Customer Reviews

Fulani-English Practical Dictionary (Hippocrene Practical Dictionary)

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When I received the book I was excited about the possibility of learning the Fulani Language. Imagine my surprise when I opened the book to find out that it was not in english-Fulani-English but just Fulani-English which added to the challenge.

I heartily recommend this book as it will assist in the learning of the language and the ever important phrases that are needed

This Hippocrene edition of the dictionary originally published in 1932 goes one way, from Fulani to English. This language, called Fulani, Fula, Ful, Fulfulde, Peul and by other names, is spoken across a wide area in Central and West Africa. This dictionary covers the Adamawa Ful language of northern Cameroon and neighboring areas of Chad and Nigeria (where the author lived and worked for many years). A review of the languages of Sub-Saharan Africa published by the Center for Applied Linguistics put it this way (in 1976): you have to know something of the grammar of one of the varieties of Fulani in order to use this dictionary. Also, the entries are arranged by root (or basic form), so looking up a word that differs from the root might be difficult without knowledge of the grammar. In my opinion, the book's best features are that it is obtainable and fairly inexpensive. Used along with other teaching materials, it can be quite informative and useful.