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Sociolinguistic
Studies

ArticleA sociolinguistic profile of The Gambia
Kasper Juffermans and Caroline McGlynn
Abstract
This paper outlines the sociolinguistic situation in the smallest country of mainland
Africa, The Gambia. Very little has been published about the languages and sociolinguistic situation in The Gambia and it was upon discovering this dearth of reliablepublished sources that led the authors to pool knowledge garnered during independent
doctoral research. In this paper we have coupled language shift with a detailed description of the dynamic sociolinguistic profile of The Gambia and trust that it contributes
to an understanding of changing ecologies of language in West Africa. Following a
portrayal of the indigenous and exogenous languages of The Gambia, with attention
to hybrid, overlapping and shifting ethnolinguistic identities, the role of language inseveral social institutions in a changing society is identified and discussed. The paper
culminates in a discussion of linguistic and cultural diversity and appeals for more
research in this sociolinguistically unexposed country.
Keywords: the gambia; west africa; mandinka; wolof; indigenous languages;
englishAffiliations
Kasper Juffermans: Department of Language and Culture Studies, Tilburg University, Netherlands.
email: k.c.p.juffermans@uvt.nl
Caroline McGlynn: The Cass School of Education, University of East London, UK.
email: cmcglynn@uel.ac.uk

Sols vol 3.3 2009 329–355©2009, equinox publishingdoi : 10.1558/sols.v3i3.329
LONDON

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1 Introduction
The Republic of The Gambia1 is the smallest of the mainland African countries
and is completely surrounded by Senegal except for a small Atlantic coastline.
As depicted in Table 1, The Gambia is divided into five regions (called divisions until recently) and eight local government areas (LGAs). The regions aredefined according to the position they take apropos the river Gambia. The LGAs
are named after the towns where the administrative head-offices are based andpartly overlap with the regions, each of which is further divided into districts.
Apart from the official administrative division, which is a colonial inheritance,
there is also a popular division of the country using the names of pre-colonial
polities. These pre-colonial states, most of which transcend the current nationalboundaries, are mainly ancient Mandinka kingdoms and have been the inspiration for the names of the districts: for example Kombo and Foni on the southbank and Niumi and Wuli on the north bank (Sonko-Godwin 2003:8ff). In
addition, there are the originally Serer but later Wolof states Sine and Saloum,and Fulladu ‘land of the Fula’.
Table 1: Administrative division of The Gambia: 5 regions, 8 LGAs, and 37 districts2
Regions–

Local government
Districts
areas (LGAs)
Banjul LGA
Kanifing LGA

Banjul City
Kombo St. Mary/Kanifing Municipality
Kombo North, Kombo South, Kombo Central,
Kombo East, Foni Berefet, Foni Bintang, Foni
Kansala, Foni Bondali, Foni Jarrol

Western Region(WR)

Brikama LGA

Lower River Region(LRR)

Mansakonko LGA

Kiang West, Kiang Central, Kiang East, Jarra
West, Jarra Central, Jarra East

North Bank Region(NBR)

Kerewan LGA

Lower Niumi, Upper Niumi, Jokadu, Lower
Baddibu, Central Baddibu, Upper Baddibu

Kuntaur LGA

Lower Saloum, Upper Saloum, Nianija,
Niani, Sami

Georgetown LGA

Niamina Dankunku, Niamina West, Niamina
East, Fulladu West

Basse LGA

Fulladu East, Sandu, Wuli West, Wuli East,
KantoraCentral River Region(CRR)

Upper River Region(URR)

In common with many developing countries there is an urban rural dichotomythat dominates the geography and economy of the country. The most urbanisedarea is located in the Kombo districts on the south bank, and is made up

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331

Figure 1: Map of The Gambia and its location in Africa (reproduced with permission
from Jaiteh and Saho 2006)of Banjul, Serrekunda, Kanifing, Bakau, Fajara, Kotu, Kololi, Abuko, Lamin,
Yundum and Brikama. The Kombos accommodate the largest proportion of
the Gambian population, the largest number of schools per head (especiallysenior secondary schools), most of the industry and modern facilities suchas tap water and electricity. Most of the country’s tourism activity, embassies
and international organisations are also concentrated here. The southern andeastern parts of these districts remain, however, predominantly rural, which
is why we have used the term urban Kombo to refer to the conglomeration of
towns and urban settlements in this part of the country.
Countrywide the rural areas are dominated by agricultural land which is
predominantly used for growing groundnuts for export, and rice, fruit andvegetables for domestic consumption. In the rural area villages are made up offamilial compounds. Traditionally men remain in the compound they are born
into and women transfer to their husband’s family compound on marriage. In
this polygamous society each marriage unit and accompanying children occupy
a house in the compound. The occupants of all the houses would be closely
related and share chores, resources and child care. Familial compounds canalso be found in the urban area, however, with a more transient population andmore rented accommodation, the ethnic make-up of compounds can becomecomplicated. Families renting a house, or houses, in an urban compound may
find themselves sharing facilities with members of different ethnic and language
groups, a situation that is rare in the rural areas.

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Despite its size, The Gambia is culturally, ethnically and linguistically diverse.
As much information as possible about these concepts and how they interact
has been included in the sections below. In section two an overview of thecountry’s local languages and ethnicities is given, followed by a description of
the role of English and Arabic and a discussion of the sociolinguistic situation
regarding various groups of immigrants. In section three aspects of language
use in different social domains are discussed.

2 Languages and ethnicities in The Gambia
2.1 Indigenous languages
In The Gambia, ten indigenous, ‘local’ languages are spoken. None are exclusive
to The Gambia as each can also be found in Senegal and in other geographically close countries such as Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Mali. A descriptionof each of the languages follows an overview of the genetic classification (after
Ethnologue 2005) depicted in Figure 2.
As can be seen in Figure 2, all Gambian languages fall under the family of
Niger-Congo languages, but can be divided in two main branches of this phylum:
Mande languages and Atlantic languages. Within the group of Mande languages,
a central cluster of Manding languages can be discerned, including Mandinka,
Bambara and Jahanka. These Manding languages are to a certain degree mutually
intelligible and the people share a common history and culture (Sullivan 2004;
Vydrine et al. 2000). This has led both locals and scholars to argue that Manding
languages could be, or should be, regarded as a single language (cf. Prah 2003).
Serahule is related to the Manding languages, but not closely enough to be
included in the Manding group. Gambian languages in the Atlantic group all

