What Language Do West Africans Speak

What Language Do West Africans Speak?

About 10% speak Swahili the lingua franca of Southeastern Africa about 5% speak a Berber dialect and about 5% speak Hausa a West African lingua franca.

Demographics.
Arabic (North Africa Horn of Africa) 100 native + 30 secondary
Kanuri (West Africa) 4
Umbundu (Angola) 4
Northern Sotho (South Africa) 4

What is the main language spoken in West Africa?

English. In West Africa English is the primary language of many countries. Nations like Nigeria The Gambia Sierra Leone Liberia and Ghana speak it officially.

What is the most common language spoken in West Africa?

YORUBA. There are over 30 million Yoruba speakers in Nigeria Benin and Togo combined making it one of West Africa’s most spoken languages.

How many languages are in West Africa?

in West Africa. These languages are of very unequal importance. The 130 languages most spoken (with more than 200 000 speakers) represent more than 80% of the regional population i.e. 240 million people. And the first five languages alone are spoken by 120 million people (see Figure 1).

Does West Africa speak French?

the French spoken by people in West and Central Africa – spoken altogether by about 97 million people in 2018 as either a first or second language. the French variety spoken by Maghrebis and Berbers in Northwest Africa (see Maghreb French) which has about 33 million first and second language speakers in 2018.

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Is Arabic spoken in Nigeria?

The official language of Nigeria is English the language of former colonial British Nigeria. As reported in 2003 Nigerian English and Nigerian Pidgin were spoken as a second language by 100 million people in Nigeria.

Selected languages.
Language Total speakers (millions)
Arabic 1
Igala 1
French 1
Idoma 0.8

Is Swahili spoken in West Africa?

Afroasiatic languages are spread throughout Western Asia North Africa the Horn of Africa and parts of the Sahel.

Official languages.
Language Family Official status per country
Swahili Niger-Congo Kenya Rwanda Tanzania Uganda
Swati Niger-Congo Eswatini South Africa

Why do Africans speak French?

The French language was brought to the African continent through colonialism. During the 1950s and 60s France and Belgium lost control of their African colonies however French is still spoken in at least 29 African countries.

What part of Africa speaks French?

French is an official language or shares official status with other languages in Equatorial Guinea Togo Central African Republic Madagascar Cameroon Ivory Coast Burkina Faso Niger Benin Burundi Guinea Chad Rwanda Congo Mali the Seychelles Djibouti and Senegal.

Is Italian spoken in Africa?

How Many People In Africa Speak Italian? There are at least some Italian speakers or at least people who understand the language in Africa. They are found primarily in the former colonies of Italian Libya (now just Libya) and Italian East Africa (now part of Eritrea Ethiopia and Somalia).

What is the most common African language?

While Arabic is the most spoken language in Africa there’s plenty more – other popular languages include Amharic Berber Portuguese Oromo Igbo Yoruba Zulu and Shona.

How do you speak Krio?

What is the oldest language in Africa?

Africa is known for being home to some of the ancient languages in the world. Although it is hard to be certain that a particular language spoken in Africa was the oldest many people agree on the name of Ancient Egyptian. The name of the Khoisan languages also shows up often during such discussions.

What country speaks broken French?

The 29 countries are in alphabetical order: Belgium Benin Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Canada Chad the Ivory Coast the Democratic Republic of the Congo Djibouti Equatorial Guinea France Haiti Luxembourg Madagascar Mali Monaco Niger Rwanda Senegal Seychelles Switzerland Togo and Vanuatu.

What African country speaks English?

Sierra Leone and Liberia are the only countries in Africa where English is spoken as the primary language. English is the primary language of Nigeria and Ghana but the language is spoken as a lingua franca in both states.

How many West African countries speak English?

six West African countries

Because English is one of the languages spoken there six West African countries have been classified as anglophone – The Gambia Sierra Leone Liberia Ghana Nigeria and part of Cameroon – while the remaining eleven countries – Senegal Guinea-Bissau Guinea Ivory Coast Mali Togo Benin Burkina Faso Niger Chad …

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Is French spoken in Nigeria?

