| Chapter 2: | Linguistic and Demographic Profile of Senegal |
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Pulaar, the second most widespread language, is spoken at the national level by 13.8% of the Senegalese population as a first language and by 2.1% as a second language (table 2). It is the dominant first language spoken in the regions of Saint Louis (60.8 %), Kolda (49.4 %), and Tambacounda (46.6%), and it is a second language in the regions of Tambacounda (9.4%), Kolda (5.7%), and Saint Louis (4.1%) (Direction de la Prévision et des Statistiques, 1993, pp. 25–26).
Serrere, the third most important language in Senegal, is spoken as a first language by 7.9% of the people (table 2). It dominates the language usage in Fatick (53%), Thiès (26%), and Diourbel (21.5%).
The other dominant first languages in Senegal are Jola (spoken by 4.1% of the population, especially in Ziguinchor), Mandinka (spoken by 2% of the population, mainly in Kolda and Tambacounda), and Soninké (spoken by 1% of the population, mainly in Tambacounda) (table 2).
French, the only official language, is spoken as a second language by 15% to 20% of the total population (Direction de la Prévision et des Statistiques, 1993) and as a first language by only 1% of the population (Ndoye, 1996). Table 2 summarises the six languages spoken as first and second languages in Senegal.
According to linguistic genetic classification, all Senegalese languages belong to the Niger-Congo family, which is, according to Ethnologue (2010), the world's largest language family. Senegalese languages can be subdivided into two groups, the West-Atlantic group and the Mande group. According to Diouf (1994), 92% of the Senegalese people speak the West-Atlantic languages, which share some important linguistic features (p. 57). Sarry (2002) contended that this group can be further divided into six language subgroups: