The fulbe call their language Pulaar or Pular in western dialects and Fulfulde in the central and eastern dialects, but the language is also known in the Western literature as Fulani ,Fulah and Peul in French. Pulaar/Fulfulde is a Senegambian language spoken as a set of various dialects in a continuum that stretches across some 28 countries in West and Central Africa. Along with other related languages such as Serer and Wolof, it belongs to the Senegambian branch within the Niger–Congo languages, which does not have tones, unlike most other Niger–Congo languages. More broadly, it belongs to the Atlantic geographic grouping within Niger–Congo. It is spoken as a first language by the Fulve or Haalpulaar’en people (also known as Toucouleur) from the Senegambia region and Guinea to Cameroon, Nigeria, and Sudan. It is also spoken as a second language by various peoples in the region, such as the Kirdi, Gisga and Tuppiri of northern Cameroon and northeastern Nigeria; Soninke and Wolof of northern Senegal and southern Mauritania; the Bassari southeastern Senegal and northern Guinea.
