Rene What about the following Jagne-Jagne Narr Sowe-Sowe Pulo Jerri Ceesay-Ceesay Mandimori Njie- Ngainde Njie Dara Waj Wally-Koto Wally Jobe- Joba Juba Camara-Camara-aley [log in to unmask] wrote: Fascinating indeed. I don't know the meaning or the story behind these expressions, but I just thought about a few that comes to mind: Badjan - Badjan ak sakura Badjie - Badjie Baseng Joof - Joof ak Njokobai Mendy - Mendy Koto Gomez - Gomis ak Ngaina Njie - Njie Jatta Sowe - Sowe Pulo Touray - Touray Mandimori Gaye - Gaye Njoro Secka - Secka Bai I think in Wollof, they call these expressions 'Dagantal". We have heard our elderly folks used these expressions many a time when greeting with people. These are some of our cultural heritage, which indeed requires investigation. Some aspects of our culture need to be celebrated; those that are still relevant to the social dynamics of our everyday living. There is so much beauty in some of the cross cultural exchanges between our people, to the extend that possibly it has contributed to the social cohesion, respect and accomodation of the diverse and distinctive cultures that have examplified our way of life. One thing I also find very fascinating is 'KASAK' . These are the songs that celebrate the rite of circumcision. I don't know if this is specifically a Wollof traditon, because it has been quite prominent in Banjul and within Wollof circles. I don't know either if this tradition still is in currency. I always think about someone translating these songs into beautiful poetic verses, if they are not already lost. Rene NB: I may be wrong in the spelling of these expressions. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Have a wonderful day Sanusi Owens [log in to unmask] .............................................................................................................. I rather die for my country than the people of my country die for me-(Neil Kinnock) --------------------------------- Yahoo! Messenger - Communicate instantly..."Ping" your friends today! Download Messenger Now ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~