Chad’s official languages are French and Arabic, but the reality is much more hierarchical.
More than 100 indigenous languages are spoken throughout the country. Chad’s Arabic serves as a lingua franca for cross-ethnic trade and daily interactions, and the Salah dominates the south. Languages such as Kujarge, spoken by only a few thousand people near the Sudanese border, and Bejondo, which is increasingly threatened as younger generations move on to more dominant languages, are on the periphery.
There are 128 languages in Tanzania. Held together in Swahili It is used as a unified national language in politics and elementary education. Although English is still used in secondary education and the high courts, native languages such as Sukma and Chagga are spoken by millions of people.
The country also has endangered languages, such as Akie, spoken by a dwindling hunter-gatherer population, and Dahalo, spoken by fewer than 500 people and featuring rare click consonants.
Ethiopia’s 92 languages are dominated by African language families, with Oromo and Amharic serving as the two most widely spoken official languages of the federal government.
Somali and Tigrinya are the main regional languages. At the other end of the scale are languages such as Ongota, a dying language in southwestern Ethiopia with only a few elderly speakers, and Komo, spoken in several communities along the Sudanese border.
west african mosaic
The official language of Ivory Coast is French, but Dioula serves as a cross-ethnic trade language. Baole is one of the most commonly spoken indigenous languages in the central region.
The country’s 88 languages also include endangered languages, such as Eotile on the coast and Mbre, an isolated language spoken in small communities in the center of the country with no known linguistic relatives.
Ghana’s 83 languages lag behind English, the official language. The Akan languages Twi and Fante are the most widely spoken indigenous languages in the south, while Dagbani and Ewe predominate in the north and east, respectively.
Languages such as Dompo, which has fewer than 1,000 speakers in the Brong-Ahafo region, and Animele, which has fewer than 700 speakers near the Togo border, face a precarious future.
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To the Nile and beyond
Sudan’s linguistic identity is shaped by Arabic, spoken in both standard and local dialects, and English, which retains importance in education and government. The country’s 75 languages include major indigenous languages, such as Beja in the east and Nubian, along the Nile, as well as isolated languages such as Midovite, spoken in small communities in Darfur, and Tima, an endangered language in the Nuba Mountains.
South Sudan, the youngest country on the list, designated English as its official language after independence in an effort to break away from the influence of Arabic in the north. But the country’s 73 languages tell a different story.
While Dinka and Nuer are the main languages spoken by millions of people, smaller community languages such as Silk and Baari sit alongside weaker languages such as Tenet, spoken by thousands in the south, and Indri, spoken by only a few hundred people near the Ugandan border.
In all these countries, language loss is visible in the gap between the dominant language and a small number of older speakers who keep the ancient vocabulary alive. International Mother Language Day puts a date on the calendar to celebrate its existence. You can’t stop the clock.
