Language/Wolof/Vocabulary/How-to-Say-Hello-and-Greetings

🤗 Wolof Greetings for Everyday Life

Hi Wolof learners! 😃

Do you want to learn how to say “Hello” in Wolof?

Greetings are an important part of any language because they allow you to connect and communicate with others.

If you’re planning a trip to the country or are trying to learn Wolof, keep reading to discover some of the most important greetings.

Let’s get started! 🤗

Greetings

English	Wolof
general greeting	Jama ngaam
general greeting spoken by Muslims	Salamalekum
reply to Salamalekum	Malakeumsalam
general greeting	Nanga def
reply to Nanga def	Mangi fii rek
reply to Mangi fii rek	Nunga fe
reply to Nunga fe	Mbaa sa yaram jaam
reply to Mbaa sa yaram jaam	Jamm rekk
reply to Jamm rekk	Alhumdullilah
morning greeting spoken to one person	Jama nga fanaan
morning greeting spoken to a group of people	Jama ngeen fanaan
late morning greeting spoken to one person	Naka suba si
late morning greeting spoken to a group of people	Nan ngeen suba si
afternoon greeting	Naka bekit bi
afternoon and evening greeting spoken to one person	Jama nga yendoo
afternoon and evening greeting spoken to a group of people	Jama ngeen yendoo
welcome greeting	Merhbe

Formal Greetings

Informal Greetings

Seasonal Greetings

Other Greetings

Taking Leave

CULTURAL NOTES

Importance and length of greetings

Greetings are highly important in this community; they are said to the “key” of the relationships. They will seem long and repetitive but take the necessary time to perform them. Short greetings could be interpreted as anti-social.

Respect

Contrarily to the French or other local language, older people, authority or strangers are not referred to in the plural. Meanwhile, the type of greetings that need to be used is really important, you will mainly use the formal greetings and body languages are essential.

Body language

When men are greeting older people, shaking hands with both hands is a true sign of respect, for women, it’s rather curtseying. You should avoid being the first, giving your hand when it comes to the opposite sex, for religious reasons some people would prefer not to. Looking someone straight in the eye, like older people might be interpreted as rude. You’ll see some men greeting each other by putting their hand to their forehead, which is a sign of deference for the Mourids, an Islamic brotherhood.

Greeting during prayer times

Do not either greet someone who is praying or pass in front of him/her. Often, after praying, older people walk around or sit holding prayer beads and saying some prayers, they can’t interrupt their prayer; you may greet them by smiling, nodding or clasping your hands together in front of your chest.

Greetings as security items

When people notice you through adapted ways of greeting in the neighborhood, it is a good thing for integration and security reasons.

Passivity in the introduction

Most of the time, people don’t introduce themselves the way you are used to do it (hi, I’m Paul for example), they might wait for you to ask their name.

Last names

It is really important to know people’s last names for some reasons. They are part of the greetings, at a certain point of the greetings; people keep on saying each other’s last names. The other reason is that there is an interesting custom in the Senegalese culture called “kal” or joking kinships. It exists between some ethnic groups or family names. The following group of last names are considered as “kal” or “Gammu” and they can tease each other without being considered as impolite or insulting: Jòob and Njaay; Jòob and Si; Géy, Jaw and Sekk; Siise, Ture, Kamara, Mbay, Samb, Mbuub, Yadd, Wadd, Jaxate and Samb; Faal, Je., Ña., Mbe. and Jaañ; Béey, Mbòoj and Jéey.

Dakkantal or family names “tag words”

When people are greeting each other, you may notice that they often add a word or phrase after the family name. These “tag words” or “praise forms” are called in Wolof “dakkantal” or the thing it refers to. It may refer to many things: the family totem, the origin of the clan, the traditional work of the family or a hero of the clan. To find your Dakkantal, ask your family “lan mooy sama dakantal?”. For example: “Jòoba Juuba” for the Jòob; “Njaay Jaata” for the Njaay.

The concept of Tubaab

The term Tubaab is used quite often in Senegalese society. It refers to westerners in general and to any person who has westerners’ habits or behavior that differs to the Senegalese cultural context. Senegalese nationals with these aforementioned traits have a tendency to be labeled Tubaab by their compatriots as well. In general, Senegalese people like to point out differences in each other; through ethnicity, origin, race or physical appearance. They even use these differences when referring to each other. However, it is usually done in an amicable way and not to degrade, humiliate or minimize an individual’s race or ethnic origin.

Will you marry me?

Volunteers (not only female) will likely deal with marriage proposals on a nearly basis. This is always done in a joking manner, and the best response is to not take things seriously; play along with the joke. If someone really wants to propose, they do it privately or through someone else.

Obvious responses

You will be asked questions that, the responses are so obvious, you will wonder « why did they asked me this, it is obvious that I’m sitting ». But, they are full of cultural meaning. Either, people don’t want to ignore the person they are passing by (in the culture, if you pass by someone, a number of times without throwing some words, it may seem « ñak yitte », it means anti-social); or, people feel that it’s not going well for you and they would like to bring their compassion.

Sources

• http://users.elite.net/runner/jennifers/

• http://publish.illinois.edu/wolof201fall14/files/2014/08/NEW_WOLOF_BOOK.pdf

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