Languages of Africa

There are 1,250 to 2,100 and by some counts over 3,000 languages spoken natively in Africa, in several major language families:

Afroasiatic is spread throughout the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of the Sahel

Nilo-Saharan is centered on Sudan and Chad (disputed validity)

Niger–Congo (Bantu and non-Bantu) covers West, Central, Southeast and Southern Africa

Khoe is concentrated in the deserts of Namibia and Botswana

Austronesian is spoken in Madagascar.

Indo-European is spoken on the southern tip of the continent.

There are several other small families and language isolates, as well as obscure languages that have yet to be classified. In addition, Africa has a wide variety of sign languages, many of which are language isolates.

About a hundred of the languages of Africa are widely used for inter-ethnic communication. Arabic, Somali, Berber, Amharic, Oromo, Swahili, Hausa, Manding, Igbo, Fulani and Yoruba are spoken by tens of millions of people. If clusters of up to a hundred similar languages are counted together, twelve are spoken by 75 percent, and fifteen by 85 percent, of Africans as a first or additional language.

This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Languages_of_Africa

Latest News for: African languages

Tech savvy innovators are in a race to save their African languages and boost literacy

Quartz 20 Sep 2018

After nearly two centuries of colonization it’s perhaps unsurprising that African languages have lost their place at the high table of diplomacy, leadership, but most importantly with education ... In recent years, young Africans are experimenting with new digital platforms and technologies to save African languages and passing them on to the next generation....

Edit

Africa’s ancient practices are being digitized for the future

Quartz 20 Sep 2018

In finance, communication, and entertainment, technology has allowed African innovators to skip a step, bypassing the West in significant ways as the continent tries to catch up to more industrialized parts of the world ... Esusu serves as an illustration of how traditional African practices are being digitized for the future ... In her photography, Abot dips into folklore and myth to unpack what it means to be an African woman today....

Edit

South African Man Arrested for Racist Rant at Ramaphosa

US News 20 Sep 2018

(Note. story contains offensive language)JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A South African man was arrested and will be charged in court for posting a video... ....

Edit

Quartz Africa Innovators 2018: A list of 30 pioneers

Quartz 20 Sep 2018

These women and men show that talk of African solutions for African problems isn’t just a catchy meme ... ● How to develop an innovation culture in the African corporate environment, by Andrew Alli ... ● Tech savvy innovators are trying to save Africa’s historic languages and boost literacy, by Lynsey Chutel ... The app sends and receives messages in Bambara, Soninke, Wolof and French and Sidibe plans to add more African languages....

Edit

Malema wants language to unite Africans as kiSwahili gets dept's nod

Independent online (SA) 19 Sep 2018

Malema said this in reaction to Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga's announcement that kiSwahili will be included as an optional second additional language to be offered in South African schools ... KiSwahili is the first African language to be included in the list ... come must have a language that unites Africans like kiSwahili....

Edit

Lion King musical back on stage in Singapore

Xinhua 19 Sep 2018

Besides delicate performance and exquisite costumes, the show also features Asian-style puppets and African languages, which also contributed to the charm of the musical ... English-language newspaper The Straits Times. African languages are spoken in the show, such as the Congolese and Swahili, as this is a story happening in the African wilderness....

Edit

Africa’s most widely spoken indigenous language will be taught in South African schools

Quartz 18 Sep 2018

Starting in 2020, schools will teach Kiswahili as an optional language, making it the first African language outside South Africa to be offered in class ... This realization also arrives as African languages continue to die as governments adopt official languages while discouraging local ones, in hopes of forging a harmonized national identity....

Edit

[LISTEN] Basic Education Dept to introduce Kiswahili, coding

Eye Witness News 18 Sep 2018

The Basic Education Department wants South African learners to have the option to take up Kiswahili as a second additional language by 2020 ... ....

Edit

‘If Beale Street Could Talk’: Barry Jenkins on staying faithful to James Baldwin and #MeToo

Sacramento Bee 18 Sep 2018

James Baldwin means different things to different people ... To others, he's one of the foremost purveyors of the black experience, his mastery of language precisely capturing what life was, and is, like for African Americans in an oppressive society ... "Mr....

Edit

Unions rally around teachers following North West stabbing

Mail Guardian South Africa 18 Sep 2018

The Star. Knives out for minister ... Business Day ... The transformation of Naspers, which was founded more than a century ago to produce Dutch language newspaper De Burger, into an online-only behemoth is almost complete.President’s plan to kick-start economy unfolds ... READ MORE ... Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga announced on Monday that Kiswahili has been approved as a language that will be offered to pupils in South African schools....

Edit

Dancing at 'Oshodham' proving to be a life changing experience

Coastweek 18 Sep 2018

Combating prejudice and ending violence against Africans in India ... Distinctive African flavour permeates Nairobi Diwali celebrations ... Language Lexicon ... Indian Prime Minister Modified His Message during African Safari ... Over 105 tons of ivory burnt by Kenyans to save African elephants ... India host biggest meeting of African heads of State outside Africa ... Indian language words still flourish in East African 'lingua franca'....

Edit

GIBA concerns baseless; gov’t hits back over StarTimes’ role in DTT

Joy Online 18 Sep 2018

George Andah ... The Deputy Minister added that GIBA themselves made inputs into the DTT policy ... Read ... But GIBA believes “the Agenda of StarTimes is not only aimed at profit or the indoctrination of Chinese culture (names, language, food, etc.) and programmes, but a larger mandate to take over the control of the broadcast space in strategic African countries including Ghana, which is crucial for the China game…” ... ....

Edit

'If Beale Street Could Talk': Barry Jenkins on staying faithful to James Baldwin and #MeToo

Finger Lakes Times 18 Sep 2018

To others, he's one of the foremost purveyors of the black experience, his mastery of language precisely capturing what life was, and is, like for African Americans in an oppressive society ... Baldwin has a particular grasp of language in how he captures the human experience, and, in particular, the black experience ... I also wasn't interested in curbing Baldwin's words, the language....

Edit