What might you learn if you discovered a hidden language?
For his whole life, Fallou Ngom believed his father was illiterate.\nIt was only after he died that Professor Ngom returned to Senegal and found unusual writing samples among his belongings. \nThrough his research, he found that the notes were written in Ajami, a modified form of Arabic used to write many African languages.\nBut Fallou had no idea that many people of his father\u2019s generation were using it to communicate, record debts, and write poems, prayers and stories.\nHe says that for decades people were recorded as being illiterate if they didn\u2019t write in French. \nAnd many people of Ngom\u2019s generation had no idea their parents were using Ajami all along.\nSo, what has he found out about his father and his country in the years since he started studying Ajami?
Host: Alan Kasujja\nGuest: Fallou Ngom, Professor of Anthropology, Boston University