African languages

It is estimated that there are 1250 to 2100 (and by some counts over 3000) languages spoken natively in Africa, it all depends on how you count them.

However, the key issue is the definition of African in this context, for there are a number of conflicting interpretations, often based on political and other imperatives.

The core distinction is whether or not the languages of European or Asian origin can be considered African languages or not. Notably languages which have developed own African versions (the regional African dialects of French, Portuguese, Italian, German and so on, and even new independent Indo-European languages, such as Afrikaans,  a blend of Southern African indigenous and Eastern and European languages.)

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