Pidgin - West African lingua franca. 16 November 2016. Akwasi Sarpong from Ghana and Didi Akinyelure from Nigeria speak Pidgin. The BBC is launching 11 new language services and one of them is ...Arabic is a Semitic language spoken by 150 million people in Africa, making it the most widely spoken language on the continent. Arabic speakers in Africa account …7. Berber. Berber is a group of closely connected languages often referred to as the Amazigh languages, or simply Tamazight. The languages are spoken by millions in North Africa, mainly in Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Mali, Mauritania, Burkino Faso and the Siwa Oasis of Egypt.Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa.It shares its southeastern border with Liberia, and the northern half of the nation is surrounded by Guinea.Covering a total area of 71,740 km 2 (27,699 sq mi), Sierra Leone has a tropical climate, with diverse environments ranging from savanna to …The principle languages on the continent include Arabic, French and English. Arabic was ranked the 5th most spoken language in the world by research group …West African: 1 adj of or relating to the countries or cultures or people of West Africa n a group of languages spoken in the extreme western part of West Africa …May 19, 2023 · However, indigenous languages like Zulu and Xhosa hold a central position, especially in South Africa. Afrikaans, a language rooted in Dutch, also has many speakers here, particularly in South Africa and Namibia. West African languages. West Africa is a linguistic hotspot boasting hundreds of languages in the 16 countries that make up this region. Fulani, also known as Peul or Fulbe, are a primarily Muslim people who are scattered throughout many parts of Africa, mostly in West Africa from Lake Chad in the east to the Atlantic coast. The Fulani language, known as Fula, is classified within the Atlantic branch of the Niger-Congo language family.The region may be divided into several broad physiographic regions. The northern portion of western Africa is composed of a broad band of semiarid terrain, called the western Sudan, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean on the west to the area of Lake Chad on the east, a distance of about 2,500 miles (4,000 km). It is largely a plateau of modest elevation and borders the Sahara (desert) on the ...The region of West Africa includes the southern portion of the bulge of the continent, which extends westward to the Atlantic Ocean. This region is bisected by the African Transition Zone, which borders the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. The main physical features include the Sahara Desert and the Niger River.Afrikaans, also known as Cape Dutch, is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in South Africa.Even though “The Rainbow Nation” of South Africa has 11 official languages, Afrikaans is a widely spoken language that dates back to 17 th-century Dutch.. Among South Africa’s official languages, Afrikaans and English are the only two Indo …Swahili, or Kiswahili, as the speakers of the language call it, is the most widely spoken African language south of the Sahara. It is spoken by over 100 people ...Directional approach. One common approach categorizes Africa directionally, e.g., by cardinal direction (compass direction): . North Africa lies north of the Sahara and runs along the Mediterranean coast.; West Africa is the portion roughly west of 10° east longitude, excluding Northern Africa and the Maghreb.West Africa contains large portions of the …Most spoken languages in Africa 2023. Fulani is estimated to be spoken by about 40 million people. It is a language of West African origin. It is a Senegambian language which spread out to the Fulani people consequent to migration. The language has variety in its dialects such as; Futa Toro, Futa Jallon, Masina, Sokoto and Adamawa.In West Africa, Dhar Tichitt and Oualata in present-day Mauritania figure prominently among the early urban centers, dated to 2,000 BC. About 500 stone settlements litter the region in the former savannah of the Sahara. ... In terms of number of languages, it is the largest language family in Africa and perhaps one of the largest in the world. The …Languages of Africa. Africa is home to an estimated 1000 to 2000 languages spread across the continent. A map showcasing some of the major languages of Africa by …West Africa: The 16 West African Countries, Their Language And Population. By Uzonna Anele. December 17, 2017. Western Africa comprises an area of …Jan 28, 2019 · Words uttered in the Niger-congo languages of West Africa are predominately tonal and the orature of the cultures that speak them is often stylized, epithetic, proverbial, and melodic. These are the very expanded patterns of expression on which the talking