Languages ​​of the Central African Republic

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A bakery and pastry shop in Bangui.

72 different languages and idioms are spoken in the Central African Republic .

National languages

Almost all languages ​​of the Central African Republic belong to the Niger-Congo language family . The great majority of the Niger-Congo languages, in turn, belong to the group of the Ubangic languages , only a small minority in the south-west of the country speaks Bantu languages. In the north, languages ​​of the Nilo-Saharan language family are spoken.

The two official languages are the ubangische language Sango and French , which was only since the French colonial official language. The native languages ​​include the South Banda , the Banda-Banda , the Bokoto , the Gbanu , the Northwest or Basangoa-Gbaya , the Kaba , the Karré , the Manza , the Mbati , the Ngbaka Ma'bo , the Pana , the Yakoma and the Azande .

Official languages

French has been the written language since French rule, as well as the language in formal situations. According to the General Delegation on the French Language and the Languages ​​of France , 7.5% of the total population of the country are now true Francophone speakers.

“Three years after independence, the MESAN (Mouvement d'Évolution Sociale de l'Afrique Noire) founded by B. Boganda gave the Sango the status of the national language, while French was given the status of the official language. (Berbérati Congress, June 1963) "

The Sango is a gradually creolized language, which comes from the Ngbandi , as well as on the basis of numerous French words. The Sango has a total of around 350,000 native speakers. The language has developed into the vehicle language of the country - it was spoken long before the French colonization in the area of ​​the Ubangi-Shari and was also used during the colonization as the language of missionaries for evangelism. And according to the délégation générale à la langue française et aux langues de France , 92% of Central Africans speak the Sango. It was declared the national language in 1963 and the official language in 1991; it has also become the mother tongue of almost all children in the country's capital, Bangui .

bilingualism

In Article 17 of the Constitution of January 14, 1995, Sango and French are mentioned as the country's official languages.

According to a statistical survey from 1993, 76% of the population had no knowledge of French at all at the time.

16% were able to speak so-called "local French". These people had had French lessons at school for at least two years and filled their linguistic gaps in both vocabulary and grammar with elements from the native languages, especially Sango. These people are also known as "Francisants". Local French can be difficult to understand for normal French speakers.

Last but not least, 8% of the population at the time had a good command of French; that is, they had been taught the language for at least six years and were fluent in the language.

French native speakers are almost exclusively among the Europeans in the country. Their number is less than 10,000.

In everyday life, bilingualism is structured in such a way that written matters are dealt with in French, while oral matters are usually handled in Sango.

According to the DYLAN project , which records language practices, 54.10% of those surveyed in the Banguis educational setting speak Sango and 45.85% French. In contrast, the use of French in conversation among friends is only 7.72%, the use of Sango is 66.62%.

literature

  • Le français en Centrafrique: lexique et société , Queffelec, Ambroise (dir), EDICEF. Éditions classiques d'expression française, Vanves, France, AUF, Montréal, 1996.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ethnologue, Languages ​​of the world (English): Central African Republic.Retrieved January 28, 2014.
  2. ↑ http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/afrique/centrafrique.htm
  3. ↑ "référence" 2006
  4. ^ République centrafricaine
  5. ↑ République centrafricaine - Ködrö ti Bê Africa , ulaval.ca
  6. ↑

    “Ce bilinguisme officiel est déséquilibré dans la mesure où la majorité des productions et expositions langagières sont en français. Nous avons également constaté qu'en plus des deux langues officielles l'anglais et l'arabe apparaissent dans ce domaine. Certaines langues vernaculaires centrafricaines interviennent aussi mais ce cas de figure est très rare. L'utilisation du sango dans l'exposition langagière est observable dans ministères de la santé et de la defense pour le secteur public et dans le domaine religieux pour le secteur privé. "

    - Les langues des écriteaux en République centrafricaine , Selon Robert Beyom qui a analyze les écriteaux de Centrafrique: Robert Beyom, Université de Bangui République Centrafricaine.
  7. ↑ Enquête en décembre 1988-January 1989, sur 674 personnes choisies sur 70 sites sous la responsabilité de P.Renaud
  8. ↑ Que devient le français quand une langue nationale s'impose? Conditions et forme d'appropriation du français en République Centrafricaine. , M. Wenezoui-Déschamps, Langues française, année 1994, volume 1004, number 1, pages 89-99