Grammar
Here is a lerner's guide for Pular from the Peace Corps (in English):
http://www.ibamba.net/pular/manual.pdf
Some aspects of the nominal classes and the treatment of the adjective in the dictionary
We can say that the bulk of the primary adjectives are formed with the ending I, that the adjectives of colour are formed with the ending II and that more rarely certain primary adjectives are formed with grade or ending IV, for example hiɗɗ- “old, old” . The participles of stative verbs (for example juutugol “to be tall”) can also be used for qualification: juutuɗo “a tall person”. They are systematically formed with ending IV. Ending III occurs seldom with adjectives.
In the dictionary, the stems of the primary adjectives are indicated with a hyphen and next to them the corresponding suffix grades which refer the user to the table below. So each adjective agrees with the nominal class of the noun it qualifies, for example: gorko ɓaleejo “a man of black complexion”, suudu ɓaleeru “a black house”, wudere ɓaleere “a black loincloth” etc.
Note on ending II: if the stem of the adjective ends in a vowel, the latter is short or long depending on the noun class: ɓaleere, ɓaleeru, ɓalewol, ɓalewii, ɓalewal etc.
Table of the nominal classes and their endings
| Noun Classes | Grade I | Grade II | Grade III | Grade IV |
| ƁE | -ɓe | -ɓe | -ɓe | -ɓe |
| NGE | -e | -we | -ge | -nge |
| NGO | -o | -wo | -go | -ngo |
| KO | -o | -ho | -ko | -ko |
| NDE | -re (-de) | -re | -de | -nde |
| NDU | -ru (-du) | -ru | -du | -ndu |
| ƊE | -e | -je | -ɗe | -ɗe |
| ƊI | -i | -ji | -ɗi | -ɗi |
| O | -o | -jo | -ɗo | -ɗo |
| KOY | -oy | -hoy | -koy | -koy |
| NGEL | -el | -wel | -gel | -ngel |
| KUN | -un | -hun | -kun | -kun |
| NGOL | -ol | -wol | -gol | -ngol |
| NGAL | -al | -wal | -gal | -ngal |
| NGII | -ii | -wii | -gii | -ngii |
| ƊUN | -un | -jun | -ɗun | -ɗun |
| KAL | -al | -hal | -kal | -kal |
| KOL | -ol | -hol | -kol | -kol |
| KI | -i | -hi | -ki | -ki |
| ƊAN | -an | -jan | -ɗan | -ɗan (ɗam) |
| NGU | -u | -wu | -gu | -ngu |
| NDI | -ri | -ri | -di | -ndi |
| MBA | -a | -wa | -ba | -mba |
| KA | -a | -ha | -ka | -ka |
The consonant mutation rules
The consonant mutation rules at stem-initials operate at three levels: fricative, plosive and prenasal. They are furthermore linked with the nominal class sytem:
• Fricative: classes ƁE, NGE, NGO, KO, NDE, NDU, KI
• Plosive: classes ƊE, ƊI, O, KOY,NGEL, KUN, NGOL, NGAL, NGII, ƊUN, KAL, KOL
• Prenasal: ƊAN, NGU, NDI, MBA, KA
r ====› d ====› nd
y ====› j ====› nj
y ====› g ====› ng
w ====› g ====› ng
w ====› b ====› mb
f ====› p ====› -
s ====› c ====› -
h ====› k ====› -
For p, c and k there is no prenasalization.
Examples: wujjugol "steal", gujjo "thief", wuyɓe "thieves", nguyka "theft", reedu "belly", deereero "greedy", ndeeraraaku "greediness, gluttony" etc.
This model is in principle valid for adjectives as well but in the Pular dialect of Fouta Djallon, the system is unstable and tends to simplify. Thus the prenasals are rarely used: we can hear raneeri as well as ndaneeri. In general, the prenasal series classes ƊAN, NGU, NDI etc. which normally trigger prenasalization in nominals tend to not work when it comes to adjectives. There is therefore no mutation: hecciri, hinndi, hinngu (instead of kecciri, kinndi, kinngu as in other Fulani dialects). On the other hand, for the plural classes ƊE and Ɗi (plosive series), a consonant mutation h to k occurs: kecce and kecci.
For p, c and k there is no prenasalization.
Examples: wujjugol "steal", gujjo "thief", wuyɓe "thieves", nguyka "theft", reedu "belly", deereero "greedy", ndeeraraaku "gluttony" etc.
Illustration with a particularly difficult adjective stem: hiɗɗ- “ancient, old, worn out”
This adjective was chosen as an example for two reasons: its stem modifications due to complex assimilation processes in relation with the nominal class suffixes (linguists then speak of allomorphs) but also to the rules of consonant mutation rules:
| Nominal classes | Grade IV |
| ƁE | hiɓɓe |
| NGE | hinnge |
| NGO | hinngo |
| KO | hikko |
| NDE | hinnde |
| NDU | hinndu |
| ƊE | kiɗɗe |
| ƊI | kiɗɗi |
| O | kiɗɗo |
| KOY | kikkoy |
| NGEL | kinngel |
| KUN | kikkun |
| NGOL | kinngol |
| NGAL | kinngal |
| NGII | kinngii |
| ƊUN | kiɗɗun |
| KAL | kikkal |
| KOL | kikkol |
| KI | kikki |
| ƊAN | kiɗɗan |
| NGU | hinngu |
| NDI | hinndi |
| MBA | himmba |
| KA | hikka |
This adjective was chosen as an example for two reasons: its stem is considerably altered due on the one hand to the assimilation process triggered off by the nominal class suffix (linguists then speak of allomorphs) and on the other hand to the consonant mutation.