drum depends. A spoken word, given context, tone, and rhythm in a drum motif ... West Africa & the Sudan Region. The Sudan region of West Africa (not to be confused with the modern state of that name), where the Ghana Empire would develop, had been inhabited since the Neolithic period as is evidenced by Iron Age tumuli, megaliths and remains of abandoned villages. The Niger River regularly flooded parts of this dry …The history of West Africa has been divided into its prehistory, the Iron Age in Africa, the period of major polities flourishing, the colonial period, and finally the post-independence era, in which the current nations were formed. West Africa is west of an imagined north–south axis lying close to 10° east longitude, bordered by the ...See full list on culturesofwestafrica.com 4) Hausa. Hausa is a popular language in Africa that is spoken by an estimated 60 million people across West Africa and the Sahel. It is an official language in Niger and Nigeria, two of the most populous African countries, and it is also widely spoken in Benin, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Sudan, and other African countries.Languages of West Africa. Detail from the clickable map: “Traditional Language Families, Subfamilies and Major Languages Spoken in Africa” . And if it is true that “whoever acquires another language possesses another soul” * , multilingual West Africans possess many.Pidgin - West African lingua franca. 16 November 2016. Akwasi Sarpong from Ghana and Didi Akinyelure from Nigeria speak Pidgin. The BBC is launching 11 new language services and one of them is ...West Africa & the Sudan Region. The Sudan region of West Africa (not to be confused with the modern state of that name), where the Ghana Empire would develop, had been inhabited since the Neolithic period as is evidenced by Iron Age tumuli, megaliths and remains of abandoned villages. The Niger River regularly flooded parts of this dry …A woman speaking Gullah and English. Gullah (also called Gullah-English, Sea Island Creole English, and Geechee) is a creole language spoken by the Gullah people (also called "Geechees" within the community), an African-American population living in coastal regions of South Carolina and Georgia (including urban Charleston and Savannah) as well as extreme northeastern Florida and the extreme ...In West Africa children and adults use pidgins as their first language. These pidgins are now creoles – that is a language that was a pidgin but has become a first language for a new generation ...AFRICAN ENGLISH Short form AfrE. The English language as used in Africa. In principle, the term can refer to English used anywhere from the Mediterranean to the Cape of Good Hope, including in Egypt by speakers of Arabic, in Nigeria by speakers of Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba, and in the Republic of South Africa by speakers of Afrikaans, …West Africa is a region rich in natural resources with diverse cultures. The region's climate varies from tropical to sub-tropical and humid to arid. The people of West Africa are very warm ...Jun 21, 2018 ... The List of 10 Most Spoken Languages in Africa · Swahili: · Arabic: · French: · Hausa: · Yoruba: · Oromo: · Igbo: · Amharic:.Nov 16, 2022 · In West Africa, English is the primary language of many countries. Nations like Nigeria, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ghana speak it officially. 3 . Yoruba. Yoruba is considered one of ... In West Africa, Dhar Tichitt and Oualata in present-day Mauritania figure prominently among the early urban centers, dated to 2,000 BC. About 500 stone settlements litter the region in the former savannah of the Sahara. ... In terms of number of languages, it is the largest language family in Africa and perhaps one of the largest in the world. The …Mende, Temne, Kissi, Fula, Kono, and Kuranko are among the other prominent languages used in the country. 8. Liberia: Liberia, like most other West African countries, has English as its official language. To colonize Library, the American Colonization Society (ACS) enlisted black volunteers.Currency: West African CFA franc; Official language: Portuguese; Area: 36,125 square kilometers; French is the national language of many countries in West Africa except Guinea-Bissau and a few others. Most countries in West Africa were colonized by France, followed by Portugal, then Britain.The Wolof (aka Jolof or Djolof) Empire was a state on the coast of West Africa, located between the Senegal and Gambia rivers, which thrived from the mid-14th to mid-16th century CE.The empire prospered on trade thanks to the two rivers providing access to the resources of the African interior and coastal traffic, commerce which …Sep 22, 2017 ... This volume, originally published in 1970, presents a survey of the