Talk:Wolof people

"related groups" info removed from infobox
For dedicated editors of this page: The "Related Groups" info was removed from all Infobox Ethnic group infoboxes. Comments may be left on the Ethnic groups talk page. Ling.Nut 23:21, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

Pronunciation of "Wolof"
Hi, I noticed the following on the Wolof disambiguation page:


 * In some English publications, predominantly those referring to Gambian Wolof, the spelling "Wollof" is used, because this spelling will induce native English speakers to pronounce the term correctly as a Wolof speaker.

As a native English speaker I found this interesting, having always pronounced the name as something like "wall-off" or "whoa-loaf" (heh) or something. It sounds to me like the description in the quote is describing something more along the lines of. Does that look about right? I'd like to add the pronunciation to the article at the beginning, because I imagine many others mispronounce the word as well. --babbage 20:27, 15 November 2007 (UTC)
 * Added the 'proper' English pronunciation from the OED; no source for an IPA on the native pronunciation, if it differs by much. — Llywelyn II   16:49, 19 April 2014 (UTC)

Picture: A "Wolof Boy"???
Well, I don't see a "French Boy" on the French page (wearing a baret and eating a baguette perhaps...). Is this supposed to teach us what they look like, like in some 18th century anthropological-colonial manuscript? Wouldn't it be better to fight that White-Middle Class-Western bias of Main English Wikipedia by showing a map of the land or something? 89.0.34.12 (talk) 15:16, 16 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Well, similar images have been inserted in some other articles on ethnic groups, see for example Mandinka people, Fula people etc. --BotevFixer (talk) 19:39, 27 April 2008 (UTC)


 * I was also a bit taken aback by the treatment, but more because I expect that it's just someone's friend or tour guide and it seems to fail . We *should* have some photos of the actual people, though, and not just the map. Yes, that means some simplification is necessary. — Llywelyn II   16:53, 19 April 2014 (UTC)
 * Well, this is, indeed, a Gambian I met in Farafenni during my visit in Gambia. If we have a better picture (a picture of someone not really posing for a photo but instead performing some every-day activity of the Wolof people) - feel free to replace this image. --Botev (talk) 16:01, 25 July 2014 (UTC)

Notable Wolofs

 * El Hadji Diouf is a Serer, Diouf or Joof cannot be a Wolof. I will help you with more notable Wolofs time permitting.
 * Also Diop or Jobe is Lebou not Wolof. Although someone may be brought up in a Wolof culture,[known as Wolofization] in Senegambia it is by the father's name that determines the tribe of a person.  There a lots of notable Wolof people and I will help you with that time permitting.  Don't be discouraged though, keep up the good job.Tamsier (talk) 07:57, 16 June 2011 (UTC)


 * Alboury Ndiaye - the surname Ndiaye or Njie is Serer.
 * Lat Dior Ngone Latyr Diop - the surname Diop or Jobe is Lebou
 * Akon - His surname Thiam or Cham is Laobe part of the Fula people|Fula]]
 * Amary Ngone Sobel - his surname Faal or Fall is originally Moor
 * Cheikh Ibrahima Fall - as above, Faal or Fall is Moor. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tamsier (talk • contribs) 20:45, 24 September 2011 (UTC)

@tamsier would you please stop the major distorsions of the wolof history YOUR MAKIN !!! to promote the sere culture who doesnt need it  since its a great culture, but there is major biais in most of your articles  because it can be seen  from 10 miles a way that your subjective im an african history graduate and i take offense that your trying to  reapropriate the glory of the wolof kingdoms its totally unscientific.< its a fact that the wolof from a tekrouri background  did mix  with serere, fulani ,mandika and moors but they are defenetly and for at least a 1000 years an homogenous group, and we would appreciate that  you respect that fact thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Thiedowolof (talk • contribs) 23:24, 26 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Hum! That's rich, considering the fact that you have deleted all the sources I've cited and changed the content of the article. Never mind I will not be editing warring over this.  Far too busy.  For an African history graduate, I would have espected you to know that the Wolof have actually never ruled themselves, but ruled by Serers (e.g. the Ndiaye paternal dynasty of Jolof and Joos maternal dynasty of Walo); Bambara (Mbooj originally Bo and Wolofized into Mbooj just as the Fula surname Ba is Wolofized into Mbacke); Black Moors e.g Fall/Faal (see Boubar Barry, Le royaume du Walo, Amadou Wade Chronique du Walo, Omar Ndiaye Leyti Les Dyolof et ses bourba).  Further, Baol was ruled by the Serers of the Joof/ Diouf paternal dynasty centuries before the Fall dynasty following the Battle of Danki  1549. After the Joof paternal dynasty and Wagadou maternal dynasty,  it was ruled by the Njie/Ndiaye (also originally Serers who were Wolofized) (see historical dictionary of Senegal, Lucie Colvin Phillips).  This article is full of Wolof boasting and reporting inaccurate information.  Several articles which have nothing to do with Wolof have been attributed to the Wolof.  A good example of this is the Mafe article (proper name: Domodah).  Eventhough this dish originated from the Mandinka people and Bambara, the Wolof editors have attributed it to the Wolof (with no sources as usual) as the founders of this dish until I changed it with sources and attributed it to the Mandinka and Bambara people (originally from Mali) who were the true founders of this dish.  This is just one of many articles I have come across where things that do not originally come from the Wolof have been attributed to Wolofs and always without sources.  But hey, if you want to believe the hype go ahead.  I'm not stopping you.  At the moment I've got bigger fish to fry.  Oh by the way, how could Ndiadiane Ndiaye be the son of Abu Bakr ibn Umar the Almoravid when Abu died in November 1087 and Ndiadiane ruled in the 14th century during the time of Maysa Wali?  Are some Wolof Muslims who claim Serer ancestry trying to claim false genealogy to Arabs for the purposes of Islamic legitimacy? (See G. Wesley Johnson, The emergence of Black politics in Senegal: the struggle for power in the four communes, 1900-1920, p10).  The original Serer performances (Serer griots of Sine) never stated Ndiadiane was son of Abu Bakr, that was a Wolof later addition after they converted to Islam in masses.  Anyway go ahead. I've got bigger fish to fry.

Tamsier (Oops not sign on. Never mind). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.160.52.221 (talk) 21:30, 16 November 2011 (UTC)

Misuse of a source
I've removed the statement "Note however that, this figure is somewhat misleading because other tribes who have been Wolofized and speak the Wolof language are added to this figure while they are not originally Wolofs". This is not what the original source says and it reflects (besides a pro-Serer and anti-Wolf editor's pov) a misunderstanding of the mutability of ethnic identification in this region. The actual source can be found at and is worth reading. Dougweller (talk) 09:41, 30 August 2012 (UTC)

Wolof people is a misnomer
Hello, I was just snooping around looking through Wikipedia pages and I realised that there was a page for the Wolof. So, I looked around and realised that the name is wrong. The Wolof were not an ethnicity, but a language. They were never an ethnicity. Wolof is a means to communicate. Please fix this, it is bad enough that their people's history has been erased, I at least want them to be named properly. Thank you! MushroomCrushDoom (talk) 19:43, 26 May 2023 (UTC)