Wolof is a language of class. Every class is marked by a different determining consonant. The determining consonant is the base from which all articles are derived : definite or indefinite, relative, interrogative and demonstrative articles.

These determinants mark each class with different initial consonant, desinence staying the same. In Wolof there are 10 of these classes, each with their determining initial consonant, 8 of which correspond to singulars and 2 to plurals.The b class absorbs all others that don't fall in a class, especially for new words having to do with progress and development.

The determining consonant is never added directly to the noun ; it is either placed before or after, the latter of which makes it defined.

Singular : b - k - j - g - m - l - w - s
Plural : ñ - y


SINGULAR

Definite		Indefinite
xale bi  the child		ab xale  a child
nit ki  the person		ak nit  a person
jabar ji  the wife		aj jabar  a wife
gune gi  the baby		ag gune  a baby
xar mi  the sheep		am xar  a sheep
cuuraay li  the incense		al cuuraay  some incense
waas wi  the carp		aw waas  a carp
suukër si  the sugar		as suukër  some sugar

PLURAL

Definite		Indefinite
nit ñi  the people		ay nit  some people
nag yi  the cows		ay nag  some cows

The  k  classifier (singular) refers to people.
The  ñ  classifier (plural) refers to people.
The  y  classifier (plural) is valid for all classes.


Abdoulaye Dial