Languages of Africa
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{{mergefrom|List of African languages|date=March 2008}}
[[Image:African_language_families_en.svg|thumb|Map showing the distribution of African language families and some major languages spoken in Africa. [[Afro-Asiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]] stretches from [[North Africa]] to the [[Horn of Africa]] and [[Southwest Asia]]. [[Niger-Congo languages|Niger-Congo]] is divided to show the size of the [[Bantu languages|Bantu sub-family]].]]
[[Image:Official Languages - Africa.PNG|thumb|Official languages - in many African countries there are several official languages]]
The '''languages of Africa''' are a diverse set of [[language]]s, many of which bear little relation to one another.
[[Languages of Europe|European languages]], especially [[French language|French]] and [[English language|English]] and, to a lesser degree, [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] and [[Dutch language|Dutch]] were influenced by the African languages.
There are an estimated 2000 languages spoken in [[Africa]]. <ref>[http://www.panafril10n.org/wikidoc/pmwiki.php/PanAfrLoc/MajorLanguages Major Languages of Africa]</ref> About a hundred of these have been estimated to be major languages, and usually a visitor to a linguistic area can find someone who speaks the area's major language {{citation}}.
African languages such as [[Swahili language|Swahili]], [[Hausa language|Hausa]], [[Igbo language|Igbo]], and [[Yoruba language|Yoruba]], Ibibio language of the Ibibio/Annang/Efik people [[Ibibio]], [[Annang]] and [[Efik]] are spoken by millions of people. In Zimbabwe, most people speak Shona followed by those who speak Ndebele and other languages; however, English is the official language. Nigeria has over 250 languages, these include, Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Ibibio, Annang, Efik, Urhobo and others, such as [[Laal language|Laal]], [[Shabo language|Shabo]], and [[Dahalo language|Dahalo]], are spoken by a few hundred or fewer. In addition, Africa has a wide variety of [[sign language]]s, many of whose genetic classification has yet to be worked out. Several African languages are also [[whistled language|whistled]] for special purposes.
The abundant linguistic diversity of many African countries has made [[language policy]] an extremely important issue in the neo-colonial era. In recent years, African countries have become increasingly aware of the value of their linguistic inheritance. Language policies that are being developed nowadays are mostly aimed at [[multilingualism]]. For example, all African languages are considered [[languages of the African Union|official languages of the African Union]] (AU). 2006 was declared by AU as the "Year of African Languages".<ref>[http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0001850/index.php African Union Summit 2006] Khartoum, Sudan. SARPN</ref>
== Language groups ==
Most languages spoken in Africa belong to one of four [[Language families and languages|language families]]: [[Afro-Asiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]], [[Nilo-Saharan languages|Nilo-Saharan]], [[Niger-Congo languages|Niger-Congo]], and [[Khoisan languages|Khoisan]]. A handful of languages associated with the continent belong to the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] and [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]] language families; however, the presence of the latter languages dates to less than 500 and 1,000 years ago, respectively. In addition, African languages include several [[unclassified languages]] and [[sign languages]].
=== Afro-Asiatic languages ===
{{Main|Afro-Asiatic languages}}
Formerly known as Hamito-Semitic languages, Afro-Asiatic languages are spoken in large parts of [[North Africa]], [[Horn of Africa|Northeast Africa]], and [[Southwest Asia]]. The Afro-Asiatic language family comprises approximately 375 languages spoken by 285 million people. The main subfamilies of Afro-Asiatic are the [[Semitic languages]], the [[Cushitic languages]], [[Berber languages|Berber]], and the [[Chadic languages]]. The Semitic languages are the only branch of the Afro-Asiatic family of languages that is spoken outside of Africa.
Some of the most widely spoken Afro-Asiatic languages include [[Arabic language|Arabic]] (Semitic), [[Amharic language|Amharic]] (Semitic), [[Somali language|Somali]] (Cushitic), [[Oromo language|Oromo]] (Cushitic), and [[Berber languages|Tamazight]] (Berber). Of all the world's surviving language families, Afro-Asiatic has the longest written history, since both [[Egyptian language|Ancient Egyptian]] and [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] are members.
=== Nilo-Saharan languages ===
{{Main|Nilo-Saharan languages}}
"Nilo-Saharan languages" is a categorization that is not entirely agreed upon. It includes an array of more than 100 diverse languages mainly spoken in [[Sudan]], [[Ethiopia]], [[Uganda]], [[Kenya]] and northern [[Tanzania]]. Some languages in [[Central Africa|Central]] and [[West African]] are also classified as Nilo-Saharan. Nilo-Saharan languages are often sub-divided into [[Komuz languages]], [[Saharan languages]] (including [[Kanuri language]]), [[Songhay languages]], [[Fur languages]] (including [[Fur language]]), [[Maban languages]], [[Central Sudanic languages]], [[Kunama language]], [[Berta language]] and [[Eastern Sudanic languages]].
