jelis

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A form of jeli — A member of the hereditary caste of griots among the Mandé peoples, whose social roles include transmitting their people's oral traditions and playing traditional music (jeliya).

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Meanings

noun
  1. pluralplural of jeli

    Among jelis, there are three distinct performance activities: speech (kuma), song (dònkili), and instrument playing (Mn: fòli; Md: kosiri).

    2000, Eric Charry, Mande Music: Traditional and Modern Music of the Maninka and Mandinka of Western Africa, University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 7
Cite this entry
APA

jelis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jelis

MLA

“jelis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jelis. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “jelis,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jelis.

Source: jelis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.