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Travelogues
The African continent differs from all others by the very large number of its indigenous languages. Estimates range from 700 to 3000 different languages and dialects. Such a high number testifies to the high degree of isolation in which the respective communities developed their specific languages.
Family |
Branch |
Group |
Language |
Remarks |
Afro-asiatic |
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| Anc. Egyptian | . | . | Extinct | |
| Semitic | North | Akkadian (Assyro-Babylon) | Extinct | |
| Center | Phoenician | Extinct | ||
| Aramaic | Extinct | |||
| Hebrew | Israel | |||
| South-Center | Arabic | . | ||
| South | Sabaean, Ge'ez | Extinct | ||
| Amharic | Ethiopia | |||
| Tigrinya, Tigré | Eritrea | |||
| Berber | . | Tuareg | Maghreb | |
| Cushitic | . | Afar, Issa, Orominga, Somali | Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia | |
| Chadic | . | Hausa | . | |
| Nilo-Saharan | Saharan | . | .Songhai, Kanuri | . |
| Chari-Nile | Nubian | . | Coptic alphabet | |
| Nilotic | Dinka, Massai, Nuer, Shilluk, Acholi, Luo | Passive voice | ||
| Niger-Congo | ||||
| Kordofanian | . | 30 | Sudan | |
| Mande | . | Malinke, Bambara, Soninke, Dyula (Senegal, Mali, Guinea), Mende (Sierra Leone), Kpelle (Liberia) | . | |
| Benue-Congo | ||||
| Bantu - east | Swahili & Sukuma (Tanzania), Kikuyu (Kenya), Ganda (Uganda), Nyanja (Malawi), Shona (Zimbabwe), Bemba (Zambia), Ovango (Namibia), Zulu & Xhosa (South Africa), Makua (Mozambique), SeSotho (Lesotho), SiSwati (Swaziland) | . | ||
| Bantu - west | Herero (Namibia), Tonga (Zimbabwe).Kimbundu & Umbundu (Angola), Rwanda (Rwanda), Rundi (Burundi), Kongo (Congo), Fang & Bulu Cameroun, Tswana (South Africa) | . | ||
| Sudanic | . | Yoruba, Igbo, Edo | . | |
| Kwa | . | Ewe (Togo &Ghana), Asante, Fante, Twi (Ghana), Anyi, Baule (Côte d'Ivoire) | . | |
| Gur | . | More, Bariba, Gurma | . | |
| Ubangi | . | Zande, Banda, Ngbandi | . | |
| Adamawa | . | Waja, Mumuye, Mbum | . | |
| Atlantic | . | Teme (Sierra Leone), Wolof (Senegal), Fulani (guinea, Nigeria, Cameroun) | . | |
| Khoisan | San | . | Nama, Sandawe, Hadza | Clicks |
| Khoikhoi | . | Aven, Gwi, Heikum, Kung, Naron | Clicks | |
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