Figure 2: Genetic classification of Gambian languages

A sociolinguistic profile of The Gambia

333

belong to the northern branch of this language family and can be subdivided into
Senegambian (Wolof, Fula, Serer) and ‘Bak’ languages (Jola, Manjago, Balanta),
plus Bainunka. The internal differences within the Senegambian and Bak groups
are more substantial than those between languages of the Manding family. Not
included in Figure 2 is Aku, an English-based creole language. While not strictly
an indigenous language, it has been included in this section as a local language.
In government publications and policy documents five of the local languages
are often cited as the main local languages. These five languages correspondwith the five largest ethnic groups in The Gambia and are: Mandinka, Fula,
Wolof, Jola and Serahule (usually cited in that order). In the decennial housing
and population censuses that are organised by the Central Statistics Department(now Gambian Bureau of Statistics), there is a question on ethnicity but not on
language use. Table 2 provides an overview of the share of the different ethnic
groups in the Gambian population as counted in the censuses of 1973 to 2003.
It is important to remark that even though each local language in The Gambia
corresponds to an ethnic group, there is no one-to-one relation languageethnicity. While individuals belong to only one ethnic group, they often speak
several languages, and not necessarily the language of their ethnic group.
Table 2: Gambian population by ethnicity 1973–2003, in percentages 3
1973

1983

1993

2003

Mandinka

42.3

40.8

39.5

35.9

Fula

18.2

19.0

18.8

21.9

Wolof

15.7

13.7

14.6

14.5

Jola

9.5

10.4

10.6

11.4

Serahule

8.7

8.3

8.9

8.2

Serer

2.1

2.5

2.8

3.1

Manjago

1.3

1.7

0.8

2.0

Bambara

0.4

0.5

0.7

1.1

Creole (Aku)

1.0

0.8

1.8

0.5

Mandinka
Known as Sosseh in Wolof and as Cheddo in Fula, the Mandinkas are descendents of the Mali Empire that was founded by Sunjata Keita in the thirteenth
century (Sonko-Godwin 2003:3; Faal 1997:7) and are almost exclusively Muslim(99.8%).4 As the language of the largest ethnic group, Mandinka is the mostwidely spoken language in The Gambia, both as a first and second language,
and carries some prestige because of its numerical majority and historical royal

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connections. In the majority of rural areas, as well as most of the towns locatedoutside the Banjul and Kanifing LGAs, Mandinka functions as a lingua franca.
Mandinka is used in radio and in television broadcasting, although Wolof
is increasingly being used in advertising and Kombo-based productions.
Mandinka has an official, standardised orthography in Latin script with a strict
phoneme-to-grapheme correlation, but as it is not taught in schools, written
Mandinka does not usually adhere to the standardised version. Mandinka written with Arabic characters was taught in madrassa schools until fairly recently
and still features on the official dalasi bank notes.5 It is not possible to confirm towhat extent ajami, the practice of writing local languages with Arabic charactersis still practiced. The N’ko alphabet, invented by Souleymane Kanté from
Kankan in Guinea in 1949 (White Oyler 2001), has virtually no currency in
The Gambia. Recent efforts by Guinean educators to introduce N’ko literacy
did not succeed (Sidia Jatta, personal communication). Current organised
efforts to promote and teach literacy in Mandinka use the Latin-based standard
orthography. However, public written materials beyond learning materials andan occasional news bulletin, Kibaari kutoolu, are not readily available.
Fula
It has been stated that the Fula can be found ‘in every modern West African
state from Mauritania to Cameroon and the Republic of Sudan’ (Sonko-Godwin
2003:42). The Senegalese Futa Toro and Guinean Futa Jalon highlands are
believed to be the historical origin of all Fulas in West Africa. Fulas take pridein being among the first of all West African peoples to embrace Islam (Faal
1997:16) and today 99.7% of Gambian Fula assert to be Muslim.4 Alternative
names for the Fula people and language are Peul, Fulbe, Fulfulde, Fulani, Pulaar
and Poular.
Many Gambian Fula are first or second generation migrants from Guinea,
where Fula is a national language (see the growing numbers in Table 2).
Originally nomadic cattle herders, rural Fulas are now cattle farmers and often
rear the livestock of people from other ethnic groups for agreed benefits. Many
Fula also run grocery shops and are sometimes involved in more substantial
retail business, for instance the supply of textile and building materials. As ruraltenants and urban traders in multi-ethnic environments, many Gambian Fula
have gained fluency in the languages of their neighbours (Mandinka, Wolof,
Jola, Serahule), thus removing the necessity for members of other ethnic groups
to acquire high level second language proficiency in Fula. There are areas,
however, especially in Fulladu, where Fulas form the majority and where Fula
functions as a language of wider communication.

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335

Wolof
Known as Surwa in Mandinka and Jolfeh in Fula, Wolof is the language of thethird largest ethnic group in The Gambia, but is much more widely spoken as asecond or additional language than Fula. The Wolof people, almost exclusively
Muslim now, originate from the area north of the Senegal river, but migrated
southward toward the Senegambian region when their homeland ran dry andestablished the states Jolof, Kayor, Walo and Baol and subjected the Serer states
Sine and Saloum (Sonko-Godwin 2003; Faal 1997).
Wolof became the lingua franca of most of present-day Senegal and isbecoming increasingly important in urban Gambia. In Banjul and the Kanifing
Municipality, children of multiethnic parents increasingly grow up speaking
Wolof as a first language and it is often also the preferred language of communication in ethnically mixed gatherings, for example school playgrounds
and market places. This process of Wolofisation as described for Senegal(Mc Laughlin 1995; Ngom 2004) takes a similar shape in The Gambia. The
Wolofisation of ethnic identities (Ngom 2004), however, may not be as pervasive in The Gambia as in Senegal, as it appears it is taking the form not of
ethnic assimilation but of increased multilingualism, with Wolof becoming amore evident second or subsequent language.
Gambian Wolof should not be regarded as independent or unconnected to
Senegalese Wolof, as it is recognised by speakers in The Gambia and Senegal,that despite lexical differences they are the same language. Although urban
Gambian Wolof is characterised by extensive ‘monolectal code-switching’(Meeuwis and Blommaert 1998) with English, French and Arabic, the level ofhybridisation is reportedly not as advanced as in urban Senegal (cf. Swigart
1992; Haust 1995; Ngom 2004).
In addition to frequent use on television and radio, Wolof is also the languageof mbalax music, which is immensely popular in The Gambia. This leads tothe language having some prestige among the younger population. As with
Mandinka, Wolof is also used in adult literacy classes but not in formal education. Wolof has an official, standardised orthography in Latin script, but is notwidely distributed. At the same time, Wolof literacy in Arabic script continues
to exist (on bank notes for instance), and is believed, by some of our informants,
to be more widespread than literacy in Latin script.
Jola
Jola is classified as an Atlantic Niger-Congo language and is, according toEthnologue (2005) rather a family of languages than a single uniform language.
Little is known about the pre-colonial history of the Jola, but their origins

