| Gusilay | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Senegal |
| Region | Tionk Essil |
Native speakers | 15,000 (2006) [1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | gsl |
| Glottolog | gusi1246 [2] |
Gusilay (Gusiilay, Gusilaay, Kusiilaay, Kusilay) is a Jola language of the Casamance region of Senegal.
Casamance is the area of Senegal south of the Gambia including the Casamance River. It consists of the Lower Casamance and the Upper Casamance. The largest city of Casamance is Ziguinchor.
The Jola are an ethnic group found in Senegal, the Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau. The word 'Jola' is however the Mandinka name for this ethnic group and means 'payback', since Jolas are renowned for doing back what's been done to them, be it a good or a bad deed. The name of the Jola tribe in their own language and tradition is Ajamat. So in their language, they are the Ajamat or Ajamataw people. There are great numbers on the Atlantic coast between the southern banks of the Gambia River, the Casamance region of Senegal and the northern part of Guinea-Bissau.In the 1880s the Jolas were engaged in palm wine tapping in Bathurst. By the end of the 19th century some Jola had moved to producing groundnuts as a cash crop and during the Second World War had expanded greatly. They also reared livestock and produced other crops including sweet potatoes, yams and watermelon. The Jola language is distinct from the Dioula language of the Dioula (Dyoula) Mande people of the Gambia, Upper Niger and the Kong highlands of Burkina Faso.
Senegal is a multilingual country: Ethnologue lists 36 languages, Wolof being the most widely spoken language.
Jola or Diola is a dialect continuum spoken in Senegal, the Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau. It belongs to the Bak branch of the Niger–Congo language family.
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