FULANI LANGUAGE
Understanding The Fulani Language & Providing Professional Fulani Interpreters, Translators and Transcriptionists
American Language Services (AML-Global) understands the importance of working in the Fulani language. For over a Quarter of a Century, American Language Services has worked with the Fulani language as well as hundreds of others from around the world. We offer comprehensive language services 24 hours, 7 days a week worldwide by providing Fulani interpreting, translation and transcriptions services along with hundreds of other languages and dialects. Our linguists are native speakers and writers who are screened, credentialed, certified, field tested and experienced in a number of specific industry settings. The Fulani language is unique and has very specific origins and characteristics.
Fulani and the Countries that Speak it
The Fulani language is a language of West Africa, spoken by the Fule (Fulani or Fulani people) from Senegambia and Guinea to Cameroon and Sudan. It is also spoken as the first language by the Tukulor in the Senegal River Valley and as a second language by peoples in other areas. There are several names applied to the language, just as there are to the Fulani people. They call their language Pulaar or Pular in the western dialects and Fulfulde in the central and eastern dialects. Despite the wide variety of cultures in West Africa, from Nigeria through to Senegal, there are general similarities in dress, cuisine, music and culture that are not shared extensively with groups outside the geographic region. Islam is the predominant historical religion of the West African interior and the far west coast of the continent; Christianity is the predominant religion in coastal regions of Nigeria, Ghana, and Cote d’Ivoire; and elements of indigenous religions are practiced throughout.
Fulani and its Origins
Fulani has the reputation of being complex but very regular in the construction of verbs, with few exceptions or “irregular” forms. The plural forms of nouns, however, are highly irregular and often do not resemble their singular form. Fulani is based on verbo-nominal roots, from which verbal, noun and modifier words are derived. It also uses infixes (a syllable inserted in the “middle” of a word, actually following the root and before the ending) to modify meaning. While there are numerous dialects of Fulani, it is typically regarded as a single language. The Latin alphabet was introduced to Fulani-speaking regions of West and Central Africa by Europeans during, and in some cases immediately before, colonization.
The Development of the Fulani Language
Major influences on the current forms used for writing Fulani were decisions made by colonial administrators in Northern Nigeria and the Africa Alphabet. A major conference on African language orthographies held in Bamako in 1966 confirmed this trend. Nevertheless, orthographies for the language and its variants are determined at the country level. So while Fulani writing uses basically the same character sets and rules (such as for doubling vowels) there are some variations. The letters q, x, z are used in some cases for loan words. Fulani has also been written in the Arabic script since before colonization. This continues to a certain degree and notably in some areas like Guinea.
Who are You Going to Trust with Your Vital Fulani Language Needs?
The Fulani language is an important language worldwide. It is vital to understand the general nature and specific idiosyncrasies of Fulani. Since 1985, AML-Global has provided outstanding Fulani interpreters, translators and transcriptionsts worldwide.
