Zambia’s official language is English, but there are more than 70 different languages and dialects spoken throughout the country. None of which are more fascinating to visitors than a few remaining click languages. The language in Namibia consists of around 30 different languages. All the indigenous languages … Africa is a continent with a very high linguistic diversity, there are an estimated 1500-2000 African languages. How many people speak German as their mother language? German is the most widely spoken mother language in the European Union and an official language in seven countries. Official Languages of Bangladesh. For people to be in a position to communicate and understand each other this system needs to be fully func- 1. tional. Many African countries became independent from the British empire in the 20th century and have continued to speak the language since. Namibia, like many other African countries, bears a complicated history. Speakers use a clicking or popping sound generated by the cheeks and tongue to accentuate their language. When Namibia was administered by South Africa, Afrikaans, German, and English enjoyed an equal status as official languages. Among the whites of Namibia, 60% speak the Afrikaans languages. The Hadza language of Tanzania and the Naro language of Botswana are two exam… Another unique thing about Namibia is the many languages spoken in the country. English is the official language in Namibia, and almost everyone that you’ll meet on your travels will speak English, even though it’s the first language of less than 1% of the country’s population. Migrant populations of workers from Ovamboland to other parts of Namibia also speak this language in their homes. read more . During the apartheid regime in Namibia, the three languages of English, German, and Afrikaans were designated as the official languages of Namibia. It is the second most spoken Semitic language in the world after Arabic, and is also the language of over 2 million Ethiopians living outside of the country. Of these languages four main groupings can be distinguished: Afro-Asiatic 100,000 people, made up mostly of the Angolan community in 2014. Portuguese. However, after Namibia gained independence from South Africa in 1990, the new government of the country allowed only the English language as the official language and mentioned the same in the constitution of the country. The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family originating from the Middle East. The Khoisan languages were once spoken across all of southern Africa from southern Angola in the west to Swaziland in the east and the Cape of Good Hope in the south (see the map).The 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, however, have witnessed the death of many of the recorded languages and dialects, and their distribution is now largely confined to Botswana and Namibia. Others include Rukwangali, Silozi, Setswana, Damara/Nama, Herero and Oshiwambo. List of official, national and spoken languages of Africa. Afrikaans, English and German (11.2%). A profile of the languages in Namibia. [4] English, the official language, is spoken by 3% of people as their native language. German is spoken by 32% of the whites, 7% speak English, and 1% speak Portuguese. English is the official language, but Namibia's relatively small population is extraordinarily diverse in language and culture. German and Afrikaans were stigmatised as having colonial overtones,[1] while the rising of Mandela's Youth League and the 1951 Defiance Campaign spread English among the masses as the language of the campaign against apartheid.[2]. Portuguese, being the official language of Angola, is used by approximately 80% of the population as either their primary or secondary language. Namibia is a relatively small country, averaging just three people per square kilometer and totaling barely over two million people, but has an incredibly diverse culture. Languages in Namibia. However, despite its sparse population, Namibia has a rich linguistic diversity and languages belonging to Indo-European, Khoisan, and Bantu families are spoken here. 7,117 languages are spoken today. Kxoe is used as a spoken, but not a written language in primary schools i.e., textbooks are in English. Before 2009, the letters k, y, and w did not … There will be no language problems for tourists who are visiting Lisbon or the surrounding coastline. Top. [5] The number of Angolans in Namibia declined from 2014 to 2015. Prior to independence, Afrikaans, along with German, had equal status in Namibia as an official language. The languages in South Africa are just as important as any other factor in understanding the essence of the country itself. As a result of the City's COVID-19 response, some in-person services have been suspended in City buildings and divisional phone line hours may be different from what is indicated. Marathi, Hindi and English constitute the major languages spoken in this city. Umbundu, Kimbundu, Kikongo, Chokwe, Kwanyama; also known as Oshikwanyama. Both major dialects have been used as … The Khoekhoe language is the second most popularly spoken indigenous language of Namibia and is spoken by about 11% of the population of Namibia. It’s estimated that up to 7,000 different languages are spoken around the world. English is the official language in Namibia, and almost everyone that you’ll meet on your travels will speak English, even though it’s the first language of less than 1% of the country’s population. It may vary from English and Chinese to French and Spanish. From secondary level English is the medium of instruction. