The
Senegambian languages are a branch of
Niger–Congo languages centered on
Senegal (and
Senegambia), with most languages spoken there and in neighboring southern
Mauritania,
Guinea-Bissau, and
Guinea. The
transhumant Fula, howewever, have spread with their languages from Senegal across the western and central
Sahel. The most populous unitary language is
Wolof, the national language of Senegal, with four million native speakers and millions more second-language users. There are perhaps 13 million speakers of the various varieties of
Fula, and over a million speakers of
Serer. A special feature of the Senegambian languages not found outside the group is its non-tonality.