Like the neighbouring languages Serer and Fula , it belongs to the Senegambian branch of the NigerβCongo language family. Unlike most other languages of its family, Wolof is not a tonal language. The principal dialect of Dakar , for instance, is an urban mixture of Wolof, French , and Arabic. Wolof is the standard spelling and may also refer to the Wolof ethnicity or culture.
Variants include the older French Ouolof , Jollof , or Jolof , which now typically refers either to the Jolof Empire or to jollof rice , a common West African rice dish. Now-archaic forms include Volof and Olof. Wolof is spoken by more than 10 million people and about 40 percent approximately 5 million people of Senegal's population speak Wolof as their native language. Increased mobility, and especially the growth of the capital Dakar, created the need for a common language: today, an additional 40 percent of the population speak Wolof as a second or acquired language.
(mh=5OhVLaUO1RM1gmpR)6.jpg "Babes Banjul")
In the whole region from Dakar to Saint-Louis , and also west and southwest of Kaolack , Wolof is spoken by the vast majority of people. Typically when various ethnic groups in Senegal come together in cities and towns, they speak Wolof.
It is therefore spoken in almost every regional and departmental capital in Senegal. Nevertheless, the official language of Senegal is French. In The Gambia , although about 20β25 percent of the population speak Wolof as a first language, it has a disproportionate influence because of its prevalence in Banjul , the Gambian capital, where 75 percent of the population use it as a first language.
Furthermore, in Serekunda , The Gambia's largest town, although only a tiny minority are ethnic Wolofs, approximately 70 percent of the population speaks or understands Wolof. In Mauritania , about seven percent of the population approximately , people speak Wolof.
