Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Adlam script. Source: Omniglot.
Written by Rebecca Schmor
Fula, also known as Fulah, Fulani, or Peul in French, is one of the most widely dispersed languages in Africa, with over 36 million speakers across 18 countries, from the Atlantic coast to the Red Sea.
A. Alphabet
Due to its broad geographic dispersal, the Fula language has been written using different scripts, including the Ajami alphabet derived from Arabic, and an adapted version of the Latin alphabet. In the 1980s, two Guinean brothers, Ibrahima and Abdoulaye Barry, invented a new script to write the Fula language. They named this script Adlam, for the first four letters of the alphabet, A, D, L, and M. These letters stand for Alkule Dandayɗe Leñol Mulugol, meaning “the alphabet that protects the peoples from vanishing.” Adlam has been widely adopted and used on popular online interfaces.
D. Dialects
The Fula language family includes Fulfulde, Pular, and Pulaar, which are categorized by Ethnologue into Eastern, East Central, West Central, and Western African languages, as shown in the chart below. Within each of these languages, there are also multiple dialectal varieties, many of which are mutually intelligible. Across these different language varieties, the traditionally nomadic Fula people are culturally united by a code of conduct called pulaaku, which embraces courage, modesty, patience, and wisdom.
| Language Group | Language Names | Countries |
| Eastern | Fulfulde (Adamawa and Bagirmi) | Cameroon, Chad |
| East Central | Fulfulde (Central-Eastern Niger, Nigerian, and Western Niger) | Niger, Nigeria |
| West Central | Fulfulde (Borgu and Maasina), Pular | Benin, Guinea, Mali |
| Western | Pulaar | Senegal |
L. Literature
Fula literature has been documented primarily in the Adamawa, Borgu, and Maasina dialects. Fula folktales, novels, and poetry have been translated into a variety of languages, including French, English, Arabic, and Wolof. The first full-length novel in Fula, Ndikkiri joom moolo, was published by Yero Dooro Jallo in 1981, featuring a satire of a traditional Fula epic about a guitarist in the Futa region bordering Senegal and Mauritania. A notable Cameroonian storyteller, Goggo Addi (c. 1911–1999), performed traditional and original stories in the Fula language, such as “The Difficult Girl,” dealing with themes of family identity, social allegiance, and resistance to authority.
M. Music
The Fula language is also represented through a rich musical culture. Traditional Fula music includes vocals, drums, the flute, and the hoddu, nianioru, and riti, which are stringed instruments. Fula music reflects the diversity of its people, with many songs and dances capturing traditional life and seasonal occasions like herding cattle or harvesting millet grain. Songs in Pulaar have been notably popularized by the prominent Senegalese musician Baaba Maal. Other Fula music can be found on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music, including that of the renowned riti player Juldeh Camara.
Inventing an Alphabet: Collaborative Discussion Activity
Activity Description
In this activity, learners are invited to read an article with the creators of the Fula alphabet, then record and analyze a discussion about the article. This activity is designed for intermediate or advanced English language learners at the middle school level or higher, but can be adapted to other languages, levels, or learning outcomes.
Activity Steps
- Read an article about Ibrahima and Abdoulaye Barry, who invented the Adlam alphabet for the Fula language.
- Think of and write down two or three discussion (not comprehension) questions about the article.
- Discuss the questions with your partner(s), recording your natural discussion (not a presentation).
- Transcribe the first minute of your discussion, exactly as you said it, including umms and ahhs.
- Analyze your transcription for vocabulary use, grammatical accuracy, and conversational fluency, reflecting on what you did well and what you could improve next time.
- Submit your recording, transcription, and reflective analysis with your group names for teacher feedback. Try to write your names using the Adlam alphabet.
Activity Commentary
This activity exposes learners to international language contexts and accents, promoting the plurilingual principles of recognizing and embracing diversity. Having learners create their own discussion questions encourages student autonomy and deeper intellectual engagement with the topic. If students are asked to read the article in English and discuss it in another target language, this could facilitate mother tongue mediation, supporting higher order cognition. Finally, the multimodal exploration of the topic (engaging in visual, written, and spoken modes) promotes multiliteracies, embodying the theme of literacy empowerment at the heart of the article about the Barry brothers.