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are believed to be in the lower region of Casamance and parts of what is now
Guinea-Bissau (Sonko-Godwin 2003:68). In The Gambia, Jolas are most populous in the Foni districts, the rural area east of Kombo. Although in Casamance
there are substantial numbers of Christian and ‘Animist’ Jola, most Gambian
Jolas are Muslim (91.6%) with a notable minority of Christians (8.4%). Large
numbers of recent refugees and settlers from troubled Casamance have ensured
this ethnic group has grown slightly in the past decade (see Table 2).
Jola is the ethnic group of President Yahya Jammeh, who has been head ofstate since 1994. Notwithstanding the recent increase in Jola speakers and theassociation with power through the president, the language has come underpressure in urban Kombo where, because of the mixed ethnicity of non-familial
compounds, many Jola families are increasingly speaking Mandinka, Wolof orboth. The domains in which Jola is used are minimal, therefore children of Jolafamilies increasingly grow up speaking limited Jola, with Wolof or Mandinka
as a first language. Although Jola is not listed in the UNESCO Red Book of
Endangered Languages (Heine and Brenzinger n.d.), a decline in the functions
and domains of Jola in The Gambia is undeniable.
Perhaps due to the constraints on the language the Jola are among the most
multilingual people in The Gambia. Our Jola informants recognise this fact
and confirm that they ‘pick up’ the languages of other ethnic groups if they livewith them for a short time. They also lament the fact that majority language
speakers can live with Jolas for years without understanding even the simplest
and most common Jola phrases. In this context it is possible that language shift,language endangerment and ethnolinguistic vitality may have more to do withthe attitudes of speakers of minority languages towards majority groups andtheir ability, interest, willingness and need to learn other languages rather thanwith ‘linguistic imperialism’ (Phillipson 1992) of any kind.
It is further worth noting that the ethnonym Jola was given to the Jolas by
the Mandinka, in whose language joolaa means ‘(to) pay back’. The anecdotal
etymology is that whatever (bad) Mandinkas did to Jolas, they paid them backwith the same coin. Jola has overtaken the people’s original name, Ajamataw,
and is now used by all neighbouring ethnic groups.
Serahule
Serahule is a Mande language that developed from the proto-Mande branch
before the Manding languages developed and dispersed into West Africa. The
Serahule, also known by the French name Soninké, are the descendents of
the Ghana Empire (ninth-thirteenth centuries) in what is now Central Mali,
where they are still more populous than in Senegambia (Sonko-Godwin 2003;
Faal 1997:18f). In The Gambia, they are concentrated in the eastern parts ofthe country, particularly around Basse, but also live in Kombo. Except for theA sociolinguistic profile of The Gambia

337

area around Basse, members of other language groups generally do not speak
Serahule. Gambian Serahule almost always speak Mandinka. Our observations
suggest they are also increasingly speaking Wolof, particularly in urban Kombo.
The Serahule, 99.9% of which are Muslim,4 are known to be international
businesspeople trading in various commodities, including precious stones. A
more recent enterprise is the building and renting out of apartment blocks in
Greater Serrekunda and provincial towns.
Serer
The Serer, known as Kassinko in Mandinka, are a minority in The Gambia,
but have a more significant population in Senegal. In The Gambia they aremostly found on the north bank and in Greater Serrekunda. The Serer are
predominantly Muslim (97.3%), while a small number of Serer families are
Christian (2.7%).
As has been reported for Senegal, the Serer are Wolofised to a great extent.
The Serer who are culturally and linguistically related to the Wolof, have aprecolonial history of both Wolof and Mandinka domination (Faal 1997:14).
Today, many Serer, especially those whose mothers are of different ethnic
groups, grow up speaking Wolof, and sometimes the mother’s ethnic language
instead of Serer. Indeed, our informants suggest that it would be ‘virtually
impossible’ to find a Serer in The Gambia who does not also speak Wolof. As
Ngom suggests, many Serer ‘regard themselves as native Wolof speakers andlose their language and Seereer cultural identity’ (2004:102). Few Gambians
speak Serer as a second language. Of all the Gambian languages Serer is perhaps
the one closest to being ‘endangered’ (Ngom 2004:103).
Manjago
The Manjago form one of the smaller ethnic groups in The Gambia and originate from what is now Guinea-Bissau. Manjago is the only ethnic group in The
Gambia that is predominantly Christian (78.9%) although significant numbers(20.8%) have converted to Islam.4 They typically live on the south bank on
the outskirts of villages that are ‘owned’ by Mandinkas and Jolas, or in urban
Kombo. Very few persons of other ethnic groups speak even a limited amountof Manjago. Manjagos themselves however, like Jolas, are usually multilingual.
BambaraBambara is the branch of Manding people that are still living in the area insouthern Mali bordering Guinea from where all Manding peoples originate.
In Mali, Bambara is a national language and spoken as a lingua franca inand around the capital, Bamako. There is a small group of native Gambian338

Sociolinguistic Studies

Bambara, who are sometimes referred to in Mandinka as Tilibonkas, literally
meaning ‘those from the East’. Gambian Bambara migrated from the Mandingarea to what is now known as The Gambia long after Mandinkas inhabited theshores of the river Gambia, but long enough ago to become detached from the
Bambara in Mali.
Mandinkas often claim that Bambara is ‘deeper’ than their own language,by which they mean more closely related to the ancient language of the Mali
Empire, and that they cannot understand much of the language. Gambian
Bambaras, and Bambara-speaking migrants from Mali, on the other hand,are culturally and linguistically integrated with the Mandinka and have no
difficulties learning Mandinka. Like Mandinkas, Gambian Bambara are almost
exclusively Muslim.
Aku
The Aku people settled in The Gambia around 1850. They are descendantsof the Krio whose ancestors were former slaves in England and the Americas
and recaptives from various parts of Africa brought together by the British in
the province of freedom (Freetown) after the abolition of the slave trade (Faal
1997:20–23). Therefore, the Aku language, an English based Creole, is closely
related to Sierra Leonean Krio. Members of the Aku ethnic group are mostpopulous in the capital Banjul where they often own large colonial houses,
witnessing the privileged position they had in the Bathurst-Freetown colonialadministration. Aku is the only other ethnic group, after the Manjago, that is
not predominantly Muslim: 51.1% are Christian while 48.8% are Muslims.4
It has been claimed in some sociolinguistic literature (Todd 1984:40–41;
Crystal 2003:51; McArthur 2003:274) that Aku is used as a lingua franca in
The Gambia. This was challenged by Peter and Wolf (2003:125) who argued
that Aku is only used by a limited number of people in Banjul. Our findings
confirm that today Mandinka and Wolof, not Aku, are used as linguae francae
in The Gambia.
Jahanka
The Jahanka originate from Guinea and Mali and are traditionally Muslim.
Like the Bambara, the Jahanka are an ethnic group that is closely connectedto the Mandinka; so much that many Gambians will refute that the Jahanka
are a separate ethnic group. However, many Gambian Jahanka defend thatthey are in the first place Jahanka and not Mandinka. Linguistically, the differences between Jahanka and Mandinka are limited to some lexical, tag, andinflection differences. Communication between Jahankas and Mandinkas isoften completed using a parallel diglossic code rather than either interlocutor
switching codes.

