Mandinka
/ˌmænˈdɪŋ.kə/noun
A member of a West African ethnic group or a speaker of the Mandinka language, chiefly associated with Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, and Mali.
Did you know?Mandinka belongs to the Mande language family, whose oral historians, known as griots, traditionally preserved dynastic histories, genealogies, and epic traditions through performance.
Etymological Timeline
Medieval period
Mande languages
Mande
“The name of the historic Mande cultural and political region of West Africa; its deeper original meaning is uncertain.”
13th–15th Century
Manding languages
Manding
“A regional and cultural designation associated with the Mali Empire and the Manding heartland.”
Early modern period
Mandinka
Manding-ka
“A form analyzed as Manding plus the Mande ethnolinguistic suffix -ka, referring to a person associated with Manding; the exact historical development is debated.”
16th–18th Century
European records
Mandingo
“An English and European exonym used for Mandinka-speaking peoples; the form reflects adaptation into European languages.”
19th Century
English
Mandinka
“The modern English ethnonym and language name, increasingly preferred in scholarly and West African usage.”
Modern English
English
Mandinka
“A recognized name for the people, their language, and their cultural tradition.”