Ajami in the Senegambia

by Fallou Ngom

Ousmane Diémé's Jóola Foñi Community

Background about Jóola Foñi

ajami scholarJóola Foñi (also known as Jola Fonyi or Diola Fogny or Kujamaat Jóola) is part of the Bak languages of the West Atlantic branch of the Niger-Congo phylum. It is primarily spoken in Casamance, Senegal, particularly at the border with The Gambia. It is also spoken in The Gambia by a substantial number of people and in parts of Guinea Bissau. It is considered to be the largest and most widely understood Jóola variety in the Senegambiansub-region (Ethnologue, 2005). Kujamaat Jóola people call themselves Kujamaat and their language Kujamutay. Kujamaat (Foñi) and Kasa are the most important dialects of the Jóola cluster of dialects spoken in Senegambia (Arnoff & Fudeman, 2005). Jóola Foñi is believed to have over 60% lexical similarity with the Jóola-Kasa variety spoken in the villages around Oussouye, Casamance. Speakers of other varieties speak Jóola-Foñi as second language (Ethnologue, 2005). The language is used in commerce, traditional religions, and in other religious services in rural Jóola Foñi communities in Casamance. Over 90% of Jóola Foñi speakers also speak Wolof, French, or Mandinka (Ethnologue, 2005).Consequently, the language has significant influence from these languages. It is used in the local media in Casamance, Senegal.

Background information about Islam, peace, tolerance, and good neighborliness

The city of Ziguinchor is the capital of the southernmost administrative region, formerly known as Casamance, Senegal. Casamance is now divided into three administrative areas: Ziguinchor, Kolda and Sedhiou. Ziguinchor is the most ethnically, religiously, culturally, and linguistically diverse region of Senegal. It is inhabited by the Jóola, Mandinka, Fulakunda, Wolof, Fuuta Jalon Fula (mostly immigrants or descendants of immigrants from Guinea), and many other ethnic groups. Several of the ethnic groups in the region such as the Balanta, the Jóola Kasa, the Mankanya and Mandjak who live in the region follow Christianity and traditional religions. It is the region with the highest percentage of followers of traditional religions in Senegal. The principal economic activities in Casamance are rice cultivation (particularly among the Jóola), peanut cultivation, tourism, commerce, and fishing. It is the most lush and green region of Senegal.

Linguistic features of Islam, peace, tolerance, and good neighborliness

Jóola Foñi is spoken in the region of Ziguinchor, Casamance. The language is the only member of the Bak family of the West Atlantic group, predominantly spoken by Jóola Muslims. The Islamization of the Jóola Foñi people is relatively recent and most were Islamized by the Mandinka. The majority of the Jóola of the area known as Basse Casamance (corresponding to the area around Oussouye, Kabrousse and the villages in the vicinity) are followers of traditional religions, and are known for their resistance to external influences. The most pervasive features of Kuyamaat Jóola are its simple, elegant and pervasive vowel harmony system, its extensive noun class and gender agreement and its rich agglutinative verbal morphology (Aronoff & Fudeman, 2005). The Foñi variety exhibits some lexical influence from Arabic, French and Mandinka. Because the Jóola Foñi were recently Islamized by the Senegambian Mandinka who brought to them a well-established Arabic and Ajami literary tradition, Jóola Foñi Muslims today are increasingly following the literacy trend of the Mandinka people. While Jóola Foñi and Mandinka Ajami writing share numerous features, Jóola Foñi Ajami exhibits some idiosyncratic features.
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Ibrahima Yaffa, research facilitator
(2004)

Ibrahima Yaffa facilitated all the meetings with local Jóola Foñi, Mandinka, Fulakunda, Fuuta Jalon, and Fuuta Tooro scholars in Ziguinchor. This picture was taken at his house as he was finishing his prayers. Without him, it would have been extremely difficult to meet the Ajami scholars from the region of Ziguinchor who are featured in these galleries.