Languages of Tanzania

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Languages of Tanzania
Hairuhusiwi Kupita Hapa.jpg
Swahili/English signage in Zanzibar
Official Swahili [1] and English (de facto)
Regional Arabic (in Zanzibar), Chaga, Makonde, Sukama, Nyiramba, Datooga
Minority Many Bantu, Cushitic and Nilotic languages; Hadza, Sandawe, Omaio
Signed Tanzanian sign languages
Keyboard layout
Language families of Tanzania LanguageTanzania.png
Language families of Tanzania

Tanzania is a multilingual country. There are many languages spoken in the country, none of which is spoken natively by a majority or a large plurality of the population. Swahili and English, the latter of which was inherited from colonial rule (see Tanganyika Territory ), are widely spoken as lingua francas. They serve as working languages in the country, with Swahili being the official national language. [1] There are more speakers of Swahili than of English in Tanzania. [2]

Contents

Overview

The Bantu Swahili language written in the Arabic script on the clothes of a Tanzanian woman (early 1900s). Bundesarchiv Bild 105-DOA0075, Deutsch-Ostafrika, Einheimisches Madchen.jpg
The Bantu Swahili language written in the Arabic script on the clothes of a Tanzanian woman (early 1900s).

According to Ethnologue , there are a total of 126 languages spoken in Tanzania. Two are institutional, 18 are developing, 58 are vigorous, 40 are endangered, and 8 are dying. There are also three languages that recently became extinct. [2]

Most languages spoken locally belong to two broad language families: Niger-Congo (Bantu branch) and Nilo-Saharan (Nilotic branch), spoken by the country's Bantu and Nilotic populations, respectively. Additionally, the Hadza and Sandawe hunter-gatherers speak languages with click consonants, which have tentatively been classified within the Khoisan phylum (although Hadza may be a language isolate). The Cushitic and Semitic ethnic minorities speak languages belonging to the separate Afro-Asiatic family, with the Hindustani and British residents speaking languages from the Indo-European family. [3]

Tanzania's various ethnic groups typically speak their mother tongues within their own communities. The two official languages, Swahili and English, are used in varying degrees of fluency for communication with other populations. According to the official national linguistic policy announced in 1984, Swahili is the language of the social and political sphere as well as primary and adult education, whereas English is the language of secondary education, universities, technology, and higher courts. [4] The government announced in 2015 that it would discontinue the use of English as a language of education as part of an overhaul of the Tanzanian schools' system. [5]

Additionally, several Tanzanian sign languages are used.

Language families

Major languages

Lord's Prayer in Swahili, a Bantu language that alongside English serves as a lingua franca for many in Tanzania. Swahili-pn.jpg
Lord's Prayer in Swahili, a Bantu language that alongside English serves as a lingua franca for many in Tanzania.

Major languages spoken in Tanzania include:

Minor languages

Languages spoken by the country's ethnic minorities include:

Newspapers in Tanzania Perusing Papers at a Newsstand - Near Mwenge - Tanzania.jpg
Newspapers in Tanzania

Extinct languages

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khoisan languages</span> Group of African language families with click consonants

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hadza language</span> Language isolate of north-central Tanzania

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandawe people</span> Ethnic group from Dodoma Region, Tanzania

The Sandawe are an indigenous ethnic group of Southeast Africa, based in the Chemba District kwamtoro ward of Dodoma Region in central Tanzania. In 2000, the Sandawe population was estimated to be 40,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iraqw people</span> Cushitic ethnic group from Arusha and Manyara Regions of Tanzania

The Iraqw People are a Cushitic ethnic group inhabiting the northern Tanzanian regions. They are believed to have originated from the southwestern Arusha and Manyara regions of Tanzania, near the Rift Valley. The Iraqw people then settled in the southeast of Ngorongoro Crater in northern Karatu District, Arusha Region, where the majority of them still reside. In the Manyara region, the Iraqw are a major ethnic group, specifically in Mbulu District, Babati District and Hanang District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hadza people</span> Ethnic group based in Karatu District, Arusha Region, northern Tanzania

The Hadza, or Hadzabe, are a protected hunter-gatherer Tanzanian indigenous ethnic group from Baray ward in southwest Karatu District of the Arusha Region. They live around the Lake Eyasi basin in the central Rift Valley and in the neighboring Serengeti Plateau. As of 2015, there are between 1,200 and 1,300 Hadza people living in Tanzania. However, only around 400 Hadza still survive exclusively based on the traditional means of foraging. Additionally, the increasing impact of tourism and encroaching pastoralists pose serious threats to the continuation of their traditional way of life.

The Alagwa are a Cushitic ethnic group mostly based in the Kondoa District of the Dodoma Region in central Tanzania, an area well known for rock art. Smaller numbers of Alagwa reside in the Hanang district of the Manyara Region in Tanzania, as well. They speak the Alagwa language as a mother tongue, which belongs to the South Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic family. In 2022, the Alagwa population was estimated to number 52,816 individuals, and Mous (2016) estimates the number of speakers to be slightly over 10,000.

Kwʼadza (Qwadza), or Ngomvia, is an extinct Afroasiatic language formerly spoken in Tanzania in the Mbulu District. The last speaker died sometime between 1976 and 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bantu peoples</span> Ethnolinguistic group in Africa

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References

  1. 1 2 "Tanzania Profile". Tanzania Gov. Tanzanian Government. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Tanzania". Ethnologue. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  3. "Languages of Tanzania". Ethnologue. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  4. J. A. Masebo & N. Nyangwine: Nadharia ya lugha Kiswahili 1. S. 126, ISBN   978-9987-676-09-5
  5. "Tanzania Ditches English In Education Overhaul Plan". AFK Insider. 17 February 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2015.

Further reading