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339

Karoninka
The Karoninka originate from Casamance and have a similar ethnic origin tothat of the Jola. Indeed, some claim they are the same people, however, witha similarity to the Jahanka-Mandinka relationship, the majority of Karoninka
will declare they are a separate ethnic group despite the relatively mutually
intelligible language. Due to their small numbers, marriage to members ofother ethnic groups is common among the Karoninka and has been identified
by the elders as one of the reasons for assimilation into both Islam and otherlanguage groups.
Bainunka
The Bainunka originate from Casamance in Senegal and Guinea-Bissau. Dueto their low numbers verifiable information about this group is lacking.
Balanta
The Balanta are perhaps the smallest ethnic group in The Gambia and are concentrated in the Central River Region. Their origins lie in Guinea-Bissau where
they form one of the major ethnic groups. In Guinea-Bissau, most Balantas are
Christian, but in The Gambia many have reportedly adopted Islam. The Balanta
language is most related to Jola and Manjago.
2.2 Exogenous languages
EnglishEnglish is the official language in The Gambia and is widely spoken by young
people, particularly in the urban areas. Generally speaking Gambians do not
speak English with each other, unless in a specific domain. In urban Kombo,
written English is highly visible, being used in street signs, on television and innewspapers. In the provinces access to written English is limited to the labels
on food products and school text books. There are likely to be several people
in each village able to communicate orally in English. However, the numberof people with literacy levels sufficient to be able to undertake administrative
tasks, such as letter writing and election duties, is usually limited to school
teachers. As we discuss in section 3, the situations in which English is used
depends on the participants involved in the activities as well as the purpose of
the interaction.
Currently, British English is the standard in teaching materials, but GambianEnglish is the de facto standard in newspapers and other media output. There
are significant differences between British English and Gambian English on

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Sociolinguistic Studies

syntactic, lexical and phonological levels (Richmond 1989; Peter, Wolf andSimo Bobda 2003). As much as is clear from these initial accounts is that
Gambian English is a variety in its own right within the (West) African branchof World Englishes. However, Gambian English does not exist in isolationfrom other varieties of English and is continuously exposed and influenced
by other varieties of English in the world. A more comprehensive empirical
study would be necessary to understand the complexities of Gambian English
in relation to Aku, other varieties of West African English, British and otherinternational Englishes.
ArabicAs a predominantly Islamic country, Arabic features considerably in The
Gambia as part of religious practices. During traditional ceremonies which
are conducted in indigenous languages frequent switches to Arabic occur
for prayers and blessings. Arabic is not usually spoken between Gambians,
however, formulaic phrases are mixed with all the local languages as well as
English. The most common Arabic insertions are inshallah ‘if God wills it’,
al-hamdulillahi ‘thank God’ and the exclamation Allahu akbar ‘God is great’.
For many, Arabic is also the default language for swearing, bilahi ‘by God’.
In addition to topic based code-mixes the use of Arabic features in the ritual
greetings: in common with Muslims across the globe salaam aleikum ‘peace
be with you’ and the response maleikum salaam ‘peace also with you’ is used
as an initial greeting.
2.3 Migrants and communication
Its small size, political stability, the absence of serious crime and the relatively
low cost of living, makes The Gambia an attractive place for citizens from theWest African region and beyond. Table 3 shows the evolution of immigrants
against the total population as measured in the last four censuses (GBoS
2007). Notwithstanding the official census counts, it is hard to obtain a reliable estimate on the total number of migrants, as the official numbers, 134,120(12.9%) for 1993, and 113,032 (8.3%) for 2003, are believed to be considerable
underestimations of the actual number of migrants in the country. It is highly
unlikely that the share of migrants in relation to the general population has in
actual fact declined between 1993 and 2003.6 The estimate of the World Bankof a stock of 231,739 immigrants in 2005, comprising 15.3% of the Gambian
population, is therefore more plausible (Ratha and Xu 2006).
As an enclave in the vast area of what used to be l’Afrique Occidentale Française,
The Gambia receives most of its immigrants (80%) from countries whereA sociolinguistic profile of The Gambia

341

Table 3: Immigrants in The Gambia 1973–2003 (GBoS 2007)
1973

1983

1993

2003

total population

493,499

687,817

1,038,145

1,360,680

Senegalese

25,30932,38581,56761,862Guinea (Conakry)

10,137

12,59927,797

23,386

Guinea-Bissau

6,817

5,626

8,488

5,516

Mali

5,467

4,295

6,370

3,329

Mauritania

1,883

1,828

2,243

2,446

Sierra Leone

436

517

1,607

7,568

Nigeria

-

-

-

2,864

Ghana

-

-

-

1,487

Liberia

-

-

-

310

Other W-Africans

-

-

-

228

Other Africans

794

1,023

2,564

375

Non-Africans

1,159

2,523

3,484

3,661

total immigrants

52,00260,796

134,120

113,032% of population

10.5%

8.8%

12.9%

8.3%

French remains the official language. The majority of ‘Francophone’ migrants
come from Senegal, both from northern Senegal and the southern Casamanceregion, where a longstanding, at times violent, conflict has caused many toflee their homeland. Culturally, historically and linguistically, Senegal and The
Gambia form a unity that is hardly interrupted by the national boundaries.
Senegalese nationals experience no communication difficulties in their daily
dealings with Gambians and gain easy access to the job market as most trades
function in a predominantly oral and informal economy. A significant numberof migrants also come from Guinea and Mali, countries at approximately two
to three-day overland journey distance. Guinean migrants are mainly Fulas
and Mandinkas and often work as grocery shopkeepers or as taxi drivers inurban Kombo, while Malians, often Bambaras, are employed in various sectors.
The Gambia also receives a significant number of Anglophone West African
migrants (11%). In contrary to the ‘Francophones’ who have also settled in therural areas, the Anglophones are predominantly urban based. The two largest
groups in this category, Sierra Leoneans and Nigerians, represent two different
motives for migration. Nigerians are usually travellers by choice (economic
migrants) while Sierra Leoneans, until very recently were travellers by force(political refugees). Nigerians, like Ghanaians, have generally come to The
Gambia to establish a business or to work in education. Many Sierra Leoneans,on the other hand, came to The Gambia to flee the civil war of the 1990s andmany have taken up jobs in the public and private education sector. Sierra

