Saturday, June 09, 2007

Wolof Words

I am always amazed by the Wolof language. It is simple. There are few words that have more than 2 or perhaps 3 syllables. It is direct. The elaborate twisting of sentences we have in French or English doesn't exist. It is vibrant. and loud. Most statements can easily be confused with shouts, expletives or arguments. It is funny. A good looking girl is a "diskette,"
an attractive boyfriend is an "expensive fish." And most of all it is absolutely unique to life in Senegal. There is a specific word for "to be able to carry something alone all of the way". There is a word that means "to prepare the spices for stuffing the fish". There is equally a word for carrying something on your head. I recently learned that there is a Wolof word for being pickpocketed. From a sort of nerdy, linguistic point of view, this is interesting. Most new inventions don't have Wolof names, only imports from the French language. But "pickpocketing" has a Wolof name? Did it exist way back when? Or is it just one of those rare words that was specially assigned its own word? And why "pickpocketing"? Why not "email" like the French "courriel". I guess some legacies just don't last