African Languages: The Most Spoken Languages in Africa

Africa is believed to be where early humans first emerged and spread across the globe. So, it’s only natural that the continent would have a rich linguistic heritage. Some of the earliest spoken tongues make up the languages in Africa.Whether you are planning a trip to the continent, want to reconnect with relatives abroad, or you are simply curious, we’ll help you understand how many languages there are in Africa, provide some historical context for various cultures, and discuss the most commonly spoken languages in Africa.

How Many Languages Are There In Africa?

Africa has 54 countries. So, you’d figure there are around 50 languages, maybe 60 or 70 based on different dialects…right?

Nope. Way off, actually! The African continent is home to nearly 2,000 languages, and some linguistic experts put the number closer to 3,000 if you count different dialects of the same language. The truth is, it’s hard to get an exact number of how many languages there are in Africa, simply because some of them are spoken in extremely remote regions

African Languages List: The Most Common Languages in Africa

Since a complete list of every language spoken on the African continent could easily exceed 2,500, let’s look at the African languages in a different way – here’s a list of some of the most spoken languages in Africa, along with a group that grew out of those languages that are now spoken throughout the world.

The Swahili Language

Spoken in many African countries, the Swahili language has Arabic roots and began as a trading language between the Bantu people of the East African coast and traders from Arabia and Persia. You might recognize the word safari, a Swahili word that originated from the Arabic word “safar” (سفر), meaning “journey” or “travel.” To learn more Swahili or Arabic, check out Pimsleur’s All Access subscription which allows you to learn both at once, along with many more. If you’re traveling too fast on your safari, a friend might say polepole, which means “slow down.”  When you get to where you’re going, make sure to say jambo, or “hello,” and when you’re ready to go, say kwa heri, or “goodbye.”  If you’re having trouble getting started on something daunting, it’s good to remember Haba na haba hujaza kibaba, which means “Little by little, the pot is filled.”  Here’s an example of someone speaking Swahili:

The Zulu Language

The Zulu language is spoken by the Zulu people of South Africa.  The language was first documented by European missionaries who wrote it using phonetic Latin script.  If you wanted to wish someone a happy birthday in Zulu, you’d say, Halala ngosuku lokuzalwa!  And if someone wished you a happy birthday, you’d thank them by saying ngiyabonga.  Here’s an example of someone speaking Zulu:

In terms of language structure, vocabulary, and pronunciation, Zulu is one of the most unusual of all the African languages, and also the world!

The Egyptian Arabic Language

More than 100 million people speak Egyptian Arabic, making it one of the most widely spoken of all the African languages. The language has roots in both ancient Egyptian and Arabic, and it’s also one of the most popular languages to learn, given its prominence in North African commerce, politics, literature, and more. Here’s a video where you can hear Egyptian Arabic:

The Twi Language

In southern and central Ghana, people speak Twi.  One of the interesting linguistic customs of Twi-speaking Akan people is that a child’s first name is based on the day of the week on which they were born. So, if you were born on a Friday, your first name would be Kofi if you are male, and Afia if you are female. Here’s a woman speaking Twi:

European Languages in Africa

The effects of European colonial holdings – from the 19th century’s “Scramble for Africa” – are still felt to this day, particularly with linguistics. French is an official language in Cameroon, Benin, Togo, Madagascar, and other countries.
Meanwhile, Portuguese is spoken in Cape Verde, Mozambique, Angola, and more. These are just two of the most commonly spoken European languages in Africa.

Caribbean Languages

Many new and unique Creole languages were formed due to the dispersion of African people during the long and brutal years of the slave trade and the appropriation of land and culture caused by colonization. These languages include Bahamian Creole (spoken in the Bahamas), Bajan Creole (spoken in Barbados), and Jamaican Patois.

The Bajan Creole Language (Barbadian English)

Bajan Creole, though derived from English, is heavily influenced by French, Spanish, Portuguese, and African languages.  The French influence can be heard in words like mési, meaning “thanks,” from the French merci. The word pickney, means “small child” and comes from the Spanish word pequeño and the French word petit, both of which mean “small.”