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Leoneans, generally referred to by Gambians as Freetownians whether or notthey are from the capital Freetown, are mainly speakers of Krio, the national
lingua franca, but also of languages including Mende and Temne. Discussions
with Gambian-based Nigerians reveal that Nigerians involved in businessare often of the Igbo ethnic group, while those working in the secondary andtertiary education sector are typically Yoruba. It has been noted that few male
Anglophone West African migrants, even those who have married Gambians,
have found it necessary to learn any of the indigenous Gambian languages
beyond basic communication.
The problem with the terms ‘Francophone’ and ‘Anglophone’ as used inthis context, is that Francophone here has a rather different meaning than
Anglophone. ‘Francophone’ West Africans in The Gambia may be fromcountries colonised by the French but this does not guarantee their ability tocommunicate in French. In their daily lives, their Francophoneness is less usefulto them than their respective ethnic identities and local language competencies.
For the Anglophone migrants, however, it is precisely their Anglophonenessthat they share with Gambians. Therefore English, or a creolised variety of itin the case of Sierra Leonean Krio and Nigerian Pidgin English, is widely usedin their daily routines.
Also from West Africa are migrants from Guinea-Bissau, where the official
language is Portuguese. For them the same theory as for the Francophonemigrants can be applied, as their national lingua franca, Portuguese-based
Crioulo, does not hold currency in The Gambia. Instead, in order to communicate they must rely on mutually intelligible ethnic languages, or theirability to learn a Gambian language. In fact, migrants from Guinea-Bissau areoften of ethnic groups that already occupy The Gambia, particularly Mandinka
and Fula.
A fourth category of migrants are Arabophones, including Mauretanians fromthe sub-region and Lebanese from the Middle East. Mauretanians are sometimes
Wolofs from the area north of the river Senegal, but mostly of Arabic or Berberdescent. Most of them speak Hassaniya Arabic as a first language and French asa second language; some also speak Wolof. Mauretanians based in The Gambia
for an extended period of time, typically running provisions shops or shawarma
restaurants, will usually learn the vehicular language of the community in which
they settle. The Lebanese are speakers of (Lebanese) Arabic and are a small but
significant immigrant group that are often involved in substantial business andtrade. As an illustration, two of the three mobile telephone providers in The
Gambia are owned by Lebanese (cf. Leichtman 2005).
Two relatively new categories of immigrants to The Gambia, both of which
rely on English in their communication with Gambians, are Indians andA sociolinguistic profile of The Gambia

343

Chinese. Individuals from both the People’s Republic and Taiwan are often
involved in retail businesses selling clothes, shoes and other materials thatare made in China, and in other sectors as well. Diplomatically, The Gambia
maintains relations only with the Taiwanese government, who are an important foreign aid donor (Baker and Edmonds 2004). Similarly, Indians are
involved in the business of selling goods imported from India, focusing on
household electronics and building materials. Although increasingly more
visible in The Gambia, reliable information on the economic and sociolinguistic circumstances of Indian and Chinese immigrants remains open forfurther investigation.
Other temporary migrants, or long stay visitors, are American Peace Corps
volunteers (PCVs), British Voluntary Service Overseas volunteers (VSOs) andCuban doctors. There are approximately 100 PCVs in The Gambia at any time,
while there were 31 VSOs in 2007. Both receive language training and spendlong uninterrupted periods in communities where English is not used outside
the classroom and therefore become fluent in the local language of the community they are resident in (VSO 2007; Peace Corps 2007). Cubans generally do
not achieve functional proficiency in Gambian local languages (see section 3.7).

3 Language use in social domains
3.1 Education
The education system in The Gambia is organised in a 6-3-3 structure, consisting of six years of lower basic school and three years of upper basic school,
forming a nine year basic education cycle, followed by three years of seniorsecondary schooling. Nursery schooling is necessary as a preparation for lower
basic school, but is not provided by the government, confining it to the private
sector. Section 30(a) of the Gambian constitution stipulates that ‘basic education shall be free, compulsory and available to all’ (RoTG 2002), but in practiceschool attendance is not enforced.
The Gambia currently operates an English-only language policy in all levelsof education, with the exception of Qur‘anic schools. As discussed above, thestandard of written materials is British English which is also the expected
standard for examinations. There have been moves to introduce some of the
major indigenous languages as media of instruction for early years education(DoSE 2004:35). However, at present, materials and associated teacher training
have not been developed and the implementation is not anticipated in thenear future.

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Teachers are among the most multilingual persons in Gambian society,having opportunities to develop their language repertoires when they are
posted to communities with different sociolinguistic profiles. In contrary
to the English-only policy, switches to local languages are common within
Gambian classrooms. It is local languages that are usually used in the nonteaching areas of schools: pastoral care and playground activities. Which local
language appears to depend on several factors, including the most dominantlocal language and the proficiency of teacher and child in a particular language.
On several occasions switches to minority languages have been witnessed toassist a distressed or sick child, with teachers calling on other children to stepin as translators where necessary. In the playground children appear to havean innate understanding of which language to use (see McGlynn and Martin
2009; McGlynn forthcoming).
Children in Gambian schools have regular religious education lessons which
are conducted in Arabic. During these lessons children receive instruction in
the Qur‘an, the daily prayers, washing and other rituals. Christian children areusually withdrawn from these lessons and, if appropriate, alternative religious
classes are organised in English.
Parallel to the public education system are two types of Islamic schooling:
daara are informal classes, organised by men who are versed in the Qur‘an(often imams), where children are taught to recite and write the suras of the
Qur‘an; madrassa is the Arabic alternative to English-based schooling and offersa full curriculum although the majority of time is spent on Islamic tuition. Our
research indicates there have been no empirical studies of the language usedin either type of Islamic education in The Gambia. Our informants advise thatthe language used in the classroom is a mixture of Arabic, local languages,
and some English depending on the level of the students. A madrassa teacher
advised that from nursery to grade four the local language of the community
is used, in grades five and six Arabic is used as the language of instruction,with support from the local languages as often as the children need it, andfrom grades seven to twelve only Arabic is supposed to be used with English
reserved for English lessons.
3.2 Religion
As can be seen from Table 4, there are, in practice, only two religions in The
Gambia, Islam and Christianity. Muslims make up about 95% of the Gambian
population and despite their numerical dominance respect the religious
otherness of the Christian minority which amounts to 3 or 4%. Contrary toA sociolinguistic profile of The Gambia

