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]
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]
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]
^ ab. Tanzania Gov. Tanzanian Government. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
^ ab"Tanzania". Ethnologue. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
^"Languages of Tanzania". Ethnologue. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
^J. A. Masebo & N. Nyangwine: Nadharia ya lugha Kiswahili 1. S. 126, ISBN978-9987-676-09-5
^"Tanzania Ditches English In Education Overhaul Plan". AFK Insider. 17 February 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
Further readingedit
Nurse, D. and Philippson, G. (2019). CLDF dataset derived from Nurse and Philippson's "Tanzania Language Survey" from 1975 (Version v3.0) [Data set]. Zenodo. doi:10.5281/zenodo.3535171
languages, tanzania, tanzania, multilingual, country, there, many, languages, spoken, country, none, which, spoken, natively, majority, large, plurality, population, swahili, english, latter, which, inherited, from, colonial, rule, tanganyika, territory, widel. 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 Languages of TanzaniaSwahili English signage in ZanzibarOfficialSwahili 1 and English de facto RegionalArabic in Zanzibar Chaga Makonde Sukama Nyiramba DatoogaMinorityMany Bantu Cushitic and Nilotic languages Hadza Sandawe OmaioSignedTanzanian sign languagesKeyboard layoutQWERTYLanguage families of Tanzania Contents 1 Overview 2 Language families 2 1 Major languages 2 2 Minor languages 2 3 Extinct languages 3 See also 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External linksOverview edit nbsp 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 editMajor languages edit nbsp 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 Niger Congo Bantu Bemba Bena 592 thousand 2009 Chaga Digo 166 thousand 2009 Gogo 1 08 million 2009 Haya 1 94 million 2016 Hehe 1 21 million 2016 Iramba Luguru 404 thousand 2009 Makonde 1 47 million 2016 Ngoni Nyakyusa Nyamwezi 1 47 million 2016 Nyika Pare Rangi 410 thousand 2007 Safwa 322 thousand 2009 Sonjo Sukuma 8 13 million 2016 Swahili Tongwe language Tumbuka 400 thousand 2007 Turu Vidunda language Yao 630 thousand 2016 Zanaki Kerewe Nyambo Gweno West Kilimanjaro Meru Nilo Saharan Nilotic Datooga Kisankasa Maasai 682 thousand 2016 Ngasa Ogiek Luo 185 thousand 2009 Zinza language Sambaa language 660 thousand 2001 Minor languages edit Languages spoken by the country s ethnic minorities include nbsp Newspapers in TanzaniaKhoisan Khoe Hadza possibly a language isolate Sandawe possibly a language isolate Afro Asiatic Cushitic Alagwa Burunge Gorowa Iraqw Semitic Arabic Indo European Indo Iranian Gujarati Hindustani Kutchi Germanic English German Romance French PortugueseExtinct languages edit Asa languageSee also editLanguages of AfricaReferences edit a b Tanzania Profile Tanzania Gov Tanzanian Government Archived from the original on 2 August 2017 Retrieved 23 July 2017 a b Tanzania Ethnologue Retrieved 12 June 2014 Languages of Tanzania Ethnologue Retrieved 12 June 2014 J A Masebo amp N Nyangwine Nadharia ya lugha Kiswahili 1 S 126 ISBN 978 9987 676 09 5 Tanzania Ditches English In Education Overhaul Plan AFK Insider 17 February 2015 Retrieved 23 February 2015 Further reading editNurse D and Philippson G 2019 CLDF dataset derived from Nurse and Philippson s Tanzania Language Survey from 1975 Version v3 0 Data set Zenodo doi 10 5281 zenodo 3535171External links editLanguages of Tanzania at Ethnologue site Map of languages of Tanzania at Ethnologue Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Languages of Tanzania amp oldid 1205236112, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
