Languages of Mali

Mali is a multilingual country. The languages spoken there reflect ancient settlement patterns, migrations, and its long history. "Ethnologue" counts 50 languages. Of these, French is the official language and Bambara is the most widely spoken. Altogether 13 of the indigenous languages of Mali have the legal status of national language.

Usage

Although French, which was introduced during the colonial period, was retained as the official language at independence and is used in government and formal education, estimates of the number of people who actually speak it is about 15%Fact|date=July 2007. Almost all people who speak French in Mali speak it as a second language. However it is fairly widely understood in urban centres.Fact|date=April 2008

Bambara, a Manding language (in the Mande family) is said to be spoken by 80% of the population as a first or second language. It is spoken mainly in central and Southern Mali. Bambara and two other very closely related Manding languages Malinke or Maninkakan in the southwest and Kassonke (in the region of Kayes in the west), are among the 13 national languages. Bambara is used as a trade language in Mali between language groups.

(Bambara is also very close to the Dioula or Jula language (Julakan), spoken mainly in Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. The name "Jula" (Dioula in French transcription) is actually a Manding word meaning "trader.")

Other Mande languages (not in the Manding group) include Soninke (in the region of Kayes in western Mali), Dogon languages (of "Pays Dogon" or Dogon country in central Mali), the Bozo languages (along the middle Niger).

Other languages include Senufo in the Sikasso region (south), Fulfulde ("Peul" in French) as a widespread trade language in the Mopti region and beyond, the Songhay languages along the Niger, Tamasheq in the eastern part of Mali's Sahara and Arabic in its western part.

Several of the most widely spoken indigenous languages are considered "national languages."

Descriptions

Most of the languages of Mali are part of the Niger-Congo language family, Africa's largest phylum. Among them, many are of the Mande subfamily, widely regarded the earliest branching of Niger-Congo. The Dogon languages are thought to comprise another Niger-Congo branch, and the Senufo languages are a separate branch of Volta-Congo. Mande, Senufo and Dogon stand out among Niger-Congo because of their deviant SOV basic word order. The Gur subfamily is represented by Bomu (extending into Burkina Faso) on the Bani River of Mali. Fulfulde, spoken throughout West Africa, is a member of the Atlantic branch.

Other language families include Afro-Asiatic, represented by the Berber language Tamasheq and by Arabic, and possibly Nilo-Saharan, represented by the Songhay languages whose classification is still controversial.

Spoken languages

The following table gives a summary of the 49 spoken languages reported by "Ethnologue" (NB- the sort by numbers of speakers does not work optimally):

* First language / mother tongue speakers. Figures from "Ethnologue". ** Second or additional language speakers. It is difficult to get accurate figures for this category.

Sign languages

Language Policies & Planning

General

French is the official language. Thirteen indigenous languages are national languages

Education

French is part of the standard school curriculum. There is a new policy to use Malian languages in the first grades and transition to French.

External links

* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=Mali Ethnologue listing for Mali]
* [http://www.panafril10n.org/wikidoc/pmwiki.php/PanAfrLoc/Mali PanAfrican L10n page on Mali]
* [http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/afrique/mali.htm Linguistic situation in Mali]