Fulani (Fulfulde) Dialects

There are new Webpages on sahelweb.com whith learning lessons in Fulfulde, a discussion forum and links about Fulfulde:

SahelWeb.com/Fulfulde 

I'll try to give you a structure about the languages. The Fulani language tree belongs to the Senegambian Fula-Wolof family. It is part of the Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Atlantic, Northern branch.

The Fulani tribe has 9 different dialects, structured in 4 groups:

East Central group - Sokoto and Western Niger:

Fulfulde / Western Niger: spoken in Niger

Fulfulde / Central Eastern Niger: in Niger

Fulfulde / Nigerian: in Nigeria - sometimes also called "Central Northern Nigeria and Eastern Niger"

Eastern group - Adamawa:

Fulfulde / Adamawa: in Cameroon

Fulfulde / Bagirmi: in Chad

West Central group:

Fulfulde / Benin-Togo: in Benin

Fuuta Jallo: see below

Fulfulde / Maasina: see below

Western:

Pulaar: see below

I'm describing now the western Fulfulde dialects and give the numbers of native speakers due to informations I've  found on the web:

Fulfulde, Maasina (Peul, Maasina)

911,200 in Mali (1991)

7,300 in Ghana (1991)

1,200 in Côte d'Ivoire (1991)

919,700 in all countries

Area: Central Mali. The western dialect is spoken around Segou and Macina. The eastern dialect is spoken from north of Mopti to Timbuctou. 

Language Family: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Atlantic, Northern, Senegambian, Fula-Wolof, Fulani, West Central. 

Dialects: Western Massina, Eastern Maasina 

Maasina in Mali is a major Fula geo-political state. There are some dialect differences, but popular opinion is that all dialects in Mali are inherently intelligible. Substantial Bambara influence. Some dialects in Burkina Faso may be inherently intelligible with Maasina. There is skewing between the ethnic and linguistic relationships. The people are called 'Fulbe' in Fulfulde, 'Peul' or 'Toucouleur' in French, 'Fulani' in English.

Fulfulde, Pulaar (Peul)

175,000 in Mali, including 40,000 Fulbe Jeeri (1995)

2,121,140 in Sénégal (1998)

150,000 in Mauritania

233,000 in Gambia (1998)

24,000 in Guinea (1991)

217,800 in Guinea Bissau (1991)

2,920,940 in all countries

Area: mainly in Sénégal, in Mali settled primarily around Bandiagara and Ségou. Also in Burkina Faso and Nigeria. 

Language Family: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Atlantic, Northern, Senegambian, Fula-Wolof, Fulani, Western. 

Dialect: Toucouleur (Tukolor, Tukulor, Pulaar, Halpulaar, Haalpulaar, Fulbe Jeeri). 

Related to Maasina Fulfulde but distinct. Fulbe Jeeri is an ethnic group which speaks this language as mother tongue.

According to "Pulaar-English Standard Dictionary" of Dr. Mamadou Niang there are 3 different groups of Pulaar:

• Fuutankoore: in Mauretania and Northern Sénégal

• Jeerinkoore: in Sénégal excluding Northern Sénégal

• Southern Pulaar. in Fulado-Gabu, South and South East towards Guinea-Bissau and Guinea-Conakry

Fuuta Jallo

50,000 in Mali (1991)

2,550,000 in Guinea (1991)

178,400 in Sierra Leone (1991)

121,000 in Sénégal (1998)

2,899,400 in all countries

Area: Western Mali from Guinea up to about Keniéba, especially in the administrative districts of Faléa and Faraba. Also in Guinea Bissau and Gambia. 

Language Family: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Atlantic, Northern, Senegambian, Fula-Wolof, Fulani, West Central.