|
Languages Of The African Union
The languages of the African Union are languages used by citizens within the member states of the African Union (AU). For languages of the institution, see African Union#Languages, African Union: Languages. Overview The African Union has not legally defined specific working languages, though they do say that the working languages "shall be, if possible, African languages, Arabic language, Arabic, English language, English, French language, French and Portuguese language, Portuguese." The prominence of Arabic in many African countries is due to the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb, Arab expansion into Africa from the 7th century, with subsequent Arabization of local populations. Indo-European languages were introduced during the Colonisation of Africa, European colonisation from the 15th century. In 2001, the AU created the African Academy of Languages (ACALAN) to Language policy, harmonize the various languages across the continent and Language revival, safeguard any that are on th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
African Union
The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The bloc was founded on 26 May 2001 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and launched on 9 July 2002 in Durban, South Africa. The intention of the AU was to replace the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa by 32 signatory governments; the OAU was disbanded on 9 July 2002. The most important decisions of the AU are made by the Assembly of the African Union, a semi-annual meeting of the heads of state and government of its member states. The AU's secretariat, the African Union Commission, is based in Addis Ababa. The largest city in the AU is Lagos, Nigeria, while the largest urban agglomeration is Cairo, Egypt. The African Union has more than 1.3 billion people and an area of around and includes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Constitution Of Algeria
An Algerian Constitution was first adopted by a referendum in 1963, following the Algerian War of Independence (1954–62); originally, it was to be drafted by a constitutional assembly led by Ferhat Abbas, but this body was sidelined by Algeria's first President, Ahmed Ben Bella. In its 1963 form, the constitution declared Algeria a one-party state ruled by the former resistance movement, the National Liberation Front (FLN). This constitution was suspended by the military coup d'état of 1965. After years of ruling by executive fiat as leader of the Revolutionary Council, Houari Boumédienne issued a second constitution in 1976, emphasizing the importance of socialism and - formally - restoring political institutions to their primacy over the military establishment. (Boumédienne was then elected the country's second president, after having left the post vacant for eleven years.) In 1986, Boumedienne's successor Chadli Bendjedid modified the constitution to allow for free-market ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Languages Of Botswana
The official language of Botswana is English, while Tswana is considered to be a national language. English, which was inherited from colonial rule, is the language of official business and most written communication. Most of the population speak Tswana, but over 20 smaller languages are also spoken. Some of the country's languages are in danger of becoming extinct. Official and national languages The official written language of Botswana is English. Most written communication and official business texts are written in English. The language of the Tswana people—''Setswana''—is the country's national language, and is spoken by most of the population. Other languages Aside from English and Setswana, other languages are spoken in the country. Over 90% of the population speak a Bantu language as their first language. According to the CIA's ''World Factbook'', the most common Bantu languages spoken are Setswana (77.3% of the population), Kalanga (7.4%), Kgalagadi (3.4%), Shon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Language
A national language is a language (or language variant, e.g. dialect) that has some connection—de facto or de jure—with a nation. There is little consistency in the use of this term. One or more languages spoken as first languages in the territory of a country may be referred to informally or designated in legislation as national languages of the country. National languages are mentioned in over 150 world constitutions. C.M.B. Brann, with particular reference to India, suggests that there are "four quite distinctive meanings" for national language in a polity: *"Territorial language" (''chthonolect'', sometimes known as ''chtonolect'') of a particular people *"Regional language" (''choralect'') *"Language-in-common or community language" (''demolect'') used throughout a country *"Central language" (''politolect'') used by government and perhaps having a symbolic value. The last is usually given the title of official language. In some cases (e.g., the Philippines), several l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tswana Language
Tswana, also known by its Endonym and exonym, native name , and previously spelled Sechuana in English, is a Bantu language spoken in Southern Africa by about 8.2 million people. It belongs to the Bantu languages, Bantu language family within the Sotho-Tswana languages, Sotho-Tswana branch of Guthrie classification of Bantu languages#Zone S, Zone S (S.30), and is closely related to the Northern Sotho language, Northern Sotho and Sotho language, Southern Sotho languages, as well as the Kgalagadi language and the Lozi language. Setswana is an official language of Botswana and South Africa. It is a lingua franca in Botswana and parts of South Africa, particularly North West Province. Tswana tribes are found in more than two provinces of South Africa, primarily in the North West (South African province), North West, where about four million people speak the language. An urbanised variety, which is part slang and not the formal Setswana, is known as Pretoria Sotho, and is the prin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Languages Of Benin
Benin is a diverse country linguistically. Of those, French is the official language, and most of the indigenous languages are considered national languages. Of the Beninese languages, Fon (a Gbe language) and Yoruba are the most important in the south of the country. In the north there are half a dozen regionally important languages, including Bariba (a Gur language) and Fulfulde. Education for the deaf in Benin uses American Sign Language, introduced by the deaf American missionary Andrew Foster. The multilingual character of Beninese society is characterized by the number of languages spoken, ethno-linguistic diversity, stratification of language use (whereby French is used officially and other languages used in other spheres of activity), and by the fact that many Beninese are polyglots. French The sole official language of Benin is French, according to title I, article I of the Constitution of Benin. French was introduced during the colonial period and retained as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yoruba Language
