Waxtaan: Mataar Jóób ag Faatu Njaay

Faatu Njaay is a Senegalese housewife; she is receiving a visit from Mataar Jóób one of her husband's friends, whom she is meeting for the first time.

	Mataar:	salaam maalekum!
	Faatu:	maalekum salaam!
	Mataar:	soxna si, jamm nga am?
	Faatu:	jamm rekk! Agsil!

After having seated him Faatu asks Mataar his name.

	Faatu:	góór gi, sant wa?
	Mataar:	Jóób.
	Faatu:	Jóób! naka waa kër ga?
	Mataar:	ñu nga fa rekk, alxamdulilla! sant wa?
	Faatu:	Njaay.
	Mataar:	jamm rekk, Njaay!

Mataar asks about Faatu's husband and she tells him that he is out. After having a drink Mataar prepares to leave.

	Mataar:	jërëjëf Njaay. maa ngiy dem liggey.
	Faatu:	baax na, Jóób. nuyul ma waa kër ga!
	Mataar:	dinañu ko degg, bu soobee yalla. ba beneen yoon Njaay.
	Faatu:	ba beneen yoon, Jóób.

Tekki: Glossary

Wolof			Translation
	ag (or ak)		and
	salaam maalekum!		peace be with you!
	maalekum salaam!		peace be with you too!
	soxna si		madam/ Mrs
	jamm nga am?		are you at peace?
	jamm rekk!		at peace only!
	sa yaram jamm?		are you in good health?
	agsil!		come in!
	góór gi		mister
	sant wa?		what is (your) last name?
	naka waa kër ga?		how is the family?
	ñu nga fa rekk		they are fine
	alxamdulilla		thank God!
	jërëjëf		thank you!
	liggey		to work
	dinañu ko degg		I will tell them ( lit. they will hear it)
	bu soobee yalla		God willing (lit. if God please)
	bu neexee yalla		God willing
	incha allah		God willing
	maa ngiy dem		I am leaving
	baax na		all right (it is good)
	waa kër ga		the family
	nuyul ma X		greet X for me
	ba beneen		(see you) next time

Cultural Notes:

This unit is concerned with deferential greetings, that is greetings used with strangers or with people you wish to respect. Casual greetings, used with people that you are familiar with, will be presented in Unit 3.

Greetings are very important in Senegambian life: they serve to establish, define, and maintain social relationships. People cannot meet or initiate a conversation without first exchanging greetings. When you are in Senegal or The Gambia you are expected to greet:

1. any stranger that you recognize as belonging to your neighborhood;
2. the older people of the community, even if they do not know you;
3. every individual or group of people you meet in a house;
4. your addressee when you ask for information on the street or in an office.

Doing so is considered to be a sign of politeness and social integration; gestures and eye contact are necessary to the greeting, but are never sufficient. For the greeting to be completed, people must shake hands while exchanging greetings. This is a very important aspect of greetings in the Senegambian society.

To greet people correctly in Wolof, one must bear in mind not only the time of the day, but also the social status of the person being greeted. For instance, it is customary for a younger person or a woman to initiate the greeting when she or he meets an older person or a man; also one greets adults before greeting children.

We sketch below some of the formal characteristics of greetings in Wolof:

1. salaam maalekum may be used to one person or to several people; he/she/ they should respond with maalekum salaam. Both expressions have been borrowed from Arabic, as well as alxamdulilla "thanks to God".
2. Other expressions may be used in place of sant wa:
   naka sant wa? What is your last name?
   naka nga sant? What is your last name?
3. The family name (Jóób, Njaay etc.) are used here as a form of salutation to the family, rather than as terms of address (when you address somebody, you use either the first name such as Abdu, Bintu etc. or the full name such as Faatu Njaay, Mataar Jóób etc. The family name as a salutation may occur in the body of a conversation, as well as in the greetings and leave-taking. It is often repeated several times in the exchange of greetings, for instance, when two people have not seen each other for a while.
4. In Wolof, it is common to accompany references to events in the future with the formula bu soobee yalla, or bu neexee yalla (God willing). This expression corresponds to the Arabic 'incha allah' and is especially frequent in adult speech.

EXERCISES

• Exercise 1: Matching Questions and Answers
• Exercise 2: Matching Questions and Answers
• Exercise 3: Sentence Completion
• Exercise 4: Comprehension
• Exercise 5: Translation