Advertisements
Yes – Waaw (wow)
and now en français; Oui (wee)
No – Déedéet (dey-deyt)
and en français; Non (non)
Maybe – Xejna (khedj-nuh)
en français; Peut-être (per-tay-trer)
Yes – Waaw (wow)
and now en français; Oui (wee)
No – Déedéet (dey-deyt)
and en français; Non (non)
Maybe – Xejna (khedj-nuh)
en français; Peut-être (per-tay-trer)
Also in Wolof culture they will do a slight double-click of the tongue to indicate that they understand or that they agree with what you said.
LikeLike
Thanks for the comment on our blog. We are learning basic Wolof via a local woman who grew up in Senegal. I also speak French somewhat fluently and am working on getting better. Have added you to our blogroll & will keep checking back. Our trip is in Feb.
http://www.off2senegal.wordpress.com
LikeLike
I was looking at your Who We Are page and I noticed that your last names are Gurney. That was my grandmother’s maiden name. I have never heard of anyone else with that surname. I am in Portland, Oregon right now but I am planning on returning to Senegal around February or March. I don’t know the village that you are going to but in some of the smaller ones most of the people may not know much French…but French is definitely a very important language to know while in Senegal. I will add you to our blogroll as well.
LikeLike
We are in Washington state & have family in Portland, OR (although not Gurney’s)….what was your grandmother’s name & where was she from? We have family in Oklahoma as well as other parts of Washington. It is my understanding that the original spelling was Gurnea & it was Dutch. We will be in Keur Madiabel (South-East of Dakar) in Feb. We have been told that many of the men & younger women & children speak French.
LikeLike
Her name was Myrtle and she was originally from South Dakota. I don’t know too much about the Gurney side of our family but supposedly we trace it back through William the Conquerer from Normandy.
LikeLike
I was talking to some senegalese the other day and they were pronouncing the french word for ‘maybe’ like ‘per-tet’ instead of ‘per-tay-trer’ like I wrote it. I do not know if my original source for the pronunciation was wrong or if they just say it different in senegal.
LikeLike
I should also note that the ‘-nuh’ sound at the end of ‘xejna’ is VERY slight…in fact the word sounds almost like saying the English word ‘hedge’ while clearing your throat.
LikeLike
English to Wolof/French Dictionary now available for download:
http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/janga-laaka-wolof-dictionary/17265716
LikeLike