What are the four African language families?
Table of Contents
- 1 What are the four African language families?
- 2 What language do they speak in Atlantic?
- 3 What is the official language of Africa?
- 4 Which is the largest language group in West Africa?
- 5 Which country has the most official languages in Africa?
- 6 What are the Atlantic Congo languages?
- 7 What is the largest language family in Africa?
What are the four African language families?
The languages of Africa can be grouped into 6 major linguistic families. Each has a different history and geographic distribution on the continent. The four major families of AFRO-ASIATIC, NILO-SAHARAN, KHOISAN, and NIGER-CONGO are indicated on the map.
What language do they speak in Atlantic?
The Atlantic languages are spoken along the Atlantic coast from Senegal to Liberia, though transhumant Fula speakers have spread eastward and are found in large numbers across the Sahel, from Senegal to Nigeria, Cameroon and Sudan….West Atlantic languages.
| West Atlantic | |
|---|---|
| Glottolog | None |
What is Niger-Congo language phylum A?
1. The largest of Africa’s four language phyla. It spreads in the central African continent from Senegal to South Africa through Ghana, Cameroon, DR Congo, Kenya, Zambia, and so on. It is divided into several branches such as Atlantic, Mande, Kwa, Benue-Congo, and others.
How many languages are in the Niger-Congo family?
1,436 languages
The Niger-Congo Language family represents one of the largest groups of languages in the world. It consists of 1,436 languages and dialects spread over a relatively small geographic area (Grimes 64).
What is the official language of Africa?
Around a hundred languages are widely used for inter-ethnic communication. Arabic, Somali, Berber, Amharic, Oromo, Igbo, Swahili, Hausa, Manding, Fulani and Yoruba are spoken by tens of millions of people….Official languages.
| Afrikaans | Portuguese |
|---|---|
| English | Swahili |
| French | other languages |
Which is the largest language group in West Africa?
Niger–Congo languages
The Niger–Congo languages constitute the largest language family spoken in West Africa and perhaps the world in terms of the number of languages.
Is Swahili a Niger-Congo language?
The most widely spoken by the total number of speakers is Swahili, which is used as a lingua franca in parts of eastern and southeastern Africa….Niger–Congo languages.
| Niger–Congo | |
|---|---|
| (Hypothetical) | |
| Geographic distribution | Africa |
| Linguistic classification | Proposed language family |
| Proto-language | Proto-Niger–Congo language |
Is Twi a Niger-Congo language?
The largest language in this group is Akan, spoken in Ghana, with about 22 million speakers as of 2014, followed by Twi (9 million in 2015). Volta-Niger (also known as “West Benue-Congo” or “East Kwa”): a large linkage of West African languages, accounting for roughly 110–120 million speakers (late 2010s).
Which country has the most official languages in Africa?
Nigeria
Nigeria: And the African country with the most languages is… Nigeria. The official language is English, while 24 million people speak Igbo.
What are the Atlantic Congo languages?
The Atlantic–Congo languages are a major division constituting the core of the Niger–Congo language family of Africa, characterised by the noun class systems typical of the family. They comprise all of Niger–Congo except Mande, Dogon, Ijoid and the Katla and Rashad languages (previously classified as Kordofanian ).
What is the Niger-Congo language family?
The Niger-Congo Language family represents one of the largest groups of languages in the world. It consists of 1,436 languages and dialects spread over a relatively small geographic area (Grimes 64).
What is the core phylum of the Niger-Congo group?
The core phylum of the Niger–Congo group are the Atlantic–Congo languages. The non-Atlantic–Congo languages within Niger–Congo are grouped as Dogon, Mande, Ijo (sometimes with Defaka as Ijoid), Katla and Rashad.
What is the largest language family in Africa?
The Niger–Congo languages are the world’s largest language family and Africa’s largest in terms of geographical area, number of speakers and number of distinct languages.