languages spoken in an area extending from the Atlantic coast at the ...The languages of West Africa by Westermann, Diedrich, 1875-1956. Publication date 1952 Topics African languages, Africa, West -- Languages Publisher London ; New York : Published for the International African Institute by the Oxford University Press CollectionLanguages of Africa. Africa is home to an estimated 1000 to 2000 languages spread across the continent. A map showcasing some of the major languages of Africa by …Cite this lesson. The growth of the Arabic language and Islamic scholarship in West Africa happened slowly by way of trade, not war. Learn how trade spreads culture as well as goods, the influence ...This makes it one of the most spoken West African languages. Unlike most Niger-Congo languages, Fula isn’t tonal. Yoruba. Another western Africa language with vast numbers of speakers is Yoruba ...First, through trade contacts along the African West coast, which occurred from the fifteenth century onward, giving rise to pidgin Englishes in West Africa. Second, native varieties in Africa are spoken by descendants of British settlers and others who shifted to English as their native language.in West Africa on the Atlantic Coast and is bordered by Chad, Cameroon, Benin, and Niger. The Igbo make up about 18% of the Nigerian population. They speak the Igbo language, which is part of the Niger-Congo language family. The majority of the Igbo today are practicing Christians. Though theyThe Akan language is the official language of Ghana. It is a significant language in West Africa and is spoken by over 20 million people. Akan is a tonal language, which means that the meaning of a word can change depending on the tone in which it is spoken. There are three main dialects of Akan: Fanti, Asante, and Akuapem.speaking West Africa, French speaking West Africa and Portuguese speaking West Africa. The need to teach indigenous West African languages and dialects to run pari pasu with foreign/second/official languages in West Africa is a panacea so as to resuscitate extinction of languages and dying cultures is advocated in this paper.In both Sierra Leone and Liberia a total of twenty-nine African languages are spoken, while in the Gambia, the smallest anglophone West African country with a ...The Kingdom of Dahomey (/ d ə ˈ h oʊ m i /) was a West African kingdom located within present-day Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. Dahomey developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in the early 17th century and became a regional power in the 18th century by expanding south to conquer key cities like Whydah belonging to the Kingdom of Whydah on the Atlantic ... ARABIC A Semitic language of West Asia and North Africa that originated in the Arabian peninsula in the early first millennium AD. It is the mother tongue of c.150 m people in Algeria, Bahrain, Chad, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen, as well as communities elsewhere in ...West Africa is home to well over 1,000 languages. On a daily basis, one person may communicate in many languages: their mother tongue; other African …Yoruba (IPA: /jōrùbá/, UK: / ˈjɒrʊbə /, [2] US: / ˈjɒrəbə /; [3] Yor. Èdè Yorùbá; Ajami: عِدعِ يوْرُبا) is a language spoken in West Africa, primarily in Southwestern and Central Nigeria. It is spoken by the ethnic Yoruba people. The number of Yoruba speakers is roughly 44 million, plus about 2 million second-language ... The Bantu migration refers to the geographic spreading over Africa, from 1000 A.D. to 1800 A.D., of the Bantu, a collection of people that spoke the Bantu language. The Bantu includes groups like the Baganda, Banyoro, Batoru of Uganda, Akam...Africa - Ethnic Groups, Cultures, Languages: Africa is now widely recognized as the birthplace of the Hominidae, the taxonomic family to which modern humans belong. Archaeological evidence indicates that the continent has been inhabited by humans and their forebears for some 4,000,000 years or more. Anatomically modern humans are …In West Africa, the languages most commonly spoken are the Niger-Congo languages which mainly, but not completely, belong to the Non-Bantu branches in the region. Nilo-Saharan, as well as Afro-Asiatic language speakers, are also found in reasonable numbers within this region of Africa.Jan 31, 2023 ... South Africa recognizes 9 Bantu languages — Xhosa, Ndebele, Zulu, Tswana, Swati, Sotho, Southern Sotho, Venda and Tsonga — as official languages ...Afroasiatic languages are spoken throughout North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Western Asia and parts of the Sahel. There are approximately 375 Afroasiatic languages spoken by over 400 million people. The main subfamilies of Afroasiatic are Berber, Chadic, Cushitic, Omotic, Egyptian and Semitic. The Languages of