Here’s a video of a young woman speaking and translating some phrases in Bajan Creole:

The Bajan Creole Language (Barbadian English)

Bajan Creole, though derived from English, is heavily influenced by French, Spanish, Portuguese, and African languages.  The French influence can be heard in words like mési, meaning “thanks,” from the French merci.  The word pickney, means “small child” and comes from the Spanish word pequeño and the French word petit, both of which mean “small.” 

Here’s a video of a young woman speaking and translating some phrases in Bajan Creole:

The Jamaican Patois Language (Jamaican Creole)

Jamaican Patois is probably the most well-known of the Caribbean languages, and there are many local dialects depending on where a person is from. A phonetically written language with no standardized spelling, Jamaican Patois often contains words that are created by combining other relevant words. For example, yeye-wata, means “tear,” and nose-ole, which means “nostril.” 

Jamaican Patois also has words that come from West African languages. For example, the word nyam, means “eat,” and is thought to be from the Wolof language.  A duppy is a malevolent spirit or ghost and is thought to have been influenced by the word adope in the Ga language of Ghana. The word for “spider” is anansi, which is from Akan, and the Jamaican Patois plural of “you” is unu, which is from the Igbo pronoun únù.  Here’s a video of a woman speaking Jamaican Patois:

The Taino Language and English

Not unlike how Caribbean Creole languages are influenced by other languages, the indigenous languages of the Caribbean influenced English. Before colonization and disease wiped out much of their population, the Taino people were the original inhabitants of the Caribbean islands, and we still use some of their words today. The word hurricane comes from the Taino word hurakán, which means “god of the storm,” and the word potato comes from the Taino word batata, which was their word for yam or sweet potato. Both of these words, and many more, such as maize, hammock, canoe, and tobacco, were absorbed by the Spanish colonizers and eventually made their way into English.

The Gullah language (Sea Island Creole)

Closely related to Bahamian Creole, the Gullah language, or Sea Island Creole is spoken in the United States; in costal regions of the Carolinas, Georgia, and northeastern Florida. Spoken by over 5,000 people, the language includes over 300 loanwords from several African languages and has survived in part due to the folk tradition of storytelling.

The refrain of the popular hymn Kumbaya is actually a Gullah phrase meaning “Come by here.” Here’s an example of a storyteller speaking in the Gullah language:

There is some debate about whether Gullah was the origin of African-American Vernacular English, but Gullah shares more in common with African languages in its vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure, and semantics. 

African American Vernacular English (AAVE)

There has been much scholarly debate about whether African American Vernacular English is  a dialect or its own distinct form of English. Some linguists theorize that both Gullah and AAVE have roots in the pidgin language that arose from a need for West African people to communicate with English speakers before and during the slave trade. 

AAVE has some very interesting grammatical differences from Standard American English, including the use of a double negative, for example, “I didn’t say nothing,” and five or more different present tenses, all of which mean different things depending on the situation. The following video provides a deeper look into AAVE and its roots in African languages:

As you can see, the languages of Africa, the Caribbean, and America are creative and diverse, and within them can be found the stories of culture, trade, war, slavery, colonization, freedom, and regeneration. Who knows how many languages and dialects were lost to time due to the slave trade and colonization?

Connect with Your African or Caribbean Heritage through Pimsleur

African languages – both on the continent and throughout the diaspora of African peoples – are worthwhile to learn more about. Whether you’d like to connect with a relative, advance your career, or simply broaden your knowledge about the world, Pimsleur can help you reach your language learning goals. And you’ll be surprised how fast you can learn. Many of our customers, with no previous knowledge of African languages, learn to speak Twi, Swahili, Egyptian Arabic, and other languages conversationally within weeks.

Sign up with a Premium or All Access subscription today and invest in yourself! Thanks for visiting Pimsleur.