Kwatay language

{{Short description|Divergent Jola language spoken in Senegal}}

{{Infobox language

|name=Kwatay

|nativename=Kuwaataay

|states=Senegal

|speakers={{sigfig|6210|2}}

|date=2006

|ref=e18

|familycolor=Niger-Congo

|fam2=Atlantic–Congo

|fam3=Bak

|fam4=Jola

|fam5=Jola Proper

|iso3=cwt

|glotto=kuwa1246

|glottorefname=Kuwaataay

}}

{{Infobox ethnonym|person=a-waat, a-jɛmbɛrɛŋ|people=ɛ-waat|language=ɛlɔp ɛjɛmbɛrɛŋay; bahamin buwaatay|country=juwaat|root=Waat}}

Kwatay (Kuwaataay) is a divergent Jola language of Senegal.

The Diembereng dialect is spoken on a southern coastal island of the same name, located in the Casamance River delta. A person is referred to as a-jɛmbɛrɛŋ or a-waat, and people are referred to as ɛ-waat. Their territory is known as juwaat. The language is called ɛlɔp ɛjɛmbɛrɛŋay and bahamin buwaatay, where ɛlɔp and presumably bahamin mean 'language'.Wilson, William André Auquier. 2007. Guinea Languages of the Atlantic group: description and internal classification. (Schriften zur Afrikanistik, 12.) Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.