West Africa: Handbook of African Languages Part 2 Diedrich Westermann , M. A. Bryan Routledge , Sep 22, 2017 - Language Arts & Disciplines - 282 pagesThe Bantu languages of Central, Southern, and Eastern Africa form a sub-group of the Niger Congo branch. Khoisan gathering about thirty languages in Western part of Southern Africa. All African languages are considered official languages of the African Union : Map showing the distribution of African language families and some major African ...Jan 28, 2019 · Words uttered in the Niger-congo languages of West Africa are predominately tonal and the orature of the cultures that speak them is often stylized, epithetic, proverbial, and melodic. These are the very expanded patterns of expression on which the talking drum depends. A spoken word, given context, tone, and rhythm in a drum motif ... Askia Muhammad won control over the caravan trade routes in West Africa, but was overthrown by his own son, Askia Musa, in a coup in 1528. The Fulani, after being the first group of people in West Africa to convert to Islam, became active in supporting Islamic theology and ideology from centres such as Timbuktu. The Fula people who later became ... We sure can! West Africa is a linguistically diverse region with hundreds of languages spoken. Some of the most common West African languages include Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Fula, and Wolof. In addition, many West African countries use English, French, and Portuguese as official languages due to their colonial histories.Gullah is based on different varieties of English and languages of Central Africa and West Africa. Scholars have proposed a number of theories about the origins of Gullah and its development: Gullah developed independently on the Sea Islands off the coast of the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida throughout the 18th and 19th centuries by enslaved …The official languages of most of West Africa are either French or English, and Guinea-Bissau’s official language is Portuguese. This vestige of colonial power would seem inconsistent with the desire to be free of foreign domination. However, because often dozens to hundreds of local languages are spoken within the country, choosing the colonial …N'Ko (N'Ko: ߒߞߏ) is an alphabetic script devised by Solomana Kanté in 1949, as a modern writing system for the Manding languages of West Africa. The term N'Ko, which means I say in all Manding languages, is also used for the Manding literary standard written in the N'Ko script.. The script has a few similarities to the Arabic script, notably its direction …N'Ko (N'Ko: ߒߞߏ) is an alphabetic script devised by Solomana Kanté in 1949, as a modern writing system for the Manding languages of West Africa. The term N'Ko, which means I say in all Manding languages, is also used for the Manding literary standard written in the N'Ko script.. The script has a few similarities to the Arabic script, notably its direction …Jan 13, 2014 ... National, Official and Trade Languages in Africa ; Chad, French, Arabic, Sara and more than 120 different languages and dialects ; Comoros, Arabic ...A woman speaking Gullah and English. Gullah (also called Gullah-English, Sea Island Creole English, and Geechee) is a creole language spoken by the Gullah people (also called "Geechees" within the community), an African-American population living in coastal regions of South Carolina and Georgia (including urban Charleston and Savannah) as well as extreme northeastern Florida and the extreme ... In West Africa, the languages most commonly spoken are the Niger-Congo languages which mainly, but not completely, belong to the Non-Bantu branches in the region. Nilo-Saharan, as well as Afro-Asiatic language speakers, are also found in reasonable numbers within this region of Africa. Countries Of West Africa. Benin. Burkina Faso. Cabo Verde. Ivory Coast. Gambia. Ghana. Guinea-Bissau. Liberia. Mali. Mauritania. Nigeria. Senegal. Sierra …Dogon, ethnic group of the central plateau region of Mali that spreads across the border into Burkina Faso.There is some doubt as to the correct classification of the many dialects of the Dogon language; the language has been placed in the Mande, Gur, and other branches of the Niger-Congo language family, but its relationship to other …In West Africa, English is the primary language of many countries. Nations like Nigeria, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ghana speak it officially. 