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resources:language_help_-_african_languages

Resources : Language Help - African languages

Resources on various languages from the African continent, past and present.

Know of any other resources ? Feel free to add them.

General info

Web Resources for African Languages.org - “There are anywhere between 1,500 and 2,000 languages in Africa, most of which are still poorly documented. While much linguistic field work is being carried out in Africa, and thus also many publications do see the light of day, access to descriptive materials is in general hard to come by and often fragmentary. These webpages aim to simplify the finding of linguistic Africana on the net.” (Archived version of the site, via archive.org.)

Languages of Africa - Detailed basic overview at Wikipedia.

Roger Blench's publications on African (and other) linguistics - At his official site.


Ancient Egyptian

Afroasiatic and Nilo-Saharan languages

Afroasiatic Languages overview - At Web Resources for African Languages.org (archived version).

Nilo-Saharan Languages overview - At Web Resources for African Languages.org (archived version).

Article on the etymology of the word Amazigh

Traditional Berber writing script

Tifinagh writing script (a mostly Tuareg script)

Hausa is also currently (2016) available on Google Translate.


Niger-Congo languages A type

The A type of Niger-Congo languages largely corresponds to certain groups of languages found mostly throughout the southern portions of West Africa and many places throughout central Africa.

Niger-Congo Languages overview - At Web Resources for African Languages.org (archived version).

Yoruba Dictionary.com - Work in progress project, by Pamela Smith Ph.D and Adebusola Onayemi FRCPC. Yoruba to English, English to Yoruba, Yoruba names and numerals.

Dogon and Bangime Linguistics (Probably Niger-Congo group, not definitely classified.)

Dogon Languages and Linguistics - A comprehensive annotated bibliography (Probably Niger-Congo group, not definitely classified.)

Igbo and Yoruba are also currently (2016) available on Google Translate.


Niger-Congo languages B type (Bantu languages)

The B type of Niger-Congo languages mostly corresponds to the Bantu language family, found in huge parts of subsaharan Africa (especially central, southern eastern and southern Africa).

Niger-Congo Languages overview - At Web Resources for African Languages.org (archived version).

Guthrie "Narrow Bantu languages" classification

Meeussen’s rule

List of major or notable Bantu languages

A guide to the Shona language

Sesotho (Basotho) male and female names

Videos on Xhosa and other South African language pronunciations

Shina, Sotho, Svahili, Xhosa and Zulu are also currently (2016) available on Google Translate.


Khoisan languages

Khoisan languages are a group of archaic southern African languages, unrelated to the Niger-Congo language families and considered language isolates (similar to, e.g. Basque in Europe).

Map showing distribution of San languages and pronunciation of "clicks" - Map courtesy of the Working Group of Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa (WIMSA), archived version.

Khoisan Languages overview - At Web Resources for African Languages.org (archived version).

Sandawe (at Ethnologue.com) and Hadza (at Ethnologue.com) - The two small Khoisan group descended languages that exist in modern day Tanzania.


Unclassified languages and isolates

Various other languages throughout Africa that haven't been satisfyingly classified yet, or have been confirmed to be isolates largely unrelated to surrounding languages.

Remnant African Languages overview - At Web Resources for African Languages.org (archived version).

Baŋgi me, a language of unknown affiliation in Northern Mali - By Roger Blench and Mallam Dendo, Cambridge 2005. (Seemingly Dogon-related, probably Niger-Congo group, not definitely classified.)


Other African languages

Native languages that didn't originally develop on the African continent. Madagascar's Malagasy is the most prominent example, due to the Malagasy peoples' South East Asian origins.

Malagasy Dictionary and Encyclopedia of Madagascar

Malagasy is also currently (2016) available on Google Translate.


Creoles, pidgins, derivative European and Asian languages and dialects

African languages and dialects of European and Asian ancestry, African creoles and pidgins, modern African slang.

"New" Languages of Africa overview - At Web Resources for African Languages.org (archived version).

Basic article on Afrikaans (30 pages)

EasyAfrikaans.com

Afrikaans is also currently (2016) available on Google Translate.


See also

resources/language_help_-_african_languages.txt · Last modified: 2019/03/29 15:13 by 127.0.0.1

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