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37-595: The Wodaabe ( Fula : Woɗaaɓe , وٛطَاٻ‎ٜ , 𞤏𞤮𞤯𞤢𞥄𞤩𞤫 ) is a name that is used to designate a subgroup of the Fula ethnic group who are traditionally nomadic found primarily in Niger and Chad . All Wodaabe people should not be mistaken as Mbororo as these are two separate subgroups of the Fulani people. It is translated into English as "Cattle Fulani", and meaning "those who dwell in cattle camps". The Wodaabe culture

74-413: A couple of days. A large wooden bed is the most important possession of each family; when camping it is surrounded by some screens. The women also carry calabashes as a status symbol. These calabashes are passed down through the generations, and often provoke rivalry between women. The Wodaabe diet consists of milk and ground millet , yogurt , sweet tea and sometimes goat or sheep meat. Wodaabe religion

111-465: A greater emphasis on culture common to the rest of Niger: electric pop bands, beauty contests, and the sometimes forced ending of other rituals. In 2005, armed Niger Army troops enforced a ban on a traditional dance that emulates self-mutilation. One Wodaabe man was quoted by the AFP: It is more and more of a circus. The government sets the date artificially, decides who gets to perform, and creates

148-427: A local language in many African countries, such as Mauritania , Guinea-Bissau , Sierra Leone , Togo , CAR , Chad , Sudan , Ethiopia and Somalia , numbering more than 95 million speakers in total. The two sounds / c / and / ɟ / , may be realized as affricate sounds [ tʃ ] and [ dʒ ] . Short / i e o u / vowel sounds can also be realized as [ ɪ ɛ ɔ ʊ ]. There were unsuccessful efforts in

185-484: A nominative case (i.e., used as verb subject) and an accusative or dative case (i.e., used as a verb object) as well as a possessive form. Relative pronouns generally take the same form as the nominative. While there are numerous varieties of Fula, it is typically regarded as a single language. Wilson (1989) states that "travelers over wide distances never find communication impossible," and Ka (1991) concludes that despite its geographic span and dialect variation, Fulfulde

222-681: A noun with its class marker. Classes 1 and 2 can be described as personal classes, classes 3-6 as diminutive classes, classes 7-8 as augmentative classes, and classes 9-25 as neutral classes. It is formed on the basis of McIntosh's 1984 description of Kaceccereere Fulfulde, which the author describes as "essentially the same" as David Arnott 's 1970 description of the noun classes of the Gombe dialect of Fula. Thus, certain examples from Arnott also informed this table. Verbs in Fula are usually classed in three voices : active, middle, and passive. Not every root

259-583: A personal manner with each other. At the end of the rainy season in September, Wodaabe clans gather in several traditional locations before the beginning of their dry season transhumance migration. The best known of these is In-Gall 's Cure Salée salt market and Tuareg seasonal festival. Here the young Wodaabe men, with elaborate make-up, feathers and other adornments, perform the Yaake : dances and songs to impress marriageable women. The male beauty ideal of

296-505: A prime fortification of the Niger armed forces, and no official Cure Salee was held. In September 2000, a "Flamme du Paix" ceremonial 'Burning of Weapons' by the rebel and government forces in Agadez forced the first Cure Salée following the final peace deals to be hastily rescheduled. On September 17, 2001, a much publicized Tuareg memorial was held for the victims of the 9/11 attacks in

333-519: A reference to the Wodaabe isolation from broader Fula/Fulani culture, and their contention that they retain "older" traditions than their Fula neighbors. By the 17th century, the Fula people across West Africa were among the first ethnic groups to embrace Islam, were often leaders of those forces which spread Islam, and have been traditionally proud of the urban, literate, and pious life with which this has been related. Both Wodaabe and other Fula see in

370-415: A structure none of us understand. The [UN Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS], UNICEF , and the Niger government have begun using Cure Salée to provide aid in stemming HIV infection, and as well as malaria, guinea worm, malnutrition and encourage the use of vaccines to control preventable diseases. Vaccines and treatment of livestock, many bound for more heavily populated southern Niger, have also been mandated by

