What is the native African language?
The Niger-Congo languages inhabit Western, Central, Eastern and Southern Africa. The most widely spoken languages of Africa, Swahili (200 million), Yoruba (45 million), Igbo (30 million), and Fula (35 million) all belong to the Niger-Congo family.
Did language begin in Africa?
A new study by a New Zealand researcher provides strong evidence for Africa as the birthplace of human language. An analysis of languages from around the world suggests that, like our genes, human speech originated — just once — in sub-Saharan Africa.
How old is the Swahili language?
Around 3,000 years ago
Around 3,000 years ago, speakers of the proto-Bantu language group began a millennia-long series of migrations; the Swahili people originate from Bantu inhabitants of the coast of Southeast Africa, in Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique. They are mainly united under the mother tongue of Kiswahili, a Bantu language.
What was the first language ever spoken?
How old is Sanskrit? As far as the world knew, Sanskrit stood as the first spoken language because it dated as back as 5000 BC.
What is the very first language?
Thus, given this evidence, Sumerian can also be considered the first language in the world. Sumerian was gradually replaced by Akkadian as a spoken language around 2000 BC, but it continued to be used as a literary, ceremonial, scientific and sacred language until the 1st century AD.
Who first spoke Swahili?
However, it is generally accepted that Swahili developed as a result of trade between the coast people of East Africa and Arabs. The first reference to define commercial relations between Arabs and the east coast of Africa dates back to the end of the 1st century A.D.
Why is Swahili close to Arabic?
It’s a rich mix of languages Swahili is predominantly a mix of local Bantu languages and Arabic. Decades of intensive trade along the East African coast resulted in this mix of cultures. Besides Arabic and Bantu, Swahili also has English, Persian, Portuguese, German and French influences due to trade contact.
What are the most popular languages in Africa?
2 AMHARIC. Amharic is the official language of Ethiopia and is the second most spoken language in the country after Oromo,with over 21 million speakers.
What is the easiest African language to learn?
Language and diplomacy.
What languages are spoken in which African nations?
– Berber (mostly, probably with regional variations). – Punic, derived from Phoenician, the language of Carthage that was still spoken in its former empire: Tunisia, Eastern Algeria, Tripolitania (later collectively known as Ifrîqiya by the Arabs), and Malta. – African Romance, at least in the cities.
What is the most common language in Africa?
Arabic. Arabic is a Semitic language and the most widely spoken language in Africa.