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Wolof

West Africa

The Wolof make up around 40% of Senegal’s population, though their language is spoken far more widely, serving as the country’s common tongue across ethnic lines. From the mid-14th to the mid-16th century, the Wolof (Jolof) Empire controlled the trade routes of the Senegal and Gambia river region before fragmenting into smaller successor kingdoms.

Textile & art tradition

Under the Baobab doesn't yet have verified structural research into a Wolof textile or art tradition. This section uses shared app styling for now, rather than guessing.

Did you know?

Wolof is Senegal’s most widely spoken language and serves as a common second language across groups whose first languages differ, even though French remains the official language.

Proverbs (6)

A man is measured by what he does, not what he says.
Words are cheap and endlessly revisable; actions are the record that actually stays. This proverb sets action, not speech, as the real unit truth gets measured in.
He who knows swimming, dies not in the water.
The water itself isn't what's dangerous: not knowing what to do in it is. This proverb credits preparation and skill, developed ahead of time, with turning a real danger into a manageable one.
If he who buys milk is proud, he who sells it should be prouder.
The buyer of milk only has to hand over money; the seller had to actually produce it. This proverb corrects a common mix-up in whose position deserves more pride, the person who made something, not the person who merely acquired it.
Don't try to make someone hate the person he loves, for he will go on loving but he will hate you.
Trying to turn someone against a person they love almost never works on the love itself: it just redirects the resentment onto whoever tried it. This proverb is a warning wrapped in an observation about how loyalty actually behaves under pressure.
Worms that live on mahogany do not know that dates are sweet.
A worm that has only ever known one kind of wood has no basis for comparison, and no way to imagine what it's missing. This proverb applies that same limit to people: a narrow experience of the world can't tell you what a wider one is like.
A beautiful heart is better than a beautiful face.
A face is the first thing anyone sees, but this proverb insists it's the least reliable measure of a person. Character is slower to reveal itself and worth waiting for.

Names (3)

First names
Aminata
Wolof for "trustworthy" or "faithful", one of the most common women's given names across Senegal and the wider Wolof-speaking region.
Awa
The Wolof form of "Eve"/"Hawa", which symbolizes life, femininity, and motherhood, as it does across several West African cultures that share this Abrahamic-tradition name.
Gor
Wolof for "man".
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