Pular language

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Pular is a Fula language spoken primarily by Fula people in the Fouta Jalon, in the West African state of Guinea and also into Guinea Bissau and Sierra Leone. It is spoken by 3 million Guineans and is the most widely spoken indigenous language in the country. It can be written in Roman and Arabic script.

[edit] Linguistic features

Main article: Fula language

There are some particularities to this version of Fula, including:

Use of plural form for politeness (such as in German or French, unlike other varieties of Fula)
A number of a number of separate verbal roots for politeness (these may exist only in Pular)
There is no initial consonant mutation from singular to plural verb forms as is the case in other varieties of Fula (there is in nominal forms, however)
In addition to the more standard long-form pronouns of Fula there are alternate forms in Pular (= hi(l) + pronoun). The table below summarizes these (question marks where the info is not complete):

Person / number	Standard long-form pronoun	Alternate form in Pular
1st / sing	miɗo	hilan
2nd / sing	aɗa	hiɗa
3rd / sing	omo	himo
1st /pl (excl)	miɗen	(?) hiɗen
1st / pl (incl)	enen	(?)
2nd / pl	oɗon	(?)
3rd / pl	eɓe	hiɓe

Up until the mid-1980s, Pular in Guinea was written with an orthography set by the Guinean government that differed from that used in other countries.