French (Senegalese)

Senegalese French (français du Sénégal; language tag fr-SN) comprises localized French usages rather than a single uniform accent. Senegal’s Constitution makes French the official language and recognizes Wolof, Pulaar, Serer, Jola, Mandinka, Soninke, and other codified languages as national languages; Wolof is the country’s most widespread lingua franca. French remains central to administration, law, much formal education, and publishing, and most speakers learn it as an additional language, although some urban families use it at home. Pronunciation varies with first language, education, region, and register, so an alveolar trill or any other feature cannot characterize every speaker. Formal writing follows international Standard French, while Senegalese vocabulary, semantic extensions, discourse patterns, borrowing, and code-switching with Wolof and other national languages occur in less formal usage.