Eastern Sudanic languages are subdivided into [[Nubian languages]] and [[Nilotic languages]]. Nilotic languages include [[Eastern Nilotic languages]], [[Southern Nilotic languages]] and [[Western Nilotic languages]]
Nilo-Saharan languages include an array of languages, including [[Luo languages]] in [[Sudan]], [[Uganda]], [[Kenya]] and [[Tanzania]] (eg. [[Acholi]], [[Lango]], [[Luo (Kenya)|Dholuo]]), [[Ateker]] in [[Uganda]] and [[Kenya]] (eg. [[Teso]], [[Karamojong]] and [[Turkana]]), [[Maasai language|Maasai]] (Kenya and Tanzania), [[Kalenjin]] (Kenya), [[Kanuri language|Kanuri]] (Nigeria, Niger, Chad) and [[Songhay languages|Songhay]] (Mali, Niger). Most Nilo-Saharan languages are [[tonal]].
The [[Kadu languages]] were formerly grouped with the [[Kordofanian languages]], but are now often considered part of the Nilo-Saharan family. The Nilotic languages, having expanded substantially with the [[Nilotic]] peoples in recent centuries, are a geographically widespread language family and have a large population.
=== Niger-Congo languages ===
{{Main|Niger-Congo languages}}
The Niger-Congo language family is the largest group of Africa (and probably of the world) in terms of different languages. One of its salient features, still shared by most of the Niger-Congo languages, is the [[noun class]] system. The vast majority of languages of this family is [[tonal language|tonal]]. A major branch of Niger-Congo languages is the [[Bantu languages|Bantu]] family, as visualized by the distinction between Niger-Congo A and B (Bantu) on the map above.
The [[Niger-Kordofanian languages|Niger-Kordofanian]] language family, joining Niger-Congo with the [[Kordofanian languages]] of south-central [[Sudan]], was proposed in 1950s by [[Joseph Greenberg]]. Today, linguists often use "Niger-Congo" to refer to this entire family, including Kordofanian as a subfamily. One reason for this is that it is not clear whether Kordofanian was the first branch to diverge from rest of Niger-Congo. [[Mande languages|Mandé]] has been claimed to be equally or more divergent. Niger-Congo is generally accepted by linguists, though a few question the inclusion of Kordofanian or Mandé.
=== Khoisan languages ===
{{Main|Khoisan languages}}
The Khoi-San languages number about 50 and are spoken by about 120,000 people. They are found mainly in [[Namibia]], [[Botswana]], and [[Angola]]. Two distant languages usually considered Khoi-San are [[Sandawe language|Sandawe]] and [[Hadza language|Hadza]] of [[Tanzania]]. Many linguists regard the Khoi-San phylum as a yet unproven hypothesis.
A striking — and nearly unique — characteristic of Khoi-San languages is their use of [[click consonant]]s. Some neighbouring Bantu languages (notably [[Xhosa language|Xhosa]] and [[Zulu language|Zulu]]) have adopted some click sounds from the Khoi-San languages, as has the [[Dahalo language]]; however, only a single language, the Australian ritual language [[Damin]], is reported to use clicks without being a result of Khoi-San influence. All Khoi-San languages are [[tonal language|tonal]].
=== Non-African language families ===
Several languages spoken in Africa belong to language families concentrated or originating outside of the African continent: [[Malagasy]], the most common language of [[Madagascar]], is an [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]] language, and [[Afrikaans]] is [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]], as is the lexifier of most African [[creole language|creoles]].
Since the colonial era, European languages like [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[English language|English]] and [[French language|French]] ([[African French]]) have been spoken in Africa (they are official languages in many countries), as have been [[Indian languages]] such as [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]] (by [[South Asia]]n expatriates). In earlier historical times, other Indo-European languages could also be found in various parts of the continent, such as [[Old Persian]] and [[Greek language|Greek]] in Egypt, [[Latin language|Latin]] in North Africa, and [[Modern Persian]] in the [[Horn of Africa]].
=== Creole languages ===
Due partly to its multilingualism and its colonial past, a substantial proportion of the world's [[creole language]]s are to be found in Africa. Some are based on European languages (e.g. [[Sierra Leone Krio language|Krio]] from English in [[Sierra Leone]] and the very similar [[West African Pidgin English|Pidgin]] in [[Cameroon]] and [[Nigeria]], [[Cape Verdean Creole]] in [[Cape Verde]] and [[Guinea-Bissau Creole]] in [[Guinea-Bissau]] and [[Senegal]] both from Portuguese, [[Seychellois Creole]] from French in the [[Seychelles]], or [[Mauritian Creole]] in [[Mauritius]]); some are based on Arabic (e.g., [[Juba Arabic language|Juba Arabic]] in the southern [[Sudan]], or [[Nubi language|Nubi]] in parts of [[Uganda]] and [[Kenya]]); some are based on local languages (e.g., [[Sango language|Sango]], the main language of the [[Central African Republic]].)
=== Unclassified languages ===
A fair number of [[unclassified languages]] are reported in Africa; many remain unclassified simply for lack of data, but among the better-investigated ones may be listed:
* possibly Afro-Asiatic: [[Ongota language|Ongota]]
* possibly Nilo-Saharan: [[Shabo language|Shabo]]
* possibly Niger-Congo: [[Laal language|Laal]] and [[Jalaa language|Jalaa]].
Less well investigated ones include [[Bete language|Bete]], [[Bung language|Bung]], [[Kujarge language|Kujarge]], [[Lufu language|Lufu]], [[Mpre language|Mpre]], [[Oropom language|Oropom]], and [[Weyto language|Weyto]]. Several of these are extinct, and adequate comparative data is thus unlikely to be forthcoming.
In addition, the placement of [[Kadu languages|Kadu]], [[Kordofanian languages|Kordofanian]], [[Hadza language|Hadza]], and [[Sandawe language|Sandawe]] - among others - is controversial, as discussed above.
=== Sign languages ===
{{Seealso|List of sign languages#Africa}}
Many African countries have national sign languages -- such as [[Algerian Sign Language]], [[Tunisian Sign Language]], [[Ethiopian Sign Language]] -- while other sign languages are restricted to small areas or single villages, such as [[Adamorobe Sign Language]] in [[Ghana]]. Little has been published on most of these languages since not much is known.
==Language in Africa==
Throughout the long multilingual history of the African continent, African languages have been subject to phenomena like language contact, language expansion, language shift, and language death. A case in point is the ''[[Bantu expansion]]'', the process of Bantu-speaking peoples expanding over most of the [[Sub-Saharan Africa|Sub-Saharan]] part of Africa, thereby displacing Khoi-San speaking peoples in much of East-Africa. Another example is the Islamic expansion in the 7th century AD, marking the start of a period of profound [[Arabic language|Arabic]] influence in North Africa.
With so many totally unrelated families represented over wide areas, the image of the African linguistic situation is that of a veritable "[[Confusion of tongues|Babel]]", although it is true that a certain number of languages categorized as distinct are in fact [[mutually intelligible]] dialects to some degree - eg. the [[Nguni]] languages of Southern Africa or the [[Manding languages]] of West Africa.
[[Trade language]]s are another age-old phenomenon in the African linguistic landscape. Cultural and linguistic innovations spread along trade routes and languages of peoples dominant in trade developed into languages of wider communication ([[linguae francae]]). Of particular importance in this respect are [[Dioula language|Jula]] (western West Africa), [[Fula language|Fulfulde]] (West Africa, mainly across the Sahel), [[Hausa language|Hausa]] (eastern West Africa), [[Lingala language|Lingala]] (Congo), [[Swahili language|Swahili]] (East Africa) and [[Arabic language|Arabic]] (North Africa and the Horn of Africa).
After gaining independence, many African countries, in the search for national unity, selected one language (generally the former colonial language) to be used in government and education. In recent years, African countries have become increasingly aware of the importance of linguistic diversity. Language policies that are being developed nowadays are mostly aimed at multilingualism.
===Cross-border languages===
The colonial borders established by European powers following the [[Berlin Conference]] in 1884-5 divided a great many ethnicities and African language speaking communities. In a sense, then, "cross-border languages" is a misnomer. Nevertheless it describes the reality of many African languages, which has implications for divergence of language on either side of a border (especially when the official languages are different), standards for writing the language, etc.
Some prominent Africans such as former [[Mali]]an president and current [[African Union Chairman of the Commission|Chairman of the African Commission]], [[Alpha Oumar Konaré]], have referred to cross-border languages as a factor that can promote African unity.<ref>[http://www.acalan.org/ African languages for Africa's development] ACALAN (French & English)</ref>
===Language change & planning===
Language is not static in Africa any more than in other world regions. In addition to the (probably modest) impact of borders, there are also cases of [[dialect levelling]] (such as in [[Igbo language|Igbo]] and probably many others), ''[[Koiné language|koines]]'' (such as [[N'Ko]] and possibly [[Runyakitara language|Runyakitara]]), and emergence of new dialects (such as [[Sheng (linguistics)|Sheng]]). In some countries there are official efforts to develop [[Standard language|standardized language]] versions.
There are also many less-widely spoken languages that may be considered [[endangered language]]s.
===Demographics===
{{see|Demographics of Africa}}
Of the 890 million Africans (as of 2005), about 20% speak an [[varieties of Arabic|Arabic dialect]] (the vast majority of North Africans). About 10% speak [[Swahili]], the ''[[lingua franca]]'' of Southeastern Africa, and about 5% speak [[Hausa language|Hausa]], a West African ''lingua franca''. Other important West African languages are [[Yoruba language|Yoruba]] (3%), [[Igbo language|Igbo]] (3%) and [[Fula]] (2%). Major Northeast African languages are [[Oromo language|Oromo]] (4%) and [[Somali language|Somali]] (2%). Important South African languages are [[Zulu language|Zulu]] and [[Afrikaans]].
List of major African languages (by total number of speakers in million):
{|class="wikitable"
|-
|-name || number of speakers (millions)
|-
|[[Swahili language|Swahili]] (coastal Southeast Africa) || 5-10 native + 80 secondary
|-
|[[Arabic]] (North Africa, Horn of Africa)|| 150
|-
|[[Hausa language|Hausa]] (West Africa) || 24 native + 15 secondary
|-
|[[Amharic language|Amharic]] (Northeast Africa) || 35-42
|-
|[[Oromo language|Oromo]] (Northeast Africa) || 30-35
|-
|[[Yoruba language|Yoruba]] (West Africa) || 25
|-
|[[Igbo language|Igbo]] (Nigeria) || 20-35
|-
|[[Somali language|Somali]] (Somalia) || 15
|-
|[[Berber languages|Berber]] (North Africa) || 14-25
|-
|[[Ibibio Language]] (Ibibio/Annang/Efik, Nigeria) || 8-12
|-
|[[Fula language|Fula]] (West Africa)|| 10-16
|-
|[[Malagasy language|Malagasy]] (Madacascar) || 17
|-
|[[Afrikaans]] (South Africa) || 6-7 native + 6-7 secondary
|-
|[[Zulu language|Zulu]] (South Africa) || 10
|-
|[[Chichewa language|Chichewa]] (Southeast Africa) || 9
|-
|[[Akan language|Akan]] || 9
|-
|[[Shona language|Shona]] || 7
|-
|[[Xhosa language|Xhosa]] (South Africa) || 8
|-
|[[Kinyarwanda language|Kinyarwanda]] (Rwanda) || 7
|-
|[[Kongo language|Kongo]] || 7
|-
|[[Tigrinya language|Tigrinya]] || 7
|-
|[[Tshiluba language|Tshiluba]] (Congo) || 6
|-
|[[Wolof language|Wolof]] || 3 native + 3 secondary
|-
|[[Gikuyu language|Gikuyu]] (Kenya) || 5
|-
|[[More language|More]] (West Africa) || 5
|-
|[[Kirundi|Kirundi]] (Central Africa) || 5
|-
|[[Sotho language|Sotho]] (South Africa) || 5
|-
|[[Luhya languages|Luhya]] || 4
|-
|[[Tswana language|Tswana]] (Southern Africa) || 4
|-
|[[Kanuri language|Kanuri]] (West Africa) || 4
|-
|[[Umbundu language|Umbundu]] (Angola) || 4
|-
|[[Northern Sotho language|Northern Sotho]] (South Africa) || 4
|-
|}
== Linguistic features ==
Although Africa is not a natural linguistic, some linguistic features are particularly common among languages spoken in Africa, whereas others seem less common. Such shared traits probably are not due to a common origin of all African languages. Instead, some may be due to [[language contact]] (resulting in borrowing) and specific idioms and phrases may be due to a similar cultural background.
Common pan-African phonetic features include (Greenberg 1983):
* certain phoneme types, such as [[implosive consonant|implosives]];
* doubly articulated [[Labial-velar consonant|labial-velar stops]] like {{IPA|/kp/}} and {{IPA|/gb/}};
* [[prenasalized consonant]]s;
* [[Click consonant|clicks]];
* and the lower high (or 'near close') [[vowel]]s {{IPA|/ʊ/}} and {{IPA|/ɪ/}}.
Phoneme types that are relatively uncommon in African languages include [[uvular consonant]]s, [[diphthong]]s, and front rounded vowels.
Quite often, only one term is used for both animal and meat; the word ''nama'' or ''nyama'' for animal/meat is particularly widespread in otherwise widely divergent African languages. Widespread syntactical structures include the common use of adjectival verbs and the expression of comparison by means of a verb ''to surpass''.
[[Tonal language]]s are found throughout the world but are especially numerous in Africa. Both the Nilo-Saharan and the Khoi-San phyla are fully tonal. The large majority of the Niger-Congo languages is also tonal. Tonal languages are also found in the Omotic, Chadic, and South & East Cushitic branches of Afro-Asiatic. The most common type of tonal system opposes two tone levels, High (H) and Low (L). [[Contour tone]]s do occur, and can often be analysed as two or more tones in succession on a single syllable. ''Tone melodies'' play an important role, meaning that it is often possible to state significant generalizations by separating tone sequences ('melodies') from the segments that bear them. [[Tonal sandhi]] processes like tone spread, tone shift, and downstep and downdrift are common in African languages.
<!--Many ethnic groups living in the rain forests of Africa transmit messages from one village to another by use of so called ''talking drums''.
African languages differ in the number of tone levels they have. Most African tonal languages have a two tone system.-->
==See also==
{{portal|Africa|Africa satellite orthographic.jpg}}
* ''[[Polyglotta Africana]]''
* ''[[The Languages of Africa]]''
* [[Joseph Greenberg]]
* [[Diedrich Hermann Westermann]]
* [[Malcolm Guthrie]]
* [[Wilhelm Bleek]]
* [[Lepsius|Karl Lepsius]]
* [[Carl Meinhof]]
* [[Languages of the African Union]]
* [[Writing systems of Africa]]
* [[List of African languages]]
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
==References==
===African languages===
*Childs, G. Tucker (2003) ''An Introduction to African Languages''. Amsterdam: John Benjamin.
*Elugbe, Ben (1998) "Cross-border and Major Languages of Africa." In K. Legère, ed. ''Cross-border languages : reports and studies, Regional Workshop on Cross-Border Languages, National Institute for Educational Development (NIED), Okahandja, 23-27 September 1996''. Windhoek: Gamsberg Macmillan
*Heine, Bernd & Derek Nurse (eds.) (2000) ''African languages: an introduction.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
*Webb, Vic and Kembo-Sure (eds.) (1998) ''African Voices. An introduction to the languages and linguistics of Africa.'' Cape Town: Oxford University Press Southern Africa.
*Greenberg, Joseph H. (1983) 'Some areal characteristics of African languages', in Dihoff, Ivan R. (ed.) ''Current Approaches to African Linguistics (vol. 1)'' (Publications in African Languages and Linguistics vol. 1). Dordrecht: Foris, 3-21.
*Wedekind, Klaus (1985) 'Thoughts when drawing a map of tone languages' ''Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere'' 1, 105-24.
* Ellis, Stephen (ed.) (1996) ''Africa Now. People - Policies - Institutions.'' The Hague: Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS).
* Chimhundu, Herbert (2002) ''Language Policies in Africa.'' (Final report of the Intergovernmental conference on language policies in Africa) Revised version. UNESCO.
*[[Robert Needham Cust|Cust, Robert Needham]] (1883) ''Modern Languages of Africa''.
*Greenberg, Joseph H. (1966) ''[[The Languages of Africa]]'' (2nd ed. with additions and corrections). [Originally published as International journal of American linguistics, 29, 1, part 2 (1963)]. Bloomington: Indiana University.
* Westermann, Diedrich H. (1952). ''The languages of West Africa''. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
* Ethnologue.com's [http://www.ethnologue.com/country_index.asp?place=Africa Africa]: A listing of African languages and language families.
==External links==
*[http://goto.glocalnet.net/maho/webresources/general.html Web resources for African languages]
*[http://www.muturzikin.com/carteafrique.htm Linguistic maps of Africa from Muturzikin.com]
{{Languages of Africa}}
{{Africa topics}}
{{Languages and countries}}
[[Category:Languages of Africa| ]]
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[[es:Lenguas africanas]]
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[[pl:Języki afrykańskie]]
[[pt:Línguas africanas]]
[[ru:Языки Африки]]
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