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The number of languages natively spoken in Africa is variously estimated (depending on the delineation of language vs. dialect) at between 1,250 and 2,100, [1] and by some counts at over 3,000. [2] Nigeria alone has over 500 languages (according to SIL Ethnologue), [3] one of the greatest concentrations of linguistic diversity in the world.
For greater detail, see Distribution of languages in the world. This is a list of languages by total number of speakers. It is difficult to define what constitutes a language as opposed to a dialect. For example, Chinese and Arabic are sometimes considered single languages, but each includes several mutually unintelligible varieties, and so ...
This is a list of countries by number of languages according to the 22nd edition of Ethnologue (2019). [ 1 ] Papua New Guinea has the largest number of languages in the world.
The following languages are listed as having at least 50 million first-language speakers in the 27th edition of Ethnologue published in 2024. [7] This section does not include entries that Ethnologue identifies as macrolanguages encompassing all their respective varieties, such as Arabic, Lahnda, Persian, Malay, Pashto, and Chinese.
Part of the Bible in Bemba language was first published in 1904, followed by the New Testament in 1916, and the entire Bible in 1956. Currently a revision is in progress. Paul Mushindo and the Scottish missionary Robert McMinn worked together on Bible translation into the Bemba language for more than twenty years. [2]
[1] [10] Amharic is the largest, most widely spoken language in Ethiopia, and the second most spoken mother-tongue in Ethiopia (after Oromo). Amharic is also the second most widely spoken Semitic language in the world (after Arabic). [11] [12] Amharic is written left-to-right using a system that grew out of the Geʽez script. [13]
The Ijoid languages are spoken across the Niger Delta region and include Ịjọ (Ijaw), Kalabari, and the intriguing remnant language Defaka. The Ibibio language is spoken across the coastal southeastern part of Nigeria and includes the dialects Oron, Annang, and Efik proper. The single Gur language spoken is Baatọnun, in the extreme Northwest.
[55] [54] Arabic, spoken in both Asia and Africa, is by far the most widely spoken Afroasiatic language today, [4] with around 300 million native speakers, while the Ethiopian Amharic language has around 25 million; collectively, Semitic is the largest branch of Afroasiatic by number of current speakers. [7]