Languages of Gabon
Encyclopedia
| Languages of Gabon | |
| Official language Official language An official language is a language that is given a special legal status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically a nation's official language will be the one used in that nation's courts, parliament and administration. However, official status can also be used to give a... |
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... (Standard Standard French Standard French is an unofficial term for a standard variety of the French language... ) |
| National language National language A national language is a language which has some connection—de facto or de jure—with a people and perhaps by extension the territory they occupy. The term is used variously. A national language may for instance represent the national identity of a nation or country... s |
Fang Fang language Fang is the dominant Bantu language of Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. It is related to the Bulu and Ewondo languages of southern Cameroon. Fang is spoken in northern Gabon, southern Cameroon, and throughout Equatorial Guinea. Shakira used this language in her song, "Waka Waka .".There are many... , and other Bantu languages Bantu languages The Bantu languages constitute a traditional sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages. There are about 250 Bantu languages by the criterion of mutual intelligibility, though the distinction between language and dialect is often unclear, and Ethnologue counts 535 languages... |
| Other indigenous language Indigenous language An indigenous language or autochthonous language is a language that is native to a region and spoken by indigenous peoples but has been reduced to the status of a minority language. This language would be from a linguistically distinct community that has been settled in the area for many generations... s |
(see below) |
| 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... |
French African French African French is the generic name of the varieties of French spoken by an estimated 115 million African people spread across 31 francophone African countries... |
| Web site | du Gabon.com |
The official language
Official language
An official language is a language that is given a special legal status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically a nation's official language will be the one used in that nation's courts, parliament and administration. However, official status can also be used to give a...
of Gabon
Gabon
Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...
is 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...
, while 32% of the people speak Fang
Fang language
Fang is the dominant Bantu language of Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. It is related to the Bulu and Ewondo languages of southern Cameroon. Fang is spoken in northern Gabon, southern Cameroon, and throughout Equatorial Guinea. Shakira used this language in her song, "Waka Waka .".There are many...
as a mother tongue. French is the medium of instruction. Before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
very few Gabonese learned French, nearly all of them working in either business or government administration. After the war, France worked for universal primary education in Gabon, and by the 1960-61 census, 47% of the Gabonese over the age of fourteen spoke some French, while 13% were literate in the language. By the 1990s, the literacy rate had risen to about 60%.
A small percentage, several thousand in number, have had secondary or higher education and are extremely fluent in French. It is estimated that 80% of the country's population are able to speak the language and one-third of residents of Libreville, the capital city, are native French speakers. More than 10,000 French people
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
live in Gabon, and France predominates the country's foreign cultural and commercial influences.
The indigenous languages are all members of the Bantu
Bantu languages
The Bantu languages constitute a traditional sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages. There are about 250 Bantu languages by the criterion of mutual intelligibility, though the distinction between language and dialect is often unclear, and Ethnologue counts 535 languages...
family, estimated to have come to Gabon about 2,000 years ago, and differentiated into about 40 languages. They are generally spoken but not written; while missionaries from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and France developed transcriptions for a number of languages based on the Latin alphabet
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
starting in the 1840s, and translated the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
into several of them, French colonial policy officially promoted the study of French and discouraged African languages. The languages continue to be transmitted through family and clan, and individuals in cities and other areas where multiple peoples come in contact may learn several Bantu languages.
The Gabonese government sponsored research on the Bantu languages starting in the 1970s.
The three largest languages are Fang
Fang language
Fang is the dominant Bantu language of Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. It is related to the Bulu and Ewondo languages of southern Cameroon. Fang is spoken in northern Gabon, southern Cameroon, and throughout Equatorial Guinea. Shakira used this language in her song, "Waka Waka .".There are many...
, Mbere
Mbere language
Mbere is a Bantu language spoken in the Republic of Congo and Gabon....
, and Sira (Eshira), each with about 25-30% of the speakers. The remainder of the languages are single-digit percentages, and some have only a few thousand speakers.
Languages
- BakaBaka languageBaka is a dialect cluster of Ubangian languages spoken by the Baka Pygmies of Cameroon and Gabon...
(SIL code BKC) - Barama (BBG)
- Bekwel (BKW)
- BengaBenga languageBenga is a West Bantu family language spoken by the Benga people of Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. It has a dialectical variation called Bapuku. Benga speakers inhabit a small coastal portion of Rio Muni, the Cape of San Juan, suburban enclaves of Rio Benito and Bata, the islands of Corisco, and both...
(BEN) - BubiBubi languageBube, Bohobé, or Bube–Benga, is a Bantu or Bantoid language spoken by the Bubi, a Bantu people native to, and once the primary inhabitants of, Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea...
(BUW) - BwisiBwisi languageBwisi is a language spoken mainly in the Kibangou District of the Republic of Congo, next to the Gabon border, where it is also spoken by a minority. According to the Ethnologue, approximately 4,250 people speak the language today worldwide.-Bibliography:* , Ethnologue report-External links:* at...
(BWZ) - Duma (DMA)
- FangFang languageFang is the dominant Bantu language of Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. It is related to the Bulu and Ewondo languages of southern Cameroon. Fang is spoken in northern Gabon, southern Cameroon, and throughout Equatorial Guinea. Shakira used this language in her song, "Waka Waka .".There are many...
(FNG) - Kendell (KBS)
- Kaningi (KZO)
- Kili (KEB)
- iKota (KOQ)
- LumbuLumbu languageLumbu is a Bantu language spoken in Gabon and the Republic of Congo....
(LUP) - Mahongwe (MHB)
- Mbama (MBM)
- Mbangwe (ZMN)
- MbereMbere languageMbere is a Bantu language spoken in the Republic of Congo and Gabon....
(MDT) - MyeneMyene languageMyene is a cluster of closely related Bantu varieties spoken in Gabon by about 46,000 people. It is perhaps the most divergent of the Narrow Bantu languages, though Nurse & Philippson place it in with the Tsogo languages...
(MYE), has several dialects - Ndasa (NDA)
- Ndumu (NMD)
- NgomNgom languageNgom is a Bantu language spoken in Gabon and the Congo. It is used with only minor differences by the Kola/Koya Pygmies of Gabon....
(NRA) - NjebiNjebi languageNzebi is a Bantu language spoken in Gabon and the Republic of Congo....
(NZB) - Pinji (PIC)
- PunuPunu languagePunu is a Bantu language spoken in Gabon and the Republic of Congo. Irimba is classified as a dialect, but may be relexified from a non-Bantu source....
(PUU) - Sake (SAG)
- SanguSangu language (Gabon)Sangu is a language spoken in Gabon by approximately 20,900 Masangu people.-External links:* at WolframAlpha* from Google Books...
(SNQ) - Seki (SYI)
- Sighu (SXE)
- Simba (SBW)
- Sira (SWJ), aka Eshira
- Northern Teke (TEG)
- Western Teke (TEZ)
- TsaangiTsaangi languageTsaangi is a Bantu language spoken in Gabon and the Republic of Congo....
(TSA) - TsogoTsogo languageTsogo is a Bantu language of Gabon. It's one of the principal languages of the Babongo Pygmies....
(TSV) - ViliVili languageVili is a Bantu language of Congo and Gabon....
(VIF) - Vumbu (VUM)
- Wandji (WDD)
- Wumbvu (WUM)
- Yangho (YNH)
- YasaYasa languageYasa is a Bantu language of Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea by Ndowe coastal fishing people. It is also spoken by Pygmies, perhaps Babongo, in Gabon....
(YKO)