345

descriptions in travel guides of Gambian culture, adherence to traditionalreligions is, percentagewise, negligible.
In his book Translating the Message (1989), the Gambian American scholar
Sanneh contrasts the Islamic stance regarding the untranslatability of God’sword with Christianity’s emphasis on translation to transmit God’s word. Thisis evident during the Friday prayers, when the imam preaches in Classic Arabic
followed by an explanation in the most widely understood local language ofthe community. At other times of the week Muslims say personal prayers ona mat at home, at work or in a mosque in Classic Arabic. Christians pray in
English and/or their respective local language. All denominations of Christianservice on Sunday are organised in a mixture of local languages and English.
Unlike the post-Arabic explanation of the lesson in the mosque, the sermon or
homily in Christian churches is given in English with a concurrent translation
into a local language. Newborn congregations in urban Kombo receive many
Nigerian and Sierra Leonean worshippers and are organised in English only.
Christian radio and television programmes are also in English while Islamicbroadcasts are in Arabic with accompanying clarifications in English and/or
one or more local languages.
Table 4: Religion in relation to ethnicity and nationality, in percentages 7
Islam

Christianity

Traditional

Mandinka

99.8

0.2

0.02

Fula

99.7

0.3

0.01

Wolof

99.7

0.3

0.01

Jola

91.6

8.4

0.06

Serahule

99.9

0.1

-

Serer

97.3

2.7

-

Manjago

20.8

78.9

0.22

Bambara

99.2

0.8

-

Creole/Aku

48.8

51.1

-

Other Gambians

75.7

24.2

-

total Gambians

96.6

3.4

0.02

Francophone West African migrants

96.0

3.9

0.03

Anglophone West African migrants

38.5

61.1

0.07

migrants from Guinea-Bissau

55.5

43.5

0.65

other African migrants

72.6

25.7

0.50

non-African migrants

28.8

55.9

0.44

total population of The Gambia

95.4

4.3

0.03

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3.3 Politics and law
We are unaware of any studies into the use of language in the political andlegal arena, however, in common with many post-colonial countries where
governance is conducted in the language of the former colonial occupier, The
Gambia uses English in all its national political dealings. Section 105 of theGambian constitution provides that ‘the business of the National Assembly
shall be conducted in the English language or any other language prescribedby an Act of the National Assembly’ (RoTG 2002:§105). Informants involvedin the political community have advised that meetings, even minor committee
meetings, are always held in English and all documentation is only produced
in English. Informal discussions, greetings and general talk is conducted inlocal languages, however if the topic of the conversation becomes official in any
way, the interlocutors switch to English. Local level political rallies (bantaba),
often held during election campaigns by all political parties, generally use thelingua(e) franca(e) of the local community.
Concerning law enforcement, the Gambian constitution contains a provision that ‘[e]very person who is charged with a criminal offence – (b) shallbe informed at the time he or she is charged, in a language which he or she
understands and in detail, of the nature of the offence charged’ and ‘(f) shallbe permitted to have without payment the assistance of an interpreter if heor she cannot understand the language used at the trial of the charge’ (RoTG
2002:§24(3)). One of our informants advises that police officers generally
speak Mandinka and Wolof in addition to their ethnic group language. Court
judges, who are often Nigerian nationals, speak English, relying on translation
into whatever the defendants claim to be their first language. It would appear
therefore that the use of local languages with local people is to facilitate thelegal process with full understanding on all sides.
3.4 Media
Television in The Gambia has become more popular with the electrification ofmany areas and the availability of equipment, and is no longer the sole pleasureof the (urban) elite. The daily news bulletins are in English, Mandinka, Wolof
and Fula, with ‘minority languages’ Jola and Serahule, used on alternate days.
Television is targeted for an urban audience and therefore the majority of
programmes and advertisements make use of Wolof and/or English.
There are several radio channels in The Gambia. On urban based stations,
including Radio Gambia and West Coast Radio, English and most of the local
languages can be heard everyday. Community stations, for example Radio
Basse, are dominated by local languages. Many programmes offer the opportunity for listeners to call in and voice opinions on current issues or specificA sociolinguistic profile of The Gambia

347

debates. Here, the ethnolinguistic diversity is reflected in multilingual radio
broadcasting with English, Wolof, Mandinka and other local languages cooccurring in a single programme.
Despite critique on Gambia’s human rights record with regard to freedomof speech (N’Diaye et al. 2005), there are several newspapers produced either
daily or two to three times weekly: The Daily Observer is a privately owned
pro-government newspaper, The Point is opposition minded, as is Foroyaa/
Freedom, which is edited by one of the main opposition parties. Although
they are all referred to as national papers, the editorial offices are exclusively
based in urban Kombo and their organised distribution is limited to the urban
west. Newspapers feature news that is first and foremost made in the Kombos
with occasional stories about the provinces. All newspapers are written in
Gambian English, or Gamblish as one informant called it. In this respect,
Bojang (2004) has humorously written stylistic advice to Gambian journalists.
Some newspapers feature occasional news in French and local languages, or
have a religious column in Arabic on specific days of the week. There are news
bulletins available in Mandinka, Wolof, Fula and Jola, that are produced byvoluntary organisations such as WEC International, however they are notwidely circulated and do not follow a strict distribution time-scale.
3.5 Traditional and popular culture
Traditional celebrations are still very much a part of rural Gambian life and also
feature in urban areas. Marriages and naming ceremonies are common in bothareas, but circumcision rituals, both for boys and girls, tend to be rural activities
with many family members returning to their home village for these occasions.
Traditional weddings and naming ceremonies are undertaken in the local
language of the participants but have several phases, particularly blessings andprayers, that are conducted in Arabic. Although entry to circumcision rituals
is impossible for an outsider (Hudson 1990), information from candidates tellus that only local languages are used. The Mandinka character of Kangkurang,
a full length mask that deters evil spirits and actually conducts the circumcisionof boys, does not speak at all, but its behaviour is interpreted into local language
by initiated members of the community. Kangkurang performances, as well as
the masquerades of other ethnic groups, the Wolof Zimba, Jola Mamapara andKumpo and Aku Agugu, bear deep historical-cultural meanings, however, they
are also staged for urban and multiethnic audiences for the sake of art itself andincreasingly to raise money (Weil and Saho 2005).
Popular music in The Gambia varies from African, (African) American
and Caribbean music genres. Of the African styles, Wolof mbalax (literally
meaning ‘music’) and Afro-Manding are most popular. Both have their origins
in griotism. Several popular Senegalese mbalax artists, including Youssou

