Publishing in african languages read african books. World ebook librarys millennium collection offers millions of works by the greatest thinkers of the last 1,000 years, works from america, asia, africa, and europe, in over 300 different languages. Why we create storybooks in african languages dorcas wepukhulu. South african journal of african languages national inquiry. Jul 09, 2018 more than 500 languages are spoken in the african nation of nigeriaone of the highest instances of language diversity in any country on earth. It covers the four major language groupings nigercongo, nilosaharan, afroasiatic and khoisan, the core areas of modern theoretical linguistics phonology, morphology, syntax, typology, sociolinguistics, comparative linguistics, and language, history and society. What languages are spoken in which african nations. There are over 7,000 languages worldwide, and most of them are dialects.
Half of a yellow sun by chimamanda ngozi adichie, cutting for stone by abraham verghese, born a crime. Connect with friends, family and other people you know. Over 300 languages are spoken in africa, yet most africans are able to communicate with each other because they know either french, english, or their tribes have the same language. The approximately 45 atlantic languages are spoken by about 30 million people. Africa is the most linguistically diverse continent in the world, according to the uns educational, scientific and cultural organization unesco. Another hundred belong to smaller families such as ubangian sometimes grouped within nigercongo and the various families called khoisan, or the indoeuropean and austronesian language families mainly spoken outside africa. It generally appears that the official language of a country is the one in which the laws of the country are made and publicised, whereas the national language is. English in southern africa n when discussing english in africa it is important to distinguish between south africa a country, officially called the republic of south africa and southern africa a region which consists of various countries. Even for a continent with 54 very different countries, africa has a lot of languages. Revitalizing endangered languages for future generations.
The little prince is now the mosttranslated book in the world. South african journal of african languages national. Unfortunately, such libraries have not been very densely distributed in subsaharan africa easton, 2014 books for africa understands this need and the importance of providing substantial, highquality materials in building a literate environment and, indeed, contributing to. There are almost exactly one billion people living in africa, and they speak more than 2,000 languages. For us language enthusiasts, that means more languages than you can count.
One language cluster, fula also called fulani, peul, fulfulde, and. It is also widely spoken by west african expats in the us and uk. It is estimated that between 1,500 and 2,000 languages are spoken here, many with their own set of varying dialects. English is the official language of nigeria, and it is taught in schools throughout the country.
Not until one or two major african languages are standardised, taught in schools, acquired by more than 80 per cent of africans and used as common languages, the colonial languages would forever. Nigeria is said to have nearly 500, cameroon nearly 300, and three other countries over 100. A book of proverbial philosophy, idioms, enigmas, and laconisms burton, richard f. Download pdf the languages of west africa free online new. To someone expecting to work with african languages, it provides a compact. Childrens storybooks in african languages africa focus. We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families paperback by. Afroasiatic afroasiatic, also known as afrasian and in older sources as chamitosemitic or semitohamitic, is a large language family of about 300 languages that are spoken predominantly in west asia, north africa, the horn of africa and parts of the sahel. By comparison, the continent of europe has only about 300 languages. The bible is the most translated book, followed by pinocchio. Share photos and videos, send messages and get updates. More than 500 languages are spoken in the african nation of nigeriaone of the highest instances of language diversity in any country on earth. Kabuverdianu crioulo a blend of portuguese and west african words.
Despite this sonorous and rather solemn title, it turned out. Though arabic, english and french are the principal languages on the continent, knowledge of nine top african languages may be required to do business successfully on the continent. The indigenous african languages of south africa which are official, and therefore dominant, can be divided into two geographical zones, with nguni languages being predominant in the southeastern third of the country indian ocean coast and sothotswana languages being predominant in the northern third of the country located further inland. Through case studies ranging across the continent, the contributors consider multilingualism in the classroom as well as in domains ranging from music and film to politics and figurative language. Over 300 languages are spoken in africa, yet most africans are able to communicate with each other. Africas linguistic diversity can even be found among individual africans. The next largest family is afroasiatic with about 200 300 member languages in africa the afroasiatic languages in africa are found mainly in the northern regions of africa, including. Supposedly, the 300th language translation of the little prince was in hassanya, which is a north african variant of. The languages of west africa download the languages of west africa ebook pdf or read online books in pdf, epub, and mobi format.
The problem lies with book distribution rather than the book publishing sector. English, however, is not the countrys most commonly used language. States for americans to figure out who alain mabanckou isfrench being one of the most difficult and obscure african languagesbut the word is finally starting to spread. Native african languages belonging to sudanic family spoken by 90% of the population. Swahili is the most spoken language in africa, with over 100 million speakers. French in 1943, and has since been translated into 300 languages most recently into hassanya, which is a north african variant of arabic. Over 300 languages are spoken in africa, yet most africans. The languages of africa by greenberg, joseph harold, 1915publication date 1963 topics african languages. Languages of africa languages of africa over 3,000. The african writer and the english language chinua achebe in june 1962, there was a writers gathering at makerere, impressively styled. The traditional language families spoken in africa. On the basis of these figures, african languages make up no less than about 30% of all the worlds languages, in a.
