We are on Baynunk territory, in Niamone, close to Ziguinchor, Casamance ; and with everyone around a bonfire Issouf Coly begins tales that may remind of some of the La Fontaine Fables. Though here, not a single reference to foxes or frogs: these are the forests of Africa, and the characters brought into the stories are the hyena, hare, monitor lizard, Billy goat and lion…

Those who are familiar to the fables La Fontaine or Aesop once told will have no trouble grasping the deeper sense of these stories, which undoubtedly reach beyond mere animal stories. We’d be happy to receive your comments should any of you have the keys to decipher the four tales we’ll be introducing along these next few weeks. So far, we know that the hyena is invariably present, that the hare is smart, even clever (as is the fox character in Western tales) — and that all the stories end in the same way… with a general escape!

Now… Taalintaal! May the story begin! Let’s see how the hyena escaped the monitor lizard…

Reminder: Baynunk is a language spoken in southern Senegal, as well as in neighbouring Gambia and Guinea-Bissau. It belongs to the Niger-Congo family (North-Atlantic branch, Tenda-Nyun group) and includes several dialectal variations. In 2006, Ethnologue.com estimated the number of Baynunk speakers around 6,200, figures leading to consider Baynunk an « endangered language » according to UNESCO standards. Widely understudied, Baynunk was finally codified in 2005 and now comprises an official spelling system.

Watch Tale 2

Watch Tale 3

Watch Tale 4 – Part 1

Watch Tale 4 – Part 2

Watch all our videos in Baynunk

Linguist: Sokhna Bao-Diop

Image & sound: Muriel Lutz assisted by Cheikh Tidiane Sall

Editing: Caroline Laurent

Video created within the ANR Sénélangues project