The diversity of africa s languages is evidenced by their populations. It is estimated that there are between 2000 and 3000 languages spoken on the african continent, with possibly as many as 8000 dialects. So which african languages could potentially be a grasp away. It is the official language in uganda, rwanda, mozambique, burundi, and democratic republic of congo. Across africa the idea persists that the international languages of wider communication arabic, english, french, portuguese and spanish are the only means. Southern african linguistics and applied language studies publishes articles on a wide range of linguistic topics and acts as a forum for research into all the languages of southern africa, including english and afrikaans.
French is the official language and the lingua franca in cote divoire. About million, 115 million and 35 million africans, respectively, speak. African languages software for south africa our south african languages doll speaker and audio app is now available in 5 african languages namely isizulu, isixhosa, setswana, sepedi and sesotho. The essays inlanguages in africaexplore the layers of african multilingualism as they affect language policy and education.
The people of this large continent also use a wide variety of sign languages. Even for a continent with 54 very different countries, africa has a lot of languages. Also see south africanisms and useful xhosa phrases and zulu phrases. In fact, its estimated that there may be over 3,000 languages spoken in africa. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language in the world. With anywhere between and 2000 languages, africa is home to approximately onethird of the worlds languages.
By focusing on the languages with the most l1 plus l2 speakers, you can expand the reach of your content. At least thirtyfive languages indigenous to south africa are spoken in the republic, ten of which are official languages of south africa. All african languages are considered official languages of the african union. Original contributions are welcomed on any of the core areas of linguistics, both theoretical e. Swahili is one of the most widely spoken african languages. What are the main languages in africa, with the largest. Africa is second largest and second most populous continent in the world with a total population of 1. The african language program include training in wolof, pulaar, swahili, and. The most widely spoken languages in africa are english, french, arabic and swahili. Nilosaharan languages unity debated are spoken from tanzania to sudan and from chad to mali. What is the most widely spoken language on the continent. Said to be perhaps the easiest african language to command is, afrikaans originates from european settlers in south africa.
African language program of the african studies center or the african studies center asante, fante, twi. Of course, many other languages from all over the world are spoken here too. Some linguistic features are particularly common among languages spoken in africa, whereas others are less common. Study a language in africa, where your teachers will come in all shapes and sizes. There is also an extinct aboriginal language from australia that uses them, but it was never used for daytoday communication.
The different ethnic groups on the continent speak over languages. This video is all about the languages and linguistic diversity of south africa. And when it comes to marketing, advertising and web copy, people tend to prefer their native language. What languages are spoken in which african nations. There are several other small families and language isolates, as well as languages that have yet to be classified. Many languages are spoken on the continent of africa. Arabic is a semitic language spoken by 150 million people in africa, making it the most widely spoken language on the continent. Top 10 most popular languages in all of africa how. African language program institute for african studies.
Nigeria alone has 250 languages, one of the greatest concentrations of linguistic diversity in the world. Arabic is widely spoken in many african countries, but it is naturally not counted as one of african languages even though theres arabicafricans lives in africa. African languages and languages spoken in africa by lucile desligneres 1. English official national language, taught in grade schools, used in courts of law and by most newspapers and some radio broadcasts, ganda or luganda most widely used of the nigercongo languages, preferred for native language publications in the capital and may be taught in school, other nigercongo languages, nilosaharan. Arabic speakers in africa account for 62% of the total arabic speakers in the world. Many of its languages are western derived languages, primarily from french and english, but indigenous african languages are incredibly rich and diverse. Introduction to african languages the african language. In fact, its estimated that there may be over 3000 languages spoken in africa. Top 11 most spoken languages in africa africa facts. In africa, there are more than 100 million speakers, with egypt accounting for more than 54 million. The black african population is heterogeneous, falling mainly into four linguistic categories.
Included are basic grammar lessons, simple words and phrases in the afrikaans language as well as. The rest are spoken by populations ranging from a few hundred to several hundred thousand speakers. Zulu is the most widely spoken among them, followed by xhosa and afrikaans. Southern african linguistics and applied language studies. Trying to figure out the foreign language to learn from among the over 6,500 languages that exist in the world can be a tough task to achieve. At least thirtyfive languages indigenous to south africa are spoken in the republic, ten of. In an african society, you will find that that the language taught in school and the language of trade are two different languages. Why and how africa should invest in african languages and. Nor is it easy to find characteristics which unite all african languages. It is also widely spoken by west african expats in the us and uk.
What is the most widely spoken language on the continent of. The principle languages on the continent include arabic, french and english. Afroasiatic spread throughout the middle east, north africa, the horn of africa. Very few of africas languages are spoken by large numbers of people. With few exceptions, all of africas languages have been gathered into four major. It is a bantu language believed to have originated from other languages, mainly arabic, due to historical interactions between arabs from the middle east and east africans. That way, you can attempt to learn a few keywords or phrases before you go.
Swahili is the most spoken language in africa, with over 100 million speakers. What happens in south african schools is that children usually learn. If you are interested in learning any of these languages, our african software products are the best way to learn how to read and speak an african language. The languages spoken in africa are totally worth knowing.
