Note on Transliteration and Transcription

THIS BOOK EMPLOYS SOME SPECIAL LETTERS USED IN the writing of West African languages, primarily Pular.

Ŋŋ voiced velar nasal

Ɓɓ voiced bilabial implosive

Ɗɗ voiced alveolar implosive

Ƴƴ liquid velar implosive

Ññ palatal nasal

Xx voiceless velar fricative (most often in loanwords from Wolof and occasionally written as a kh).

A minimum of transcription conventions have been included for sake of readability.

(( )) double parentheses indicate transcriber notes

( ) empty parentheses indicate that something is said, but it cannot be discerned

(this) speech in parentheses indicates uncertainty on the transcriber’s part, due to interference or unintelligibility

—dashes, as in “ma—,” indicates speech that is broken off

: colons indicate lengthening

. . . indicates some text is missing

key underlining for emphasis through pitch and volume