Abstract
Abstract The article discusses the rich oral and written traditions of the Mandinka communities in West Africa. Their oral traditions, which are embodied by the jali (griot) caste, have served for centuries to transmit multiple forms of knowledge between generations. Besides their oral traditions, multiple forms of literacy coexist with illiteracy in the Mandinka communities in Senegambia. The first form of literacy in Mandinka communities is ʿAjamī. Currently, ʿAjamī remains the primary means of written communication for many Mandinka speakers in Senegambia. They keep their records of various events and transmit various forms of knowledge in this medium. Using selected Mandinka ʿAjamī texts, this paper focuses on the innovations that Mandinka scholars have made to the classical Arabic script in order to develop their own ʿAjamī writing system. I discuss the people who use the system, the types of texts that are produced, and the broader social and cultural significance of ʿAjamī in Senegambian Mandinka communities.
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