The Digital Polyglot - African Languages of the World

How many languages are in Africa? How many dialects are in Africa? Sources disagree on the precise numbers. The disagreement is due in part to the sometimes difficult classification of "a language" vs. "a dialect" and in part due to the continuing need for linguistic research on the continent. There are an estimated 2,000 distinct languages -- and an additional 8,000 or so dialects -- spoken in Africa. 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. Below the map, there are tables for each of these families, indicating the major branches within the family and listing some examples of languages that fall under the classification. Two other major language families have representation in Africa: AUSTRONESIAN and INDO-EUROPEAN. Malagasy is an Austronesian language spoken on the island of Madagascar. Indo-European languages such as English, French, Gujarati, Hindi, and Portuguese are spoken throughout Africa. In South Africa, there is an Indo-European-based language which originated in Africa: Afrikaans.

Adapted from David Crystal, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language,
New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Major branches of Niger-Congo language family, and examples of languages

Kordofanian	Atlantic	Ijoid	Mande	Gur	Kwa	Adamawa- Ubangi	Benue-Congo		Kru
							Bantu	Other
Koalib Katla	Fula Wolof Temne Drola Manjaku	Ijo Defaka	Bambara Mende Maninka Dyula	Moore Dagaari	Twi Fante Ewe Akan	Banda Ngbandi Ngbaka Zande Sango Gbaya	Swahili Bemba Shona Zulu Xhosa Fang Tswana Herero Luganda Kirundi Kikuyu Haya Kongo	Yoruba* Igbo* Efik Ogoni Ife Jukun	Grebo Guere Bassa Klao

*Yoruba and Igbo are sometimes classified as members of the Kwa family

Major branches of Nilo-Saharan language family, and examples of languages*

Chari-Nile					Saharan	Songhai	Maban	Fur	Komuz
Central Sudanic	Eastern Sudanic			Nubian
	Eastern Nioltic	Western Nilotic	Southern Nilotic
Lugbara Lendu Manbetu Ngambai	Maasai Samburu Turkana Teso	Dinka Nuer Luo	Kalenjin Okiek	Nubian	Kanembu Kanuri Betri	Songai Zarma	Maba Runga	Fur	Komuz

*Many of the sub-classifications and relations within this family are still under debate

Major branches of Khoisan language family, and examples of languages

Hatsa	Sandawe	Southern Africa
Hatsa	Sandawe	Central	Northern	Southern
		Nama Xun Gwi-Khwe Khoekkoe	Kung Maligo	/Xam =Hua

Major branches of Afroasiatic language family, and examples of languages*

(Egyptian)	Cushitic	Berber	Chadic	Semitic	Omotic
(Coptic)	Somali Oromo	Tuareg Tamazight Shilha Kabyle Zenaga	Hausa	(Akkadian) (Babylonian) Aramaic Modern Hebrew Arabic Amharic Tigrinya	Wolaytta

*Parentheses indicate an extinct language

Language classifications adapted from Ethnologue;
William O'Grady, Michael Dobrovolsky, and Mark Aronoff,
Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997.;
David Crystal, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language,
New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998.

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