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Khoisan people appeared in southern Africa some 60,000 years ago. Currently the most spoken language in Africa, English is spoken in more than 23 countries including Botswana, The Gambia, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, and Nigeria. The most widely spoken languages used in households are Oshiwambo dialects, by 49% of the population, Khoekhoegowab by 11%, Afrikaans by 10%, RuKwangali by 9% and Otjiherero by 9%. Namibia has a remarkable diversity of spoken languages: around 30 in total. In some African countries, such as Kenya, the mother tongue is also referred to as “ethnic”, “tribal”, “local”, and/or “vernacular” language (Cleghorn, Merritt, & Abagi, 1989). The 40 to 70 languages in the Khoisan phylum include tongues that are mostly located in southern Africa — namely parts of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Angola. Number of languages spoken in Toronto. Other than that, in Angola there are 42 local languages, one of them, Kwadi, has no known speakers and others are Khoisan, not Bantu, languages. Around 130 million people speak German as their mother language or as a second language. It became an instrument for independence and national identity and now that it is widely spoken, the gov… The language is now used in the government administration of the country and is the medium of instruction in schools and universities. During this time, the Afrikaans and English were made the official languages of the country. Himba women | Credit: Eye See Africa. Naturally, German is the primary language spoken in Germany. Naro is used as a lingua franca among speakers of other Khoisan languages.. Click here to view a compelling National Geographic multimedia presentation on the San people. The San, Nama, and Damara peoples were the indigenous inhabitants of the country. Source: africa.com. How many different languages are spoken in? Afrikaans is the only language that comes close to a lingua franca, and is spoken by most black townspeople together with English and their native language. Post author: Post published: 26 January 2021 Post category: Senza categoria Senza categoria H… These countries make up the To make things even more confusing, in many countries the official language is not the same as the lingua franca – that is, the language spoken by the majority of its citizens. Obviously the first thing you need to know in Namibia is saying hello. In fact, it’s estimated that there may be over 3,000 languages spoken in Africa! Namibia is a relatively small country, averaging just three people per square kilometer and totaling barely over two million people, but has an incredibly diverse culture. Of course, you have your typical English language, but what about the rest of them? Here is another quote. These languages are spoken by 87.8% of Namibia's speakers, and three groups speaking 'imposed languages, viz. The language is used at all levels of education and in the media. There are 12 different major ethnic groups with a large range of tribes among them, and about 30 unique languages are spoken throughout the country. It has had constitutional recognition as a national language since independence in 1990. There is no consensus among scholars about the origins and historical development of the Niger-Congo languages. More than 11 languages are indigenous to Namibia but with its cosmopolitan society, languages from around the world are spoken in Namibia. note: Namibia has 13 recognized national languages, including 10 indigenous African languages and 3 European languages Definition: This entry provides a listing of languages spoken in each country and specifies any that are official national or regional languages. City of Toronto homepage Welcome to the three one one Toronto website. To make things even more confusing, in many countries the official language is not the same as the lingua franca – that is, the language spoken by the majority of its citizens. During the apartheid regime in Namibia, the three languages of English, German, and Afrikaans were designated as the official languages of Namibia. Upon Namibian independence in 1990, English was enshrined as the nation's sole official language in the constitution of Namibia. Oshiwambo is a Bantu language spoken in southern Angola and northern Nambia by about 1.5 million people (in 2006). It is the vision of the Namibian Biodiversity Database to eventually serve biodiversity data in as many of these languages as possible. Languages Spoken in Namibia English is the official language, but Namibia's relatively small population is extraordinarily diverse in language and culture. Portuguese was spoken by 4–5% of the total population, i.e. Namibian slang) or Namlish . Hungarian serves as the native language of around 13 million native speakers. Previously known as South West Africa, it was once a German colony until it fell under South African rule in the early 1900s. L2 users: 300,000 (Crystal 2003a). Considering the relatively small size of her population (1.8 million in 2001), Namibia's people speak a surprising variety of languages - about 30. Many African countries became independent from the British empire in the 20th century and have continued to speak the language since. The six Bantu languages most widely spoken: Umbundu, Kimbundu, Kikongo, Chokwe, Kwanyama also