Safene
Saafi-Saafi
Native toSenegal
EthnicitySaafi people
Native speakers
200,000 (2012)[1]
Latin, Arabic[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3sav
Glottologsaaf1238
PersonSaafi
PeopleSaafici
LanguageSaafi-Saafi
CountrySafene

Safene (Saafen), Safi[2] or Saafi-Saafi, is the principal Cangin language, spoken by 200,000 people in Senegal. Speakers are heavily concentrated in the area surrounding Dakar, particularly in the Thies Region.

Orthography

The Safen language is written in either the Arabic or the Latin script.[1] The official orthography uses a Latin alphabet with 23 consonants and 5 vowels.[3]

Alphabet
A B Ɓ C D Ɗ E F G H I J K L M N Ñ Ŋ O P R S T U W Y Ƴ ’
a b ɓ c d ɗ e f g h i j k l m n ñ ŋ o p r s t u w y ƴ ’

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Safene at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Wilson, William André Auquier. 2007. Guinea Languages of the Atlantic group: description and internal classification. (Schriften zur Afrikanistik, 12.) Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
  3. ^ "Décret n° 2005-989 du 21 octobre 2005" [Decree 2005-989 of 21 October 2005]. Journal officiel de la République du Sénégal (in French). Dakar. May 27, 2006.

Bibliography


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