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Senegambian | |
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North Atlantic | |
Geographic distribution | Mauritania to Guinea |
Linguistic classification | Niger–Congo?
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Subdivisions |
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Language codes | |
Glottolog | nort3146 |
The Senegambian languages, traditionally known as the Northern West Atlantic, sometimes confusingly referred to in literature as the Atlantic languages, are a branch of Atlantic–Congo languages most commonly spoken in Senegal and neighboring southern Mauritania, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Guinea. The nomadic Fula people have also spread their languages from Senegal across the western and central Sahel. The most populous unitary language is Wolof, the national language of Senegal, with four million native speakers and millions more second-language users. There are perhaps 13 million speakers of the various varieties of Fula, and over a million speakers of Serer [citation needed]. The most prominent feature of the Senegambian languages is that they are devoid of tone, unlike the vast majority of Atlantic-Congo languages.