407-737: Is also spoken as a second language by various peoples in the region, such as the Kirdi of northern Cameroon and northeastern Nigeria . Several names are applied to the language, just as to the Fula people . They call their language Pulaar or Pular in the western dialects and Fulfulde in the central and eastern dialects. Fula , Fulah and Fulani in English come originally from Manding (esp. Mandinka, but also Malinke and Bamana) and Hausa , respectively; Peul in French, also occasionally found in literature in English, comes from Wolof . Fula

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444-556: Is as just as important as a social gathering. After a season in dispersed clan groups, there's the chance to share news, trade, and renew friendships both within and across ethnic lines. For Tuareg and Wodaabe peoples, Cure Salée marks the time of traditional courtship and marriage. The most famous images of the festival are Wodaabe tradition of Gerewol , in which young men vie for the attention of women seeking husbands. Organized dances and tests of skill culminate in men donning traditional costume, headdress, and elaborate makeup. Amongst

481-443: Is based on verbonominal roots, from which verbal, noun, and modifier words are derived. It uses suffixes (sometimes inaccurately called infixes , as they come between the root and the inflectional ending) to modify meaning. These suffixes often serve the same purposes in Fula that prepositions do in English. The Fula or Fulfulde language is characterized by a robust noun class system, with 24 to 26 noun classes being common across

518-412: Is largely Islamic (mixed with pre-Islamic beliefs). Although there are varying degrees of orthodoxy exhibited, most adhere to at least some of the basic requirements of the religion. Islam became a religion of importance among Wodaabe peoples during the 16th century when the scholar al-Maghili preached the teachings of Muhammad to the elite of northern Nigeria. Al-Maghili was responsible for converting

555-524: Is one of the 186 cultures of the standard cross-cultural sample used by anthropologists to compare cultural traits. A Wodaabe woman, Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim , was also chosen to represent civil society of the world on the signing of Paris Protocol on 22 April 2016. The Wodaabe are cattle-herders and traders in the Sahel , with migrations stretching from southern Niger , through northern Nigeria , northeastern Cameroon , southwestern Chad , western region of

592-708: Is still fundamentally one language. However, Ethnologue has found that nine different translations are needed to make the Bible comprehensible for most Fula speakers , and it treats these varieties as separate languages. They are listed in the box at the beginning of this article. Fulfulde is an official lingua franca in Guinea , Senegal , Gambia , northeastern Nigeria , Cameroon , Mali , Burkina Faso , Northern Ghana , Southern Niger and Northern Benin (in Borgou Region, where many speakers are bilingual), and

629-593: Is the name of an instrumental track on guitarist Jennifer Batten 's 1997 album, Jennifer Batten's Tribal Rage: Momentum . Fula language It is spoken as a first language by the Fula people ("Fulani", Fula: Fulɓe ) from the Senegambia region and Guinea to Cameroon , Nigeria , and Sudan and by related groups such as the Toucouleur people in the Senegal River Valley. It

666-509: Is used in all voices. Some middle-voice verbs are reflexive . A common example are verbs from the root - 𞤤𞤮𞥅𞤼 loot- : Another feature of the language is initial consonant mutation between singular and plural forms of nouns and of verbs (except in Pular, no consonant mutation exists in verbs, only in nouns) . A simplified schema is: Fula has inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns. The inclusive pronouns include both

703-448: Is used instead of ɲ. a , aa , b , mb (or nb ), ɓ , c , d , nd , ɗ , e , ee , f , g , ng , h , i , ii , j , nj , k , l , m , n , ŋ , ɲ (ny or ñ ) , o , oo , p , r , s , t , u , uu , w , y , ƴ or ʼy, ʼ The letters q , v , x , z are used in some cases for loan words. Long vowels are written doubled: <aa, ee, ii, oo, uu> The standard Fulfulde alphabet adopted during