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N’Dour, Baaba Maal and Vivian, regularly perform in The Gambia. The mostpopular Afro-Manding group, singing in Mandinka, is the Gambian group
Jaliba Kuyateh and the Kumareh band. Malian music with lyrics in Bambara(an example is Oumou Sangaré), is also admired. Of the non-African musicstyles reggae, hiphop and R&B are most often heard. Apart from reggae legends
Bob Marley and Burning Spear, Siddy Rank and Anthony B. are immensely
popular in The Gambia, owing to regular visits with live performances. Local
reggae musician Njie B, as well as R&B/hiphop artists Sing’a’teh (Freaky Joe) andNancy Nanz, enjoy celebrity status in The Gambia, singing primarily in English.
Urban Gambians watch a variety of films produced by the three major centresof film production in the world: Hollywood (America), Bollywood (India) and
Nollywood (Nigeria). Of these three, Nigerian films are preferred by many
young Gambians over American films, because of their greater adherence
to realism and the choice of its themes (cf. Omoniyi 2008). Indian films are
becoming increasingly popular in The Gambia evidenced by the increasing
number of titles in rental stores.
3.6 Tourism
There is a growing number of tourists who visit The Gambia. In 2006, thenumber of tourists exceeded 121,000 which meant a 9.5% increase on the previous year. The tourism high season falls from November to April and coincides
with the dry and cooler months of the year. Despite continuous attempts by
the Gambian government to promote all year round tourism (Thompson et al.
1995:579), for most tourists The Gambia is still a ‘winter sun’ destination, thus
avoiding the Gambian rainy season (June to September).
A first category of tourists is ‘sun and sand seekers’ from the United Kingdom(53%), the Netherlands (15%), Scandinavia (10%), Germany (5%), Finland(3%), and, more recently, Spain (3%), (GTA 2007).8 Although a large numberof these tourists are one-off visitors, many are also returning visitors. Some of
the returning visitors become involved with The Gambia in a way that goesbeyond the usual activities of tourism: some become romantically involved
with Gambians (Nyanzi et al. 2005) while others privately initiate small-scale
development projects (Juffermans 2008b).
A smaller, second category of tourists are Americans and Canadians, who
account for 2% of Gambian tourism with an average 2,200 visitors annually.
Many are African-Americans following in the footsteps of Alex Haley in search
for their Roots, the title of Haley’s (1977) book in which he traces his ancestry
through the trajectories of slavery back to the village of Juffureh in Upper Niumi
District (cf. Ebron 2002; Wright 1981).

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349

Both Europeans and North Americans communicate primarily in English with
Gambians, and although there are inevitable communication difficulties dueto the differences between American, British, the various mainland European
Englishes and Gambian English, gross communication breakdowns are rare.
Both Gambians working in the industry as well as most tourists, including thosefrom non-Anglophone countries, usually speak enough English to manage
service encounters and engage in more meaningful conversations (cf. Lawson
and Jaworski 2007). In addition, a number of Gambians working in the tourist
industry have obtained knowledge of many European languages to be able togreet or offer more extensive services to tourists in their own language.
3.7 Health care
To our knowledge there has been no empirical research about the use of language in the health sector. The Gambia relies heavily on foreign doctors andsenior medical personnel, especially from Nigeria and Cuba, which often
results in communication difficulties. It is understood that visiting doctors
rarely learn any of the local languages. The Cuban doctors, employed by The
Jammeh Foundation on temporary contracts,9 tend to speak Spanish and varying degrees of English, whereas Nigerian doctors are generally fluent in English.
Many of their patients, especially rural women and their children, do not
generally speak English. As a result, doctors and patients manage with limited
English, ad hoc sign language and the assistance of other patients acting astranslators. It has been noticed that in order to reduce confusion medicines
are frequently distributed with pen strikes on the labels to indicate how often
it should be administered.
In healthcare facilities in urban Kombo, including the Royal Victoria Teaching
Hospital in Banjul, Wolof is the lingua franca, whereas Mandinka is used in
the majority of areas outside the Kombos including the second largest hospitalat Bansang. Both Fula and Mandinka are used in the major health care facility
in Basse.
3.8 Public transport, markets and streets
Public transport, which in actuality is privately owned transport organised forthe public, is a sector that thrives with a lingua franca. In urban Kombo thisis Wolof. When taking transport from the Kombos to the provinces on thesouth bank, it is usual to change vehicles at Brikama garage, a major hub for
travellers. From Brikama to the rural areas Mandinka is spoken in the vehicles.
When travelling to eastern towns on the north bank it is more usual to cross the350

Sociolinguistic Studies

river using the Banjul to Barra ferry. Wolof is the vehicular language along thisroute. However, from Farrafenni, a town some 80 kilometres beyond Banjul, thelanguage of the communities is predominantly Mandinka and therefore vehicle
drivers are usually able to communicate in both languages.
Markets are eclectic places where everything from food to batteries to clothes
to building materials can be bought. Wolof appears to be the dominant languagein the urban area, even though Mandinka is still used by many of the older
generation. One informant expressed very strongly how he refuses to speak
Wolof in the market place, even though he can speak it perfectly adequately,as he dislikes the way the younger people have adopted Wolof so readily. In therural weekly markets (lumoo), the respective lingua franca of the area is used.
In the streets, one notices the functional dichotomy of spoken and written
language: whereas local languages can be heard ubiquitously, it is only English,
and Arabic to a lesser extent, that can be seen on shop signboards and otherpublic inscriptions in the linguistic landscape (Juffermans 2008a). The emergence of Wolof slogans in visual advertising such as mobile telephone provider
Gamcel’s Yaay Borom (literally meaning ‘it’s yours’), may signal a change tothis situation.

