EXCO 221 - Wolof Langugage & Senegambia

1 credit
Wolof, of the Niger-Congo family’s West Atlantic branch, is a language of life, art, science, and faith across the Senegambia region and used widely in West Africa, France, the United States, and global emigrant communities. Sharing elements with other West Atlantic group languages, Wolof also borrows widely from Mande, Berber, Arabic, Portuguese, French, and English. Such exchanges across centuries and distances have shaped creoles such as ?ass?n?yyah, Berdiu, Ayisyen, and AAVE. As such, Wolof and Senegambian cultures have contributed to lexicons of anti-imperialist, Diasporic, Pan-Africanist, and Afrofuturist world-building. With a grammar manual as our foundation, we will explore connections between language and culture that include: 1) being-in-time and a verb system privileging aspect over tense; 2) eight noun classes-based on phonology, meaning, word origin, or number-reflecting etymology, meaning, and poetics; 3) phrasal emphases conveyed by syntax and social intersubjectivity rather than vocal pitch or volume. This collaborative and remote-accessible course uses self-directed study, discussions, asynchronous exercises, to situate the language in historical and cultural context and improve grammar, oral expression, and aural comprehension across multiple media. At semester’s end, students will have a basic vocabulary, a command of fundamental grammar, and insight into the contexts in which Wolof is used.

Brandon County
brandon.county@gmail.com
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