740-572: The Arabic script or Ajami since before European colonization by many scholars and learned people including Usman dan Fodio and the early emirs of the northern Nigeria emirates. This continues to a certain degree and notably in some areas like Guinea and Cameroon . Fula also has Arabic loanwords . When written using the Latin script , Fula uses the following additional special "hooked" characters to distinguish meaningfully different sounds in

777-590: The Central African Republic and the northeastern of the Democratic Republic of Congo . The number of Wodaabe was estimated in 2001 to be 100,000. They are known for their elaborate attire and rich cultural ceremonies. The Wodaabe speak the Fula language and don't use a written language. In the Fula language, woɗa means " taboo ", and Woɗaaɓe means "people of the taboo." This is sometimes translated as "those who respect taboos",

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814-528: The 1950s and 1960s to create a unique script to write Fulfulde. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, two teenage brothers, Ibrahima and Abdoulaye Barry from the Nzérékoré Region of Guinea, created the Adlam script , which accurately represents all the sounds of Fulani. The script is written from right to left and includes 28 letters with 5 vowels and 23 consonants. Fula has also been written in

851-447: The Fula noun class system and the marking of gender is done with adjectives rather than class markers . Noun classes are marked by suffixes on nouns. These suffixes are the same as the class name, though they are frequently subject to phonological processes, most frequently the dropping of the suffix's initial consonant. The table below illustrates the class name, the semantic property associated with class membership, and an example of

888-550: The Fulfulde dialects. Noun classes in Fula are abstract categories with some classes having semantic attributes that characterize a subset of that class' members, and others being marked by a membership too diverse to warrant any semantic categorization of the class' members. For example, classes are for stringy, long things, and another for big things, another for liquids, a noun class for strong, rigid objects, another for human or humanoid traits etc. Gender does not have any role in

925-541: The Nomads", is a yearly gathering of the Tuareg and Wodaabe peoples in the northern Niger town of In-Gall . The ceremony marks the end of the rainy season, and usually occurs in the last two weeks of September. The government of Niger began sponsoring the festival in the 1990s, fixing its date for each year (in 2006: September 11), its duration (three days), and bringing in dignitaries, performers, and tourists. The end of

962-459: The Tuareg peoples, women seek for the attention of marriageable men, while men of all ages show off their skills as riders, artists, dancers, musicians and craftsmen. A great parade of Tuareg camel riders opens the festival, which continues with races, songs, dances, and storytelling. While the official festival is limited to three days, the festivities can last for weeks while nomadic groups remain in

999-1135: The UNESCO-sponsored expert meeting in Bamako in March 1966 is as follows: a, b, mb, ɓ, c, d, nd, ɗ, e, f, g, ng, h, i, j, nj, k, l, m, n, ŋ, ny ( later ɲ or ñ), o, p, r, s, t, u, w, y, ƴ, ʼ. The following is a sample text in Fula of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights . The first line is in Adlam, the second in Latin script, the third in IPA. 𞤋𞤲𞥆𞤢𞤥𞤢 Innama /inːama 𞤢𞥄𞤣𞤫𞥅𞤶𞤭 aadeeji aːdeːɟi 𞤬𞤮𞤬 fof fof 𞤨𞤮𞤼𞤭, poti, poti, 𞤲𞤣𞤭𞤥𞤯𞤭𞤣𞤭 ndimɗidi ⁿdimɗidi 𞤫 e e 𞤶𞤭𞤦𞤭𞤲𞤢𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤫 jibinannde ɟibinanⁿde 𞤼𞤮 to to 𞤦𞤢𞤲𞥆𞤺𞤫 Cure Salee The Cure Salée ( French : "Salt Cure"), or "Festival of

1036-533: The United States. In recent years, the Niger government has tried to promote the Cure Salée, creating a tourist festival (sponsored by large international corporations like Coca-Cola ) for western visitors, and using the cross-ethnic traditions of the Cure Salée to foster "a celebration of social cohesion in Niger". This aspect has come to the fore following 2000. Official involvement also has brought

