Languages of Chad
Encyclopedia
Chad
has two official languages, French
and literary Arabic
, and over 120 indigenous languages. A vernacular version of Arabic, Chadian Arabic
, is the lingua franca
.
Chad
Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...
has two official languages, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and literary Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, and over 120 indigenous languages. A vernacular version of Arabic, Chadian Arabic
Chadian Arabic
Chadian Arabic is one of the regional colloquial Arabic languages. "Shuwa Arabic" properly refers only to its Nigerian dialects, and even then, it is a term not used by the speakers themselves...
, is the lingua franca
Lingua franca
A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...
.
Niger–Congo languages
- Adamawa languagesAdamawa languagesThe Adamawa languages are a putative family of 80–90 languages scattered across the Adamawa Plateau in central Africa, in Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Chad, spoken altogether by only one and a half million people . Joseph Greenberg classified them as one branch of the...
- Goundo
- KimKim languageKim of southern Chad is an Mbum language spoken by 15,000 people. It was once mistakenly classified as Chadic. There is strong dialectical divergence; Garap , Gerep , Kolop , and Kosop may actually be distinct languages....
(15,354, RGPH 1993) - Moundang (160,000, RGPH 1993)
- Toupouri (90,785, RGPH, 1993)
- Bua languagesBua languagesThe Bua languages are a subgroup of the Mbum–Day subgroup of the Savanna languages spoken by fewer than 30,000 people in southern Chad in an area stretching roughly between the Chari River and the Guera Massif. They were labeled "G13" in Joseph Greenberg's Adamawa language-family proposal...
: BuaBua languageThe Bua language is spoken by some 7,708 people north of the Chari River around Korbol and Gabil in Chad. It is the largest member of the small Bua group of languages and is mutually comprehensible with Fanian.-External links:**...
, NiellimNiellim languageThe Niellim language is a Bua language spoken by some 5,000 people along the Chari River in southern Chad. It is mainly spoken in two areas: one around the city of Sarh and one, its traditional home, further north, between about 9°30′ and 9°50′ N, corresponding to the former chiefdoms of Pra,...
, Gula IroGula Iro languageThe Gula Iro language is a Bua language spoken by some 3,500 people north and east of Lake Iro in southern Chad, between the Bola and Salamat rivers...
, etc. (total < 30,000)
Nilo-Saharan languages
- Maban languagesMaban languagesThe Maban languages are a small family of languages which have also been included in the proposed Nilo-Saharan family. Maban is spoken in Chad, the Central African Republic, Sudan , and South Sudan, and includes the following languages:...
- Maba (120,000, SIL 1991)
- Massalit (50,857, RGPH 1993)
- KarangaKaranga languageKaranga is a Maban language language of Chad spoken by four peoples, each with their own dialect: the Karanga , Kashmere , Bakha Fala , and Koniéré Moyo ....
- KendejeKendeje languageKenjeje is a Maban language language of Chad. The two dialects, Yaali and Faranga, are quite distinct, and have little contact....
- Marfa
- Massalat
- Surbakhal
- Kibet
- Runga
- Fur languagesFur languagesThe Fur or For languages constitute a small, closely related family which are a proposed member of the Nilo-Saharan family. Fur in western Sudan had 500,000 speakers in 1983 , and Amdang in eastern Chad had 5,000 speakers....
- MimiMimi languageMimi is a name applied to several distinct and not particularly closely related Nilo-Saharan languages of the Wadai area of Chad, most commonly Amdang but also including two possibly Maban languages: Mimi of Nachtigal and Mimi of Decorse....
- AmdangAmdang languageAmdang Biltine is a language closely related to Fur spoken in Chad by about 5,000 people , while Ethnologue places the number in 2000 at 41,000. It is mainly spoken in Chad north of Biltine, and sporadically elsewhere in Ouaddaï...
(5,000, Bender 1983)
- Mimi
- Saharan languages
- Tedaga
- DazagaDazaga languageThe Daza language, Dazaga, also known as Goran , is a language spoken in the Djurab desert region of Chad by the Daza people, and is part of the Saharan branch of the Nilo-Saharan language family. It is said to have about 312,000 speakers. It is closely associated with the Tedaga language, spoken...
- KanembuKanembu languageKanembu is a Nilo-Saharan language spoken in Chad by the Kanembu people. It is closely related to Kanuri.-References:Jouannet, Francis 1977. Essai d'inventaire phonétique du parler kanembou des Ngaldoukou du Sud-Kanem. Études phonologiques tchadiennes , pp. 129–143, Paris : SELAF.Jouannet,...
- ZaghawaZaghawa languageThe Zaghawa language is a Saharan language spoken by the Zaghawa people of eastern central Chad and northwestern Sudan ....
- Sara-Baguirmi languages
- Bernde
- Bagirmi
- Berakou
- Disa
- GulaGula languageThere are several African languages called Gula:Three closely related Bua languages in southern ChadTwo less closely related Bongo-Baguirmi languages:* Goulai language in Chad.* Tar Gula language in the Central African Republic and Sudan....
- Jaya
- Kenga (30,000, SIL 1993)
- NabaNaba languageNaba is a Nilo-Saharan language spoken by 232,000 people in Chad. Those who speak this language are called Lisi, a collective name for three closely associated ethnic groups, the Bilala, the Kuka and the Medogo, that represent the three dialects in which Naba is subdivided. They live mainly in the...
- FongoroFongoro languageFongoro is a minor Central Sudanic language of Chad and formerly of Sudan. It may be one of the Vale languages.-References:*Roger Blench...
- Barma (44,761, RGPH 1993)
- Beraku
- NgambayNgambay languageNgambay is one of the major languages spoken by Sara people in southwestern Chad, northeastern Cameroon and eastern Nigeria, with about a million native speakers. Ngambay is the most widely-spoken of the Sara languages, and is used as a trade language between speakers of other dialects...
- SaraSar languageSar or Sara, also known as Madjingay and Sara Madjingay is a Bongo–Bagirmi language of southern Chad, and the lingua franca of regional capital of Sarh....
(183,471, RGPH 1993)
- Sinyar
- Eastern Sudanic languagesEastern Sudanic languagesEhret 2001 [1984]Ehret, published in 2001 but circulating in manuscript form since at least 1984, calls the family "Eastern Sahelian", and idiosyncratically adds the Kuliak languages and Berta, which Bender assigns to higher-level branches of Nilo-Saharan, and reassigns Nyima to the southern branch...
- TamaTama languageThe Tama language is a Nilo-Saharan language spoken in western Sudan and eastern Chad. It is a member of the Taman language group of the Western branch of Nilo-Saharan.-External links:**...
(63,000) - SungorSungor languageThe Sungor language is a Nilo-Saharan language spoken in western Sudan and eastern Chad. Primarily it is spoken in Chad. It is a member of the Taman language group of the Western branch of Nilo-Saharan. The majority of native speakers are Muslim and most use Chadian Arabic as a second...
(38,000) - MararitMararit languageThe Mararit language is a Nilo-Saharan language spoken in eastern Chad. language group of the Western branch of Nilo-Saharan. There are two dialects. One is called Mararit and the other is called Abou Charib. The majority speak the Abou Charid dialect of the language...
(43,000) - Daju
- Tama