LEXICAL VARIATION IN PULAAR: CAUSES, INTERCOMPREHENSIBILITY AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE SPECIALISED LEXICON

Abstract

Linguistic diversity is one of the main characteristics of sub-Saharan countries. Because of this diversity, many languages spoken in this part of the continent have been influenced by the languages with which they are in contact. The more languages a language is in contact with, the more fortunate it is to be dialectically fragmented. As a language present in almost every country in sub-Saharan Africa, Pulaar has been fragmented into many dialects. Its different dialects are distinguished from each other by various linguistic aspects: morphology, semantics, syntax, lexicon, etc. This paper is interested in the last aspect, i.e. lexical variation. Its aim is to provide elements of answers to a number of questions concerning the causes as well as the incidences on intercomprehension and on the specialized vocabulary of the lexical variation of Pulaar. To do so, we have relied on the work of Diallo (2020) from which we have taken the examples that we will use throughout this manuscript. To carry out this work, we have only taken into account data related to three varieties of Pulaar spoken in Senegal: the dialects of Fuuta Tooro, Fuuladu and Fuuta Jallon.