Wolof has continued to spread consistently as a spoken language in Senegal since the French conquest in the late 19th century. While membership of the Wolof ‘ethnie’ has indeed expanded over this period (from 30 percent of the population in 1900 to 44 percent in 1988), use of the Wolof language has expanded much further. The first remotely reliable statistics on language use in Senegal (1963-1964) suggested that as many as four-fifths of the national population spoke Wolof in the home either as first or second language. Those who speak no Wolof are in a culturally marginal position in Senegal today, and the process of linguistic Wolofization could provide a cultural basis for a Senegalese national community, although future political problems are lurking in the shadows. Reviewing the language situation of independent Senegal down to the present time, this article focuses on Wolof in terms of different language situations, with distinguishable political implications: the language of the home (first language); the language of commerce (lingua franca); the (parallel) language of State; and the language of civilization. It concludes that, for the moment, Wolofization in Senegal remains in the zone of shadow politics, an undirected social movement indicating a possible language future for the State. Notes, ref.