1073-459: The Wodaabe stresses tallness, white eyes and teeth; the men will often roll their eyes and show their teeth to emphasize these characteristics. Wodaabe clans then join for the remainder of the week-long Gerewol : a series of barters over marriage and contests where the young men's beauty and skills are judged by young women. The documentary Wodaabe - Herdsmen of the Sun by Werner Herzog describes

1110-502: The Wodaabe the echoes of an earlier pastoralist way of life, of which the Wodaabe are proud and of which urban Fula people are sometimes critical. The Wodaabe keep herds of long-horned Zebu cattle. The dry season extends from October to May. Their annual travel during the wet season follows the rain from the south to the north. Groups of several dozen relatives, typically several brothers with their wives, children and elders, travel on foot, donkey or camel, and stay at each grazing spot for

1147-522: The Wodaabe. In the 1999 documentary Zwischen 2 Welten (between two worlds) director Bettina Haasen films her personal conversations with Wodaabe members. Sahara - Absolute Desert (2002) - a documentary with Michael Palin who follows a camel caravan of Wodaabe to Ingal in Niger for the annual Sahara Cure Salée festival, to an oasis at Tabelot, then across the Tenere Desert to the border of Algeria. The 2010 ethnographic documentary Dance with

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1184-616: The Wodaabes by Sandrine Loncke explores, from the point of view of its participants, the complex cultural significance of the spectacular but frequently misunderstood and sensationalized Wodaabe ritual celebrations known as "Geerewol". The Niger-based band Etran Finatawa is composed of Wodaabe and Tuareg members and creates their unique style of "Nomad Blues" by combining modern arrangements and electric guitars with more traditional instruments and polyphonic Wodaabe singing. In 2005 they recorded an album and toured Europe. "Wodaabe Dancer"

1221-399: The area. While the Cure Salée has been taking place for several hundred years, independence from France in 1960 brought the involvement of the central government from Niamey, and the attempt to formalise it as a national festival and tourist attraction. During the last in a long line of Tuareg insurgencies (See: Tuareg Rebellion ) against the central government, from 1990-1995, InGall was

1258-516: The language: Ɓ/ɓ [ ɓ ] , Ɗ/ɗ [ ɗ  ] , Ŋ/ŋ [ ŋ ] , Ɲ/ɲ [  ɲ ] , Ƴ/ƴ [ ʔʲ ] . The letters c , j , and r , respectively represent the sounds [ c ~ tʃ ], [ ɟ ~ dʒ ], and [ r ]. Double vowel characters indicate that the vowels are elongated. An apostrophe (ʼ) is used as a glottal stop. It uses the five vowel system denoting vowel sounds and their lengths. In Nigeria ʼy substitutes ƴ, and in Senegal Ñ/ñ

1295-411: The rainy season is an especially important event in the lives of Saharan pastoralists. Tuareg clans gather at the salt flats and pools near Ingall to refresh their cattle and goat herds, and to prepare for the trip further south so they can survive the dry season. The Cure Salée is also believed to benefit the local people, and medicinal cures are a major part of the festival. However, the Cure Salée

1332-497: The ruling classes among Hausa , Fula , and Tuareg peoples in the region. The code of behavior of the Wodaabe emphasizes reserve and modesty ( semteende ), patience and fortitude ( munyal ), care and forethought ( hakkilo ), and loyalty ( amana ). They also place great emphasis on beauty and charm. Parents are not allowed to talk directly to their two first born children, who will often be cared for by their grandparents. During daylight, husband and wife cannot hold hands or speak in

1369-447: The speaker and those being spoken to, while the exclusive pronouns exclude the listeners. The pronoun that corresponds to a given noun is determined by the noun class. Because men and women belong to the same noun class, the English pronouns "he" and "she" are translated into Fula by the same pronoun. However, depending on the dialect, there are some 25 different noun classes, each with its own pronoun. Sometimes those pronouns have both

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