Bantu languagesLarge language family spoken in Sub-Saharan AfricaThe Bantu languages (UK: , US: Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀) are a language family, or a branch of the proposed Niger-Congo language family, containing about 600 languages that are spoken by the Bantu peoples of Central, Southern, Eastern and SoutheastAfrica. They form the largest branch of the Southern Bantoid languages.
Language isolateLanguage that has no demonstrable genetic relationship with other languagesLocations of a few examples of language isolatesA language isolate, sometimes called an isolated language, is a language that has no demonstrable genealogical relationship with any other language. That is, an isolate is a language family that only contains one member.
Cushitic languagesThe Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken primarily in the Horn of Africa, with minorities speaking Cushitic languages to the north in Egypt and Sudan, and to the south in Kenya and Tanzania. As of 2012, the Cushitic languages with over one million speakers were Oromo, Somali, Beja, Afar, Hadiyya, Kambaata, and Sidama.
Semitic languagesThe Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They include Arabic, Amharic, Tigrinya, Tigre, Aramaic, Hebrew, Maltese, Modern South Arabian languages and numerous other ancient and modern languages. They are spoken by more than 460 million people across much of West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Malta, and in large immigrant and expatriate communities in North America, Europe, and Australasia.
Nilotic languagesThe Nilotic languages are languages spoken across wide areas between Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania by the Nilotic peoples. EtymologyThe word Nilotic means of or relating to the Nile River or to the Nile region of Africa. The Nile River runs from Rwanda through various countries down to Egypt.
Bena languageBena is a Bantu language spoken by the Bena people of the Iringa region of Tanzania. PhonologyConsonantsVoiceless sounds almost always occur as aspirated stops; [pʰ, tʰ, kʰ].
English languageWest Germanic languageEnglish is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family that emerged in early medieval England and has since become a global lingua franca. The language is named after the Angles, one of the Germanic peoples who migrated to Britain after the end of Roman rule.
TanzaniaTanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest, Kenya to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the east, Mozambique and Malawi to the south, Zambia to the southwest, and Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west.
Tanganyika TerritoryToday part ofTanzaniaTanganyika was a colonial territory in East Africa which was administered by the United Kingdom in various forms from 1916 until 1961. It was initially administered under military occupation. From 20 July 1922, it was formalised into a League of Nations mandate under British rule. From 1946, it was administered by the UK as a United Nations trust territory. It bordered British East Africa to the North East.
MultilingualismMultilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are only two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all Europeans claim to speak at least one language other than their mother tongue, but many read and write in one language.
SwahiliSwahili, also known as Kiswahili, is a Bantu language of the Atlantic–Congo language family, originally spoken by the Swahili people, who are found primarily in Tanzania, Kenya, and Mozambique (along the East African coast and adjacent littoral islands). Estimates of the number of Swahili speakers, including both native and second-language speakers, generally range from 40 million to 200 million. Most native speakers reside in Tanzania and Kenya.
Lingua francaConcept in linguisticsFrench dictionary printed in 1830 detailing the A lingua franca (; lit.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.