SOMETIMES I wonder if Nigerians are aware that the English language is not the only official language of our country Nigeria. Officially French has been the second official language in this country for the past 19 years. …

How do u say hello in Nigerian?

Sannu! A traditional Nigerian greeting used by the Idoma in Benue State area Abole translates roughly as “How are you?” or simply “Hello”. Literally translated as “how are you?” Mavo is the way the Urhobo’s say “hello”. It can be used in formal situations or in cases where you are more relaxed with acquaintances.

Is Spanish spoken in Nigeria?

The official language is English but it is spoken less frequently in rural areas and amongst people with lower education levels. Other major languages spoken include: Hausa Yoruba Igbo Fulfulde Ibibio Kanuri and Tiv.

Is Swahili similar to Zulu?

They’re really dialects of the same language they’re very closely related. Zulu speakers can understand a Xhosa speaker. But the two groups of people do not recognize this fact so they are counted as separate languages and so you have a problem with counting. I’ve seen 600 – 1000 Bantu languages.

Is Swahili a Creole language?

Thus the emergence of Swahili from the experience of slavery displacement and migration defines it as a creole language.

What language do Nigeria speak?

English

Do alot of Africans speak French?

Africans are making French a truly global language. … Measuring from 2010 to today 22.7 million more people speak French: 68% of these are sub-Saharan Africa while 22% live in North Africa. The Americas are home to 7% of the world’s French speakers while Europe is home to only 3%.

Why do some Africans speak Arabic?

This ethnic identity is a product of the Arab conquest of North Africa during the Arab–Byzantine wars and the spread of Islam to Africa. … The descendants of the original Arab settlers who continue to speak Arabic as a first language currently form the single largest population group in North Africa.

What African countries speak Spanish?

Did you know Equatorial Guinea is the only Spanish speaking country in Africa? With plenty of history this country has amazed the world thanks to its resilience and resourcefulness. Today you’ll learn about the history of Equatorial Guinea and how it turned out to be the only Spanish speaking country in Africa.

How many West African countries speak French?

29 African countries have French as a first or second or official language.

Which African countries speak Portuguese?

The Portuguese-speaking African countries also known as Lusophone Africa consist of six African countries in which the Portuguese language is an official language: Angola Cape Verde Guinea-Bissau Mozambique São Tomé and Príncipe and since 2011 Equatorial Guinea.

What African countries speak French and English?

French
Regions Country Status
Africa Rwanda co-official with English Kinyarwanda and Swahili
Senegal official Wolof most widely spoken
Seychelles co-official with English and Seychellois Creole
Togo official

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Is Latin an African language?

African Romance is poorly attested as it was mainly a spoken vernacular language a sermo rusticus. There is little doubt however that by the early 3rd century AD some native provincial variety of Latin was fully established in Africa.
African Romance
Glottolog None

Is Dalmatian still spoken?

Dalmatian (/dælˈmeɪʃən/) or Dalmatic (/dælˈmætɪk/ Dalmatian: langa dalmata or simply dalmato Italian: lingua dalmatica dalmatico Croatian: dalmatski) is an extinct Romance language that was spoken in the Dalmatia region of present-day Croatia and as far south as Kotor in Montenegro.

Dalmatian language.
Dalmatian
Linguasphere 51-AAA-t

Do African countries speak French?

Of this total 21 states are located in Africa which represents half of the world’s French speaking states and territories. There are no French speaking territories in Africa as most are located in the Americas Oceania and Europe.

French Speaking Countries in Africa.
Rank Country Population
21 Seychelles 92 900

How many written African languages are there?

Africa is a continent with a very high linguistic diversity there are an estimated 1500-2000 African languages.

What African language do they speak in Black Panther?

Although Wakanda is a fictional African nation the languages spoken there are real. In the Black Panther movie the official language of Wakanda is Xhosa – one of South Africa’s official languages.

What is the hardest language to learn in Africa?

Taa the last vital language of the Tuu language family and formerly called ʻSouthern Khoisan’ it is believed to be the world’s most difficult language. Part of the Khoisan language group and is spoken in the Kalahari Desert of Southern Africa it is also known as !

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