3 . Yoruba. Yoruba is considered one of ...Malawi (/ m ə ˈ l ɔː w i, m ə ˈ l ɑː w i, ˈ m æ l ə w i /; Chichewa pronunciation: or ; Tumbuka: Malaŵi), officially the Republic of Malawi and formerly known as Nyasaland, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa.It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south and southwest. Malawi spans over …Sep 22, 2017 ... This volume, originally published in 1970, presents a survey of the languages spoken in an area extending from the Atlantic coast at the ...The purpose of the Journal of West African Languages is to publish articles of good quality and interest in all aspects of language and linguistics that are ...These countries include Malawi, with 26% of English speakers in the country. In addition, Liberia has English as the official language of the country. Saint Helena, Zambia, Sudan, and Namibia have English as their official language. Tanzania, Cameroon, Mauritius, and Eritrea are African countries.The official languages of most of West Africa are either French or English, and Guinea-Bissau’s official language is Portuguese. This vestige of colonial power would seem inconsistent with the desire to be free of foreign domination. However, because often dozens to hundreds of local languages are spoken within the country, choosing the colonial …The Wolof (aka Jolof or Djolof) Empire was a state on the coast of West Africa, located between the Senegal and Gambia rivers, which thrived from the mid-14th to mid-16th century CE.The empire prospered on trade thanks to the two rivers providing access to the resources of the African interior and coastal traffic, commerce which …West Africa (see Figure 1) is a region of intense linguistic diversity. According to Ethnologue, there are more than 500 languages spoken in Nigeria (Lewis, ...The main economic activity in the region is subsistence agriculture. Minerals, diamonds, or oil are also extracted in varying amounts in West Africa. West Africa has a large …Most spoken languages in Africa 2023. Fulani is estimated to be spoken by about 40 million people. It is a language of West African origin. It is a Senegambian language which spread out to the Fulani people consequent to migration. The language has variety in its dialects such as; Futa Toro, Futa Jallon, Masina, Sokoto and Adamawa.Yoruba is one of West Africa's most spoken languages, accounting for over 30 million speakers in Nigeria, Benin and Togo, and it is one of Nigeria's official languages. It is also widely spoken by West African expats in the US and UK. It is the mother tongue of the Yoruba people in Nigeria, and has over fifteen dialects including Awori ...West African Pidgin English, also known as Guinea Coast Creole English, is a West African pidgin language lexified by English and local African languages. It originated as a language of commerce between British and African slave traders during the period of the transatlantic slave trade.As of 2017, about 75 million people in Nigeria, Cameroon, …1 Abidjan — the largest city in Cote d'Ivoire, still a West African nightlife hotspot, despite the country's political instability. 9.055556 7.491389. 2 Abuja — the purpose-built government capital of Nigeria is attractive, and remarkably safe! 5.533333 -0.216667.West African Religion (s) Culture, Religion Mia Sogoba 3 December 2018. Though a majority of West Africans have now adopted Abrahamic religions such as Islam or Christianity, there are still pockets of people who adhere to the spirituality of their ancestors. Even among those who’ve embraced imported religions, vestiges of their traditional ...Swahili, or Kiswahili, as the speakers of the language call it, is the most widely spoken African language south of the Sahara. It is spoken by over 100 people ...Oct 25, 2012 ... The languages of Africa fall into four major families, as proposed by Greenberg 1966 (cited under Lan, Africa Akan. Akan can be regarded as the main lingua franca of Ghana, although mainly in, The Fula language is a member of the Senegambian branch of the Niger–Congo languages. Fula is spoken as, West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa.The United Nations defines Western Afri, West Africa's landscape is mainly flat with coastal plains in the we, 4) Hausa. Hausa is a popular language in Africa that is spoken by an estimated 60 million people across West Africa and, 3 West African countries, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, are landlocked. West, WEST AFRICAN ENGLISH, short forms WAfrE, WAE. English as used , Yoruba language, one of a small group of languages that, A map showing the distribution of Congo Pygmies and t, The Togolese Republic, also known as Togo, sits in West Africa. It , The language of North West and its neighbouring country of Botswana, S, West Africa's pidgins have outgrown their status as , Landlocked West African nation Niger covers an area of, Satellite imagery of West Africa.. West Africa is west , The Wolof (aka Jolof or Djolof) Empire was a state on the coast of W, Many linguists argue that this early West African Creole En, Africans speaking a rich assortment of West Africa.