel as first sound of word

Aa	Ëe	Ee	Ée	Ii	Oo	Óo	Uu
آ‎	اࣴعࣴـ / اࣴعࣴ‎	اࣹيـ / اࣹي‎	اࣺيـ / اࣺي‎	اِيـ / اِي‎	اࣷو‎	اࣸو‎	اُو‎

Consonant diacritics

There are two consonant diacritics in Wolofal alphabet. These are shadda (◌ّ) indicating gemination, and sukun (◌ْ) indicating zero-vowel.

These two diacritics cannot appear on the same consonant simultaneously. Geminated consonants only ever occur either at the end of the word, or before a suffix.

All consonants require either a vowel diacritic or one of these diacritics (or a vowel diacritic combined with shadda) except in two cases:

1. When a consonant is prenasalized, and is thus shown with a digraph including either the letter m "م" or n "ن". In these cases, the letters m "م" or n "ن" will remain with no diacritic.
2. When the letter in question is alif (ا), waw (و), or yeh (ي) and its function in the word is to indicate a long vowel, it will remain unmarked.

It is important to note that unlike Arabic, it is possible for a consonant to take shadda (◌ّ) while not having consonants. This phenomenon mostly occurs at the end of words. Native Wolof speakers pronounce geminated nouns not as doubles but simply longer. But the distinction is essential, as the meaning of a word can change. Table below provides some examples:

Wolofal	Latin	Meaning	Wolofal	Latin	Meaning
بࣴتْ‎	bët	eye	بࣴتّ‎	bëtt	to find
بࣷیْ‎	boy	to catch fire	بࣷیّ‎	boyy	to be glimmering
دَگْ‎	dag	a royal servant	دَگّ‎	dagg	to cut
دࣴجْ‎	dëj	funeral	دࣴجّ‎	dëjj	cunt
فࣹنْ‎	fen	to (tell a) lie	فࣹنّ‎	fenn	somewhere, nowhere
گَلْ‎	gal	white gold	گَلّ‎	gall	to regurgitate
ݝࣷنْ‎	goŋ	baboon	ݝࣷنّ‎	goŋŋ	a kind of bed
گࣴمْ‎	gëm	to believe	گࣴمّ‎	gëmm	to close one's eyes
جَوْ‎	Jaw	a family name	جَوّ‎	jaww	heaven
نࣴبْ‎	nëb	rotten	نࣴبّ‎	nëbb	to hide
وࣷݧْ‎	woñ	thread	وࣷݧّ‎	woññ	to count

Prenasalized consonants

Prenasalized consonants are written as a digraph (combination of two consonants). While historically, there were single letter alternatives, these letters are no longer used. Prenasalized consonants are constructed using meem (م) or noon (ن) in combination with other consonants. The letter meem (م) appears in pairs with beh (ب) or peh (ݒ), whereas the letter noon (ن) appears in pairs with teh (ت), ceh (ݖ‎), dal (د), jeem (ج), qaf (ق), kaf (ک), and geh (گ). Some digraphs cannot appear at the beginning of words, -mp (مݒ), -nc (نݖ), -nq (نق).

Prenasalized consonants cannot take the zero-vowel diacritic sukun (◌ْ). If they are at the end of the word and have no vowels, they will take the gemination diacritic shadda (◌ّ).

Some Wolof-speaking authors treat these digraphs as their own independent letters.

Wolofal prenasalized Consonant Digraphs

Forms				Sound represented	Latin equivalent	Example		Notes
Isolated	Final	Medial	Initial			Wolofal	Latin
مب‎	ـمبّ‎	ـمبـ‎	مبـ‎	[ᵐb]	mb	مبَارْ‎	mbaar	Obsolete Alternative: ݑ‎
مݒ‎	ـمݒّ‎	ـمݒـ‎	-	[ᵐp]	mp	سَمݒّ‎	samp	Cannot exist at the beginning of a word
نݖ‎	ـنݖّ‎	ـنݖـ‎	-	[ⁿc]	nc	سَنݖّ‎	sanc	Cannot exist at the beginning of a word
ند‎	ـندّ‎	ـند‎	ند‎	[ⁿd]	nd	ندَوْ‎	ndaw	Obsolete Alternative: ڎ‎
نج‎	ـنجّ‎	ـنجـ‎	نجـ‎	[ᶮɟ]	nj	نجࣷولْ‎	njool	Obsolete Alternative: چ‎
نق‎	ـنقّ‎	ـنقـ‎	-	[ⁿq]	nq	جَنقّ‎	janq	Cannot exist at the beginning of a word
نک‎	ـنکّ‎	ـنکـ‎	نکـ‎	[ɴk]	nk	دࣺنکّ‎	dénk
نگ‎	ـنگّ‎	ـنگـ‎	نگـ‎	[ᵑɡ]	ng	نگَ‎	nga	Obsolete Alternative: ݣ‎ Important to note that it is different from ݝ‎

Sample text

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Translation	Latin Script	Wolofal (Arabic) Script
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.	Doomi aadama yépp danuy juddu, yam ci tawfeex ci sag ak sañ-sañ. Nekk na it ku xam dëgg te ànd na ak xelam, te war naa jëflante ak nawleen, te teg ko ci wàllu mbokk.	دࣷومِ آدَمَ يࣺݒّ دَنُيْ جُدُّ، يَمْ ݖِ تَوفࣹيخْ ݖِ سَگْ اَکْ سَݧْ-سَݧْ. نࣹکّ نَ اِتْ کُ خَمْ دࣴگّ تࣹ اࣵ‎ندْ نَ خࣹلَمْ، تࣹ وَرْ نَا جࣴفْلَنْتࣹ اَکْ نَوْلࣹينْ، تࣹ تࣹگْ کࣷ ݖِ وࣵلُّ مبࣷکّ.‎

Bibliography

• Mamadou Cissé: « Graphical borrowing and African realities » in Revue du Musée National d'Ethnologie d'Osaka, Japan, June 2000.
• Mamadou Cissé: « Écrits et écritures en Afrique de l'Ouest » in Sud Langues [1] June 2006.
• PanAfriL10n Wolof