Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...
is a diverse country linguistically. Of those,
French is the
official language
An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...
, and most of the
indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention
*Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band
*Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
languages are considered
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 te ...
s.
Of the Beninese languages,
Fon (a
Gbe language
The Gbe languages (pronounced ) form a cluster of about twenty related languages stretching across the area between eastern Ghana and western Nigeria. The total number of speakers of Gbe languages is between four and eight million. The most widel ...
) and
Yoruba
The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...
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
The Gur languages, also known as Central Gur or Mabia, belong to the Niger–Congo languages. They are spoken in the Sahelian and savanna regions of West Africa, namely: in most areas of Burkina Faso, and in south-central Mali, northeastern ...
) and
Fulfulde
Fula ,Laurie Bauer, 2007, ''The Linguistics Student’s Handbook'', Edinburgh also known as Fulani or Fulah (, , ; Adlam: , , ), is a Senegambian language spoken by around 30 million people as a set of various dialects in a continuum that stre ...
.
Education for the deaf in
Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...
uses
American Sign Language
American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual lang ...
, introduced by the deaf American missionary
Andrew Foster.
The
multilingual
Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...
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
polyglot
Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingualism, monolingual speakers in the World population, world's pop ...
s.
[
]
French
The sole official language of Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...
is French, according to title I, article I of the Constitution of Benin
The Constitution of Benin was adopted by referendum on 23 December 1956. The constitution is made up of a preamble, twelve titles, and 160 articles.
Preamble
(Preamble text comes from thEnglish translationof the Beninese Constitution via the Const ...
. French was introduced during the colonial period and retained as the official language upon independence. Today it is an important lingua franca
A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...
between diverse ethnic groups. According to Ethnologue
''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensiv ...
, it is spoken by 3.8 million people (2016) out of the total population of more than 10 million. For the majority of French speakers in Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...
it is the second language.
It is important to know French to get an administrative position or work in the cities in general, and speaking it is a mark of prestige. According to a study by Amadou Sanni and Mahouton Atodjinou in 2012, it is estimated that Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...
will be completely Francophone by 2060. The authors note that, in 2002, 43 percent of men spoke the language compared to 25.8 percent of women. In 2002, more than half of the residents of Cotonou
Cotonou (; fon, Kútɔ̀nú) is a city in Benin. Its official population count was 679,012 inhabitants in 2012; however, over two million people live in the larger urban area.
The urban area continues to expand, notably toward the west. The ci ...
spoke French.
Most printed media outlets are in French. The Constitution grants freedom of expression. Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...
is a member of the Organisation internationale de la francophonie
The (OIF; sometimes shortened to the Francophonie, french: La Francophonie , but also called International Organisation of in English-language context) is an international organization representing countries and regions where French is a ...
. The region of Benin Gi-Mono is a member of the International Association of Francophone regions.
A unique variety of French called ''français d'Afrique'' has developed in the streets and markets of Cotonou. Grammatical structures are typically borrowed from the speaker's first language. It is especially the conjugation rules that have been changed the most, especially the less common forms like the literary style. It has an almost argotic character.[
]
National languages
According to title II, article 11 of the Constitution, all communities comprising the Béninese nation shall enjoy the freedom to use their spoken and written languages and to develop their own culture while respecting those of others, and the State must promote the development of national languages of intercommunication.
Fon is the most widely spoken indigenous language, spoken by 24% of the population. It is the first language of more than 17% of Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...
's population. The language is mainly spoken in the Atlantique, Littoral
The littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely inundated), to coastal areas ...
, Collines and Zou Department
Zou is one of the twelve departments of Benin, named for the Zou River which travels through the department before emptying into the Atlantic in the south of the country. The department of Zou was split in two in 1999, with the northern territor ...
s.
Other important languages are Yoruba
The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...
, Bariba, Mina, Dendi, Mokole and Yom
Yom ( he, יום) is a Biblical Hebrew word which occurs in the Hebrew Bible. The word means day in both Modern and Biblical Hebrew.
Overview
Although ''yom'' is commonly rendered as day in English translations, the word yom can be used in differ ...
