Back with the Bedik in Bandafassi, in eastern Senegal, where one of our teams was filming in March 2010 during a big celebration gathering the entire community.

Muriel, on cam, took a minute to ask about little daily expressions in the Bedik language… known as Menik. So following colors, brought to us by Marie, here are the days of the week.

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Linguist: Adjaratou Oumar Sall
Image & sound: Muriel Lutz assisted by Cheikh Tidiane Sall
Translation: Marcel Camara
Editing: Caroline Laurent
Video created within the ANR Sénélangues project

Reminder: Menik is a Niger-Congo language (North Atlantic branch, West Atlantic group, Tenda subgroup). It separates into three dialects: Banapas, Biwol and Bëñolo. The filming took place in Bandafassi, area of Kedougou, in Banapas dialect.

The number of people who speak Menik is difficult to assess, and we have been provided with two different estimations: in 2002, the Christian NTM (New Tribes Mission) missionaries, who were the first to work on the language, estimated there were 3380 Bedik living in Senegal. In 2009, the subprefecture of Bandafassi estimated under 1000 the number of Menik speakers in the area of Kedougou.

With a few thousand speakers at the most, Menik can clearly be considered as endangered on a relatively short term. However, it is observed that the language is still being handed down to the young generations despite the fact that a majority of people in these villages speaks fluent Fula and French, used daily. Speakers of Menik, although perfectly accustomed to the environing culture and having a great sense of adaptability to the languages they’re in contact with, are linked with a strong feeling of identity thus protecting their language to a certain extent.

Access description sheet on Menik