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Jola languages

Jola
Diola
Geographic
distribution
The Gambia, Senegal (esp. Casamance) and Guinea-Bissau
Linguistic classification Niger–Congo
Subdivisions
  • Bayot
  • Jola proper
Glottolog nucl1345  (Nuclear Jola)
bayo1255  (Bayot)

Jola or Diola is a dialect continuum spoken in Senegal, the Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau. It belongs to the Bak branch of the Niger–Congo language family.

The primary branches of Jola proper and to some extent Central Jola are not mutually intelligible. The main varieties are:

Bayot, spoken around Ziguinchor, is grammatically Jola apart from a non-Jola pronominal system, but maybe half its vocabulary is non-Jola and even non-Atlantic. It may therefore be a language isolate with substantial Jola borrowing (relexification). In any case it is clearly distinct from (other) Jola languages.



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