Yoruba (, ; Yor. '; Ajami script, Ajami: ) is a language spoken in West Africa, primarily in South West (Nigeria), Southwestern Middle Belt, and Central Nigeria. It is spoken by the Ethnic group, ethnic Yoruba people. The number of Yoruba speakers is roughly 50 million, plus about 2 million second-language speakers. As a pluricentric language, it is primarily spoken in a dialectal area spanning Nigeria and Benin with smaller migrated communities in Côte d'Ivoire, Sierra Leone and The Gambia. Yoruba vocabulary is also used in the Afro-Brazilian religion known as Candomblé, in the Caribbean religion of Santería in the form of the liturgical Lucumí language and various Afro-American religions of North America. Practitioners of these religions in the Americas no longer speak or understand the Yorùbá language, rather they use remnants of Yorùbá language for singing songs that for them are shrouded in mystery. Usage of a lexicon of Yorùbá words and short phrases during ritua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fon Language
Fon (, ) is spoken in Benin, Nigeria, Togo, Ghana and Gabon by approximately 1.7 million speakers, and is the language of the Fon people. Like the other Gbe languages, Fon is an isolating language with an SVO basic word order. Cultural and legal status In Benin, French is the official language, while Fon and other indigenous languages, including the Yom and Yoruba languages, are classified as national languages. Grammar Dialects The standardized Fon language is part of the Fon cluster of languages inside the Eastern Gbe languages. Hounkpati B Christophe Capo groups Agbome, Kpase, Gun, Maxi and Weme (Ouémé) in the Fon dialect cluster, although other clusterings are suggested. Standard Fon is the primary target of language planning efforts in Benin, although separate efforts exists for Gun, Gen, and other languages of the country. To date, there are about 53 different dialects of the Fon language spoken throughout Benin. Phonology Vowels Fon has seven oral vowel phone ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Languages Of Angola
Portuguese is the only official language of Angola, but 46 other languages are spoken in the country, mostly Bantu languages. Six of these have the benefit of an institutional status in Angola: Umbundu, Kimbundu, Kikongo, Chokwe, Ngangela and Kwanyama. European languages Portuguese is the sole official language. Due to cultural, social and political mechanisms which date back to the colonial history, the number of native Portuguese speakers is large and growing. A 2012 study by the Angolan National Institute for Statistics found that Portuguese is the mother tongue of 39% of the population. It is spoken as a second language by many more throughout the country, and younger urban generations are moving towards the dominant or exclusive use of Portuguese. The 2014 population census found that about 71% of the nearly 25.8 million inhabitants of Angola speak Portuguese at home. In urban areas, 85% of the population declared to speak Portuguese at home in the 2014 census, agains ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Khoisan Languages
The Khoisan languages (; also Khoesan or Khoesaan) are a group of African languages originally classified together by Joseph Greenberg. Khoisan languages share click consonants and do not belong to other African language families. For much of the 20th century, they were thought to be genealogically related to each other, but this is no longer accepted. They are now held to comprise three distinct language families and two language isolates. All Khoisan languages but two are indigenous to southern Africa and belong to three language families. The Khoe family appears to have migrated to southern Africa not long before the Bantu expansion. Ethnically, their speakers are the Khoikhoi and the San (Bushmen). Two languages of east Africa, those of the Sandawe and Hadza, originally were also classified as Khoisan, although their speakers are ethnically neither Khoikhoi nor San. Before the Bantu expansion, Khoisan languages, or languages like them, were likely spread throughout sou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bantu Languages
The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀) are a large family of languages spoken by the Bantu people of Central, Southern, Eastern africa and Southeast Africa. They form the largest branch of the Southern Bantoid languages. The total number of Bantu languages ranges in the hundreds, depending on the definition of "language" versus "dialect", and is estimated at between 440 and 680 distinct languages."Guthrie (1967-71) names some 440 Bantu 'varieties', Grimes (2000) has 501 (minus a few 'extinct' or 'almost extinct'), Bastin ''et al.'' (1999) have 542, Maho (this volume) has some 660, and Mann ''et al.'' (1987) have ''c.'' 680." Derek Nurse, 2006, "Bantu Languages", in the ''Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics'', p. 2:Ethnologue report for Southern Bantoid" lists a total of 535 languages. The count includes 13 Mbam languages, which are not always included under "Narrow Bantu". For Bantuic, Linguasphere has 260 outer languages (which are equivalent to languages ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Languages Of Algeria
The official languages of Algeria are Arabic and Tamazight (Berber), as specified in its constitution since 1963 for the former and since 2016 for the latter. Berber has been recognized as a "national language" by constitutional amendment since 8 May 2002. In February, 2016, a constitutional resolution was passed making Berber an official language alongside Arabic. Algerian Arabic and Berber are the native languages of over 99% of Algerians, with Algerian Arabic spoken by about 90% and Berber by 10%."Aujourd'hui, la majorité des Algériens sont arabophones dans une proportion de 72 %. Parmi les Arabophones, c'est l'arabe algérien qui dominent nettement avec 60 % de la population totale et 83,2 % des arabophones. Les autres arabophones parlent le hassaniyya (11,3 %), l'arabe marocain (0,4 %), l'arabe du Sahara (0,1 %), l'arabe égyptien, voire l'arabe irakien. Toutes les variétés d'arabe appartiennent au groupe sémitique de la famille chamito-sémitique. Mais tous les arabop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
