The largest of Africa’s four language phyla. It spreads in the central African continent from Senegal to South Africa through Ghana, Cameroon, DR Congo, Kenya, Zambia, and so on. It is divided into several branches such as Atlantic, Mande, Kwa, Benue-Congo, and others.
Published in Chapter:
Language Endangerment in Africa
Shigeki Kaji (Kyoto Sangyo University, Japan)
Copyright: © 2021
|Pages: 13
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-2959-1.ch003
Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to lay a foundation so as to consider the issue of language endangerment in the world. Approximately 30 years ago, various scholars stated that in the worst-case scenario, 90%–95% of the present living languages of the world would become defunct by the end of the 21st century. The assumption of this argument was that minority languages may become defunct easily. However, in this chapter, this thesis is questioned by taking into account the language situations in Africa where most languages, whether small or large, are vigorously spoken. In African countries, people do not impose majority languages on other people. More importantly, African people in general esteem others because they understand their value to them.