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  2. The number of languages natively spoken in Africa is variously estimated (depending on the delineation of language vs. dialect) at between 1,250 and 2,100, [1] and by some counts at over 3,000. [2] . Nigeria alone has over 500 languages (according to SIL Ethnologue ), [3] one of the greatest concentrations of linguistic diversity in the world.

    • Afroasiatic Languages
    • Nilo-Saharan Languages
    • Niger-Congo Languages
    • Khoe Languages
    • European Languages in Africa

    The term Afroasiatic is used to classify nearly 300 languages primarily spoken throughout the western and northern regions of Africa as well as in the Horn of Africa. About 495 million Africans speak an Afroasiatic language as their first language. Arabic has more speakers than any other Afroasiatic language on the continent. Arabic is mainly popul...

    Another major group of languages spoken on the African continent is the Nilo-Saharan group. Speakers of Nilo-Saharan languages live in 17 countries with some in the north of the continent such as Algeria and Libya, and others in the east such as Tanzania and Kenya. One of the significant tongues in this category is the Luo which is spoken by a segm...

    The Niger-Congo language group is one of Africa's most significant since it has more speakers than any of the other language groups on the continent. Globally, it is ranked third regarding native speakers and some linguists rank it first regarding the number of individual languages. Swahili is the most prominent of the Niger-Congo languages as it h...

    The Khoe language group is one of the dominant language groups in the southern section of Africa. The most prominent dialect within this group is the Nama which is spoken in Namibia. Some of the languages within this group are facing the risk of extinction as native speakers opt to use other languages such as English.

    One of the significant impacts of colonization was the introduction of European languages to Africa which are mainly used as Lingua Franca in many countries. Languages such as German, English, and French were introduced by the colonial masters to facilitate communication with the conquered communities.

  3. Jan 31, 2023 · There might be a few thousand languages spoken natively in Africa, but most of them fall neatly into just a few categories. Language scholars classify the languages of Africa into six different families, or phyla: the Niger-Congo languages, the Afroasiatic languages, the Nilo-Saharan languages, the Khoisan languages, the Austronesian languages ...

  4. May 19, 2023 · Linguists now agree that Africa is home to 2,000 distinct languages, representing nearly a third of the world’s languages – a linguistic tapestry like no other on Earth! Whether you’re honoring Africa Day on May 25 or you’re simply interested in exploring the many languages of Africa, you’re in the right place.

    • SWAHILI. Swahili is the most spoken language in Africa, with over 100 million speakers. It is a Bantu language believed to have originated from other languages, mainly Arabic, due to historical interactions between Arabs from the Middle East and East Africans.
    • AMHARIC. Amharic is the official language of Ethiopia and is the second most spoken language in the country after Oromo, with over 21 million speakers.
    • YORUBA. 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.
    • OROMO. Oromo is spoken by over 30 million people in the Horn of Africa, particularly in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Egypt. The Oromo people account for more than 40% of the Ethiopian population, and are the largest ethnic group in the country.
  5. Apr 22, 2024 · Africa is a linguistic wonderland, with over 3,000 languages spoken on the continent. Read this post to learn about the top 50 languages in Africa, all with example phrases, speaker numbers and geographical areas. You'll learn about languages as diverse as Arabic, Berber, Oromo and Swahili.

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