Isindebele, sesotho sa leboa, sesotho sa borwa, siswati, xitsonga, setswana, tshiven. Languages of africa include arabic, english, french, and portuguese, which originated outside africa, and are the official national languages of most african countries. Top 10 most spoken languages in africa politics nigeria. Within south africa, four nguni languages are commonly spoken isizulu, isixhosa, isindebele and siswati which are all tonal languages. Try intensive language programs in africa to learn any of these tongues. One of the perennial issues that arises when discussing south african education is our complex language policy. Learning a new foreign language can be very beneficial and you can try starting with the following easiest african languages to learn. Spoken languages of african countries nations online project. The languages of africa are divided into several major language families. Yoruba is one of west africa s most spoken languages, accounting for over 30 million speakers in nigeria, benin and togo, and it is one of nigerias official languages.
We have put together the 10 top best language we believe you should learn. The native tongue of the yoruba people, is spoken, among other languages. Easy afrikaans will help you to start to learn the afrikaans language. A guide to the official and most widely spoken languages in every. It is the second most common language in south africa and is also spoken in zimbabwe.
Here are the top 10 most spoken languages in africa. When you consider secondlanguage speakers, the picture changes quite a bit. The larger nyo group comprises 35 languages situated in southern cote. To make things even more confusing, in many countries the official language is not the same as the lingua franca that is, the language spoken by the majority of its citizens. View more information about each see below, including the origins of the language and where it is spoken in south africa. Arabic was ranked the 5th most spoken language in the world by research group ethnologue, with over 240 million speakers worldwide.
In part due to the atlantic slave trade, yoruba is also considered to be one of the most widely spoken african languages outside of the continent, with vibrant yoruba communities in brazil, cuba, north america, and the caribbean, among others. So, first of all, here are the most spoken native languages in africa. Unfortunately, ive found that, in online language learning communities, african languages are widely overlooked when someone is choosing a second or third language. An international language like french or english, a vestige of colonialism, carries prestige, is used in higher education, and promises mobilityand yet it will not be well known by its users. Student apartment at interlink school of languages is the best rated accommodation in south africa. Software to learn african languages world of reading. Scientists say they have traced the worlds 6,000 modern languages from english to mandarin back to a single mother tongue, an ancestral language spoken in africa. The number of languages spoken in africa varies between 1,000 and 2,500. Approaching 30 million speakers, yoruba is spoken in west africa, particularly in nigeria and benin.
His favorite topics include finance, history, geography, agriculture, legal, and sports. There is no way to indicate tonality in the written form of xhosa. Join the global language learning community, take language courses to practice reading, writing, listening and speaking and learn a new language. In total, there are at least 75 languages in africa which have more than one million speakers. Next, lets look at the most widely spoken african languages overall. Egypt, arabic, english and french widely understood by educated classes. African languages are divided into four major language families, as well as austronesian. So its no surprise that the total number of languages natively spoken in africa is variously estimated at between 1,250 to 2,100 and by some counts at over 3,000.
Excluding those, the article gives largest speaker numbers in millions for. These include afrikaans, amharic, igbo, somali, swahili, xhosa and zulu. Indoeuropean family afroasiatic family 2,000 languages from africa 6 families creole. For those who arent from south africa, we have 11 official languages afrikaans, english, isindebele, isixhosa, isizulu, sesotho sa leboa, sesotho, setswana, siswati, tshivenda, and xitsonga. Swahili, known as kiswahili in the native tongue, is a bantu language spoken by some 150 million africans in the african great lakes region in central and southern africa. It belongs to the bantu language group being its largest representative. The eleventh official language is english, which is the primary language used in parliamentary and state discourse, though all official. All kru languages have tonal features that mark both lexical and grammatical. Kwa languages, a branch of the nigercongo language family consisting of 45. Xhosa is in the same language family as zulu and many other languages spoken all over the african continent. The people of this large continent use a wide variety of languages. The language is spoken by some 100 million africans in the african great lakes region in central and southern africa. There are over 3000 languages spoken natively in africa. It is estimated that between 1,500 and 2,000 languages are spoken here, many with their own set of varying dialects.
Worlds languages traced back to single african mother. South africa alone has 11 official languages and in nigeria, the people speak over 250 languages. The largest is the nguni, including various peoples who speak swati primarily the swazi peoples as well as those who speak languages that take their names from the peoples by whom they are primarily spoken the ndebele, xhosa, and zulu see also xhosa. Instead, some may be due to language contact resulting in borrowing and specific idioms and phrases may be due to a similar cultural background. Africa is a veritable buffet for the language learner. The remaining 10 kwa languages are termed left bank because they are spoken to. The total number of languages natively spoken in africa is variously.
Included are basic grammar lessons, simple words and phrases in the afrikaans language as well as links to resources and further information about afrikaans. As noted above, arabic is the most common language on the continent, although its concentrated in north africa. And learning the language would also be easier if you. However, the most common of the languages spoken by the over 1. Lets take a look at the 10 most spoken languages in africa.
It is aimed at beginner level language learners and anyone who plans to visit south africa. Such shared traits probably are not due to a common origin of all african languages. Regardless, all of these languages are spoken in africa. Just select and press play to listen to the stories and songs that form part of the african languages foundation phase. Africa click on a country or choose one from the dropdown menu at the bottom of the page. In addition, africa has a wide variety of sign languages, many of which are language. It is the second largest and second most populated on earth containing over 1,500 languages spoken, across its 1.
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