.[ ]Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...
implemented a National Literacy and Adult Education Policy, which allowed adult speakers of national languages to use their languages for cultural advancement.
In the capital of Porto Novo
Porto-Novo (Portuguese: "New Port", , ; yo, Àjàṣẹ́, ), also known as Hogbonu and Ajashe, is the capital of Benin. The commune covers an area of and as of 2002 had a population of 223,552 people.
Situated on an inlet of the Gulf of G ...
, the two main ethnolinguistic groups are Yoruba
The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...
and Gun-Gbe, with the smaller population of Wemi, Seto
Seto may refer to:
Places
* Seto, Aichi, production place of Japanese pottery and venue of Expo 2005
* Seto, Ehime, facing the Seto Inland Sea
*Seto, Okayama, adjacent to Okayama, in Okayama Prefecture
*Seto Inland Sea of Japan
* Setomaa (''Seto ...
, Tori, Xwala, Defi, and Tofin speakers. Yoruba newspapers from neighboring Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
are popular.[
]
Vulnerable, threatened, and endangered languages
* Aguna, also called Awuna or Agunaco, is a threatened Kwa language with currently 3,470 native speakers worldwide.
* Anii, also called Gisida, Basila, Bassila, Baseca, "Winji-Winji", "Ouinji-Ouinji", or Akpe, is a vulnerable Kwa language, estimated to be <25,000 native speakers worldwide as of 1996 to as much as 50,000 as of 2003-2007. It contains the dialects and variants Ananjubi, Balanka, Akpe, Gikolodjya, Gilempla, Gisème and Giseda.
* Gwamhi-Wuri, also known as Lyase, Lyase-Ne, Gwamhyə-Wuri-Mba, Gwamfi, or "Banganci", is a vulnerable Kainji language with anywhere from 1,838 to 16,000 native speakers worldwide as of 2000. It contains the dialects and variants Wuri, Gwamhyə and Mba.
* Miyobe
Miyobe or Soruba is an unclassified Niger-Congo language of Benin and Togo.
Güldemann (2018) notes that Miyobe cannot be securely classified within Gur, and leaves it out as unclassified within Niger-Congo. Unlike the Gur languages, which are ...
, also known as Soruba, Mi yɔbɛ, Bijobe, Biyobe, Sorouba, Solla, Uyobe, Meyobe, Kayobe, Kuyobe, Sola, Solamba, or Kyobe, is a threatened Gur language with 8,700 native speakers worldwide, 7,000 of them in Benin as of 1991.
* Notre, also dubbed Nõtre, Bulba, Nootre, Burusa, or Boulba, is a vulnerable Gur language estimated to number anywhere from 1,500 to 2,368 speakers, as of 2002 and 1996, respectively.
* Tchumbuli, also known as Basa, Tshummbuli, Chombulon, or Tchombolo, is a severely endangered Kwa language, with anywhere from 1,838 to 2,500 speakers. Dialects and variants include Cobecha and Tchumbuli.
Orthographies
The orthographies of the national languages of Benin are codified and periodically updated by the Ministry of Literacy and Promotion of National Languages (Ministère de l’Alphabétisation et de la Promotion des langues nationales) and the National Center for Applied Linguistics (Centre national de linguistique appliquée).
A common alphabet for the national languages of Benin is based on the Latin alphabet, with the addition of the letters Ɓ ɓ, Ɖ ɖ, Ɗ ɗ, Ɛ ɛ, Ǝ ǝ, Ƒ ƒ, Ɣ ɣ, Ɩ ɩ, Ŋ ŋ, Ɔ ɔ, Ʊ ʊ, Ʋ ʋ, Ƴ ƴ, and Ʒ ʒ. Diacritical marks are used for marking tone and nasalization:
Not all the letters and the marks are used in all languages.
Foreign languages
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
is studied as a foreign language in secondary schools. There is a high demand for English teachers in Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...
. English is emerging as an important language of trade in Benin due to its being the national tongue of Benin's regionally powerful neighbor Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
.
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
is taught and German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
is also taught in many Beninese secondary schools.
External links
* http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/country/Benin
References
{{Benin topics