African languages an introduction semantic scholar. Afroasiatic languages are spoken by some 300 million people in northern, central and eastern africa and the middle east. Language issues are often complex and controversial, particularly for many african countries where multiple languages are spoken. Afroasiatic nilosaharan nigercongo bantu khoisan indoeuropean austronesian. As soon as they were allowed to enter, the children from different classes, hurried in and took their seats. The main objective of this study is to identify examples of genetically related igbo and yoruba words that might serve as further evidence in support of some. Indeed, no one knows just how many languages there are. This book is the first general introduction to african languages and linguistics to be published in english. Popular history africa books showing 150 of 782 king leopolds ghost kindle edition by. There are about 2,000 languages in africa and of those, everybody agrees that about 300 are seriously endangered, sands said.
To make things even more confusing, in many countries the official language is not the same as the lingua franca that is, the language. Check out these 5 common languages spoken around the continent, and reasons why you should learn them. Do you know how to say book in different languages. Despite this sonorous and rather solemn title, it turned out to be a very lively affair and a very exciting and useful experience for many of us.
Africa s linguistic diversity can even be found among individual africans. Languages of africa over 3,000 languages are spoken across the continent four major language types 1. Download pdf the languages of west africa free online. We like africa and we like books so what better to feature in todays blog than books about africa. English, arabic, french, swahili and hausa are the most widespread languages in africa. The definitive reference to more than 400 languagesthi. Spoken languages of african countries nations online project. A book of proverbial philosophy, idioms, enigmas, and laconisms. First of all, south africa and then the englishspeaking countries zimbabwe, zambia, milawi and botswana. Typical of west african languages, and rarely found outside of africa, are logophoric pronouns, used in embedded clauses to mark that the subject is identical to that of the main clause. Swahili is tanzania s official language, as well as the medium of instruction in all schools. May 31, 2012 afroasiatic languages are spoken by some 300 million people in northern, central and eastern africa and the middle east. The authors of the book highlight different aspects connected to african languages and literature on the african continent and in the diaspora. Cambodian has the longest alphabet with 74 characters.
Swahili along lake tanganyika and in the bujumbura area. This book is the first typological study of these languages, which are comprised of around 375 living and extinct varieties. View notes languages of africa from afamast 1121 at ohio state university. Other people were also involved at different times in the translation of. Our collection of scholarly and academic articles have been curated from every field of study, with a extra focus on education, science, sociology. How yoruba and igbo became different languages african books. The languages spoken in africa are totally worth knowing. Our collection of scholarly and academic articles have been curated from every field of study, with a extra focus on education, science, sociology, and technology. The languages of africa are divided into five major language families. Introduction to african languages the african language. Europeanlanguage writing in subsaharan africa, volume 1 volume 6 of comparative history of literatures in european languages, issn 02380668 europeanlanguage writing in subsaharan africa, albert s.
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. Check out our list for saying book in different languages. Every year new books are published in most of the languages of south africa, in addition to the classics in languages such as isixhosa, sesotho and isizulu that have had a literary tradition dating from the 1800s. For instance, no african language is the only official. This book explores the trends, challenges, and opportunities of publishing in african languages from national, regional, and international perspectives. Languages of the world, widely regarded to be the most authoritative resource on world languages, inventorizes a total of 7,099 living languages and, for the continent of africa, its database contains records of a total of 2,143 living languages, which it further classifies as institutional. We have compiled a list of some of our favourites that have stood out over the years find more books about africa to add to your reading list here from reading them in the corridors of school to watching the films based on them to recommendations by friends and oprah. Africa is home to the highest linguistic diversity in the world, with over 2000 different languages. It evolved from the dutch vernacular of holland hollandic dialect spoken by the largely dutch settlers and then by the native africans who associated with them in the southwest of what is now south africa, where it. In africa, people speak more languages than any other continent. Find the top 100 most popular items in amazon books best sellers.
Boubacar boris diop is one of the giants of francophone african literature, and though hes never been a very prolific writer, its taken some time for the anglophone world to get around to translating him thank you, indiana university press. Click download or read online button to the languages of west africa book pdf for free now. The essays in languages in africa explore the layers of african multilingualism as they affect language policy and education. As the continent marks the year of african languages in 2006 to help promote the use of the mothertongue, does it matter if africas indigenous languages are dying out. Apr 07, 2016 there are about 2,000 languages in africa and of those, everybody agrees that about 300 are seriously endangered, sands said. Most languages spoken in africa belong to one of three large language families.
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