What Africa is now has come a long way from its origins as the birthplace of Homo sapiens to becoming one of the most exploited and neglected areas on terra firma. The diversity of the African continent is so varied and vivid; no wonder most scientists and philologists consider this the fountain from where all languages sprang.
According to an estimate by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), almost 2000 languages exist within the African continent, many of which do not have any known speaker! Among the popularly spoken languages, English, Portuguese, French, Arabic and Swahili occupy the top positions. Every single nation has its own unique official language; however, the diversity of the society makes such decrees expendable.
It is humanly impossible to know for sure how many languages exist within the Northern part of the continent, which still holds some of the world’s most pristine locations. Hence the common modes of communication among the relatively enlightened inhabitants are the pidgin forms of English, French or Spanish. In addition to Arabic, native languages such as Swahili, Oromo, Wolof, Madinka, Kamba and other variants of the Berber family of dialects are broadly used.
In South Africa, Afrikaans is the native language. This is an adapted version of Dutch with a few unique features not present in the mother language from which it was recalibrated. These, along with the other tribe- or community-specific languages, are used all over the continent. South Africa is more consistent in terms of language; however, the same cannot be said of the northern part of the world’s second largest continent.
YYZ Translations Inc. has a network of more than 5000 linguists who can help with translation into any of the African languages including:
At YYZ Translations, we provide quality translation and interpretation of some of the most exotic languages known. We have highly qualified linguists, along with native speakers, who can help you with your parlance predicament.
Sub-Saharan Africa is actively involved in imports and exports with the evidence seen in its $17.1 billion spent on imports from the USA and $65 billion earned from exports of precious stones, metals, cereals, vehicle parts and crude oil.
E-mail or talk to us today and learn how we have helped our clients with their humanitarian efforