While I was studying in Spain this summer, I realized yet again how important language is to understanding a culture and a people. I am sure this is true in Africa as well. For this reason, I was interested in learning about the different languages that exist in Africa.
According to Wikipedia, there are an estimated 2000 languages spoken in Africa and they are divided into four linguistic categories: Afro-Asiatic, Nilo-Saharan, Niger-Congo, and Khoe. The map on the right shows these linguistic categories. Another website called the Living Africa has links to explainations of these four linguistic categories as well.
Individual languages exist in Africa as well. These include: Arabic, Swahili, Hausa, Amharic and Yoruba.
Africa also has sign languages and other languages that can be whistled so that people can communitcate over long distances.
Because of the great number of languages, language policy is a major issue in post-colonial Africa. The focus right now is on multilingualism. In order to validate languages, each one is considered a part of the African Union.
Lots of information is available about the specific languages of Africa. The Travel and Language Center lists the languages of Africa by country and tells you how many people speak them and other details such as location and whether or not they are official languages of a country. Other websites, Nations Online, PanAfriL10n and the InterSol, Inc. Global Advisor Newsletter, have similar lists.
We definitely have a lot to learn about the languages of Africa!
2 comments:
Very interesting! Especially about the whistling languages! I also think its neat about the different linguistic categories. Good topic!
This post was very interesting because I was curious about the variety of languages in Africa. Also, the picture that you included was very fitting and informing. Good job.
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