On my first trip to Senegal back in 2011, I remember hopping in a taxi from the airport and hearing mbalax on the radio. It is a frenetic musical genre, vocals soaring over manic sabar drumming. A dj would interrupt the song every five seconds or so, playing the role of griot-hype-man — a practice I really do not enjoy. He was of course speaking in Wolof, the most widely spoken language in Senegal. And somehow his words were outpacing the drums.

It sounded, to me, like an absolute trainwreck of a language. Disparate, jarring sounds slamming into each other. Sizing up the aural aesthetics of a language is a superficial exercise, but I was used to the silky sounds of Bamanankan in Mali. My ears were too delicate for this.

Over a decade later, after spending more than a month living in Senegal, I am now Team Wolof. Sometimes you just need time, a reality that people breezing through countries sadly overlook.

And while I’m coming around to the “sound” of Wolof, it’s the daily discoveries in sense and meaning that are driving my fondness for this language.

Here’s one of them.

How are you = Where are you

“Nanga def” is the Wolof ca va? But it does not literally translate to how are you/how is it going? It translates to “Where are you?” The response, “Mangi fi,” literally means I am here. What is the point of this, you ask.

The fact that I am here implies that everything is ok. If I had an emergency or a health problem or some other hardship, I would not be standing before you.

Many West African languages have a beautiful way of conveying meaning indirectly. One of my all time favorite Bamanankan phrases is k’an kelen kelen wuli. It is a nighttime benediction. But it is more complex than a simple “have a good night” or other benedictions like “Allah ka su hεrε caya” (may God increase the peace of your night).

K’an kelen kelen wuli means “may we wake up one by one.” If everyone wakes up at once, it could be because of an emergency. A thief. A fire. A sickness. If you wake up one by one it implies the night was passed in peace. Beautiful.

I hope this information added something to your day.

*UPDATE* Nick Roll just sent me the Wolof version of K’an kelen kelen wuli: Nu yewo ben a ben. So now you can say may we wake up one by one in both Bambara and Wolof!

Here is some mbalax music so that first paragraph can make some more sense:

And as I mentioned K’an kelen kelen wuli, here is a great video featuring benedictions in Bamanankan.

Coleman’s youtube channel and his An Ka Taa project are some of my most favorite things on the internet.