called Oshikwanyama, and Ngangela. It is estimated that between 1,500 and 2,000 languages are spoken here, many with their own set of varying dialects. [6] Among the white population, 60% speak Afrikaans, 32% German, 7% English, and 1% Portuguese. This artical is wonderful and I got all of the information needed out of it. A regular tourist would know how to speak English, being the universal language and all, it is also the official language of the country; however, there is only a small percentage of the population who use English as their language. Namibia, a country in southern Africa, gained independence from South Africa on March 21, 1990. how many languages are spoken in portugal About; Sponsors; Contacts English, the official language, is spoken by 3% of people as their native language. Not only is Africa the second most populous continent in the world with over one billion people, but it is also home to the highest linguistic diversity in the world, with over 1500 different languages. Oshiwambo is spoken by a majority (48%) of the population of Namibia, especially the Ovambo people settled in the area previously known as Ovamboland. 100,000 p… In 1948, the apartheid regime was also applied in Namibia. The only widespread Khoisan language is Khoekhoe (also known as Khoekhoegowab, Nàmá or Damara) of Namibia, Botswana and South Africa, with a quarter of a million speakers; Sandawe in Tanzania is second in number with some 40–80,000, some monolingual; and the ǃKung language of the northern Kalahari spoken by some 16,000 or so people. The Bantu languages most widely used are –. Namibia is currently a country of 2.1 million people and is scarcely populated due to the vast Namib Desert occupying a large part of its territory. It is estimated that between 1,500 and 2,000 languages are spoken here, many with their own set of varying dialects. A language is able to survive only if its mother tongue speakers communicate in their mother tongue. Indigenous languages are included in the school syllabus at primary level. The official language, Bengali, is spoken by the vast majority of people but there are many indigenous languages spoken in some regions of the country and several foreign and immigrant languages. The Afrikaans language has about the same percentage of speakers. There are around 7.5 million first-language speakers of Portuguese although only around 25% of the total population are native Portuguese speakers. Another unique thing about Namibia is the many languages spoken in the country. The economic crisis in the neighbouring country affected the numbers. 0 0. The Khoisan, or Khoesaan, languages are generally spoken in the southwestern part of Africa, namely Angola, Botswana, and Namibia.What is probably most unique about the 50 or so Khoisan languages is that they are tonal and use clicking sounds. Several other languages are spoken by smaller percentages of the Namibian population like the Bantu languages (Fwe, Kuhane, Yeyi, Tswana, Mbukushu) and the Khoisan languages ( Naro, Kung-Ekoka, ǃXóõ, Kxoe). In 42 countries there are more than 7.5 million people who belong to a German-speaking minority. Namibia and Uruguay among states to reduce inequality on many measures, index shows Published: 9 Oct 2018 Developing nations 'making strides in cutting rich-poor gap' In order to be literate, one should not only speak well, but also know the written language, as language is the system of human expression by means of words. It’s a phoneme that has spread to languages in other families, like some of the Bantu languages. Later, the Bantu immigrants arrived in the country during the Bantu expansion. The country celebrated independence on March, 21, 1990, and has been a democratic nation ever since. Best Answers Not only is Africa the second most populous continent in the world with over one billion people, but it is also home to the highest linguistic diversity in the world, with over 1500 different languages. how many languages are spoken in brazil. As a consequence the Portuguese language is spoken in Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Principe, Guinea-Bissau, Brazil, East Timor and Macau. Almost all of the most widely spoken languages of sub-Saharan Africa belong to the Niger-Congo family, and about 600 million people (85% of Africa’s population) speak a Niger-Congo language. Currently the most spoken language in Africa, English is spoken in more than 23 countries including Botswana, The Gambia, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, and Nigeria. Namibia has a remarkable diversity of spoken languages: around 30 in total. Meanwhile, just 23 languages account for more than half the world’s population. Namibia, despite its scant population, is home to a wide diversity of languages, from multiple language families: Germanic, Bantu, and the various Khoisan families. The language is also known as Oshivambo or Ovambo. Most Widely Spoken Languages ___ Official and Spoken Languages of African Countries. The language is now used in the government administration of the country and is the medium of instruction in schools and universities. There are also lots of dialects, but they are only spoken in particular regions. Naro is used as a lingua franca among speakers of other Khoisan languages.. Click here to view a compelling National Geographic multimedia presentation on the San people. Namibia, like many other African countries, bears a complicated history. 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