4 Concluding remarks
As can be seen from above, the indigenous languages of The Gambia are diversein their origin and uses. The Gambia’s two most widely spoken languages,
Mandinka and Wolof are typologically quite different and fall under two distinct language families, Mande and Atlantic languages respectively. The lingua
franca in The Gambia is not Aku or an English-based Creole, as can sometimes
be read in the literature, but Wolof and Mandinka instead. Our informants
concur that it is hard to find a Gambian person of any age or ethnic group thatspeaks neither Mandinka nor Wolof.
With regard to the social uses of language it is surprising to register thatthe languages are domain dependent, as is the case of law and education; geographically determined, with regard to public transport and religion; and age
related, as identified by several informants about their personal language use.
This ethnic and linguistic diversity does not, however, lead to any noticeable
friction between people. Instead, the acceptance of other languages can leadto viable multilingualism and extended code-switching between languages inorder to facilitate communication by all parties involved in a conversation.
This synergy of languages is particularly important as it could be said thattalking is one of the national pastimes. As each culture has its own stereotypicalsocial meeting place, Gambians have their social gatherings on street corners
or under the shade of a mango tree. Groups of men meet to brew attaya, theA sociolinguistic profile of The Gambia

351

strong, sweet, Chinese green tea, and during the process which takes several
hours, social talking takes place. All mature men are welcome to join thediscussion which means that often several languages can be heard during
the conversation. This specific situation, along with the other areas discussed
in section three, illustrates the linguistic creativity of Gambian nationals toaccommodate multiple languages.
That said, recognition must be given to the increasingly obvious use of
Wolof in urban Kombo. The frequency with which this language is now
heard in several of the domains in which minority languages were used until
recently, appears to have increased drastically. Minority languages Serer andJola appear to have lost the most in terms of domain usage, indeed many
younger generation Serers and Jolas can no longer justifiably claim theirethnic language as their first language. The realisation that even majority
language speakers, the Mandinka, are increasingly learning Wolof to ensure
they are able to communicate effectively with all Gambians is an indicationthat Wolof is encompassing more domains.
The various influences on the languages make the linguistic situation bothdynamic and ripe for further research. Indeed, this paper suggests there areseveral linguistic phenomena and numerous sociolinguistic domains that havenot been studied thoroughly. It is clear that far more research is necessary to
begin to understand the complexity of language use in The Gambia.
Acknowledgements
We wish to thank the guest editor of this special issue for allowing us to present
a general overview of the language situation in The Gambia, which we findimportant given the scarcity of reliable and up-to-date information on thesociolinguistics of this small country. Although the theme of language shift is
not explicitly addressed throughout the paper, we do believe that this detailed
description of the dynamic sociolinguistic profile of one country contributes
to an understanding of changing ecologies of language in West Africa. With
gratitude we recognise the wealth of local information provided by our friends
and colleagues in The Gambia. In particular we acknowledge the input of
the following colleagues, without whom this paper could not have been produced: Kemo Bah, Mustapha Barry, FaMalang Bojang, Sheriff Bojang, Babucar
Cham, Essa Coker, Musa Colley, Inspector Jammeh Ceesay, Almameh Janneh,
Malanding S. Jaiteh, Sidia Jatta, Alhagie Kanyi, Mariatou Sainey Kanyi, Alieu
Sarr, Lamin Sonko, and Salieu Touray. We are also grateful to Sjaak Kroon
and two anonymous reviewers for careful readings of the text and insightful
suggestions. Caroline McGlynn would like to take this opportunity to express
her profound gratitude and respect to the late Professor Peter Martin.

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About the authors
Kasper Juffermans is an Africanist and sociolinguist at the Department of
Language and Culture Studies and a member of the Babylon Centre at Tilburg
University. Since 2004, he has conducted an aggregate twelve months offieldwork in both urban and rural Gambia, studying the linguistic landscape,language in education, the social context of (il)literacy and spelling practices
in Mandinka. Kasper is in the final stages of completing his PhD on literacy
products and practices in Gambian society.
Caroline McGlynn is a lecturer in linguistics in the Cass School of Education
at the University of East London and a member of the BAAL Language in
Africa Special Interest Group. Her particular interests include code-switching,
the projection of identity through language use and traditional talk in contemporary societies. Caroline has had an academic interest in The Gambia since
2002 and is currently writing up her Doctoral research which investigates theuse of local languages in education.

Notes
1

It is usual to write ‘The Gambia’ with the definite article and a capital ‘T’.
We have followed this convention throughout this paper. According to
Abdoulaye Saine (2006), the use of the definite article indicates that The
Gambia was a possession of Britain and distinguishes it from the southern
African state Zambia. Hassoum Ceesay (2005), writes that ‘Gambia refers
to the river; the Gambia refers to the old colony replaced since 18 February
1965 with a new independent country called The Gambia. The capital letter
T in the must be maintained because it also signifies our dignity and pride
as a sovereign nation. The official name of our country is The Gambia andlaziness, sloppiness or sheer ignorance should not make anyone write it as
Gambia or the Gambia, which is in fact, colonial and reminds us of the lame
120 years spent under colonial rule’.

2

It is not clear if the Banjul and Kanifing LGAs fall under Western Region ornot.

3

Mandinka includes Jahanka; Fula includes Tukulor and Lorobo; Jola includes
Karoninka.

4

All cited percentages on religion and ethnicity are from the 2003 Housing
and Population census and were obtained through personal communication(GBoS 2007). The figures are summarised in Table 3.

5

Dalasi bank notes contain the denomination in English (e.g., ten dalasis)
and under that, from right to left the denomination in Mandinka (‫ﺎﭡ ﮟﺴﻠﺩ‬‘dalasi taŋ’) and Wolof (‫‘ ﮟﺴﻠﺩ ﮎﻓ‬fuki dalasi’) in Arabic script.

A sociolinguistic profile of The Gambia

353

6

It was admitted at the GBoS (2007) that, in spite of principles of anonymity,
many migrants may have said to be Gambian for fear of becoming traceable
by the immigration authorities and having to pay the annual alien tax. Aliens
who can most successfully claim Gambian identities are migrants from Senegal, the two Guineas and Mali, because their ethnolinguistic identities arecompatible with Gambian ethnicities. Note that the number of ‘Anglophone’
migrants in the Census figures increased with a factor of 2.9 between 1993
and 2003 compared to a general population growth of 31%.

7

The 2003 census also identified a fourth category of ‘other religion’, whichyielded, except in the category of non-Africans, even smaller numbers thanin the column of traditional religion (GBoS 2007). Regarding labels of ethnicity, the same applies as in Table 2: Mandinka includes Jahanka; Fula includes Tukulor and Lorobo; Jola includes Karoninka. Francophone migrants
are Senegalese, Guineans, Malians and here also Mauritians; Anglophone
West Africans are from Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Ghana and Liberia.

8

The total number from which percentages are drawn excludes Gambian nationals (6%) visiting their country while residing abroad or returning homeby air after overseas travelling.

9

The Jammeh Foundation is a national charitable organisation presided overby the current president of The Gambia and the first lady. In addition to Cuban doctors the Jammeh Foundation also funds school places for girls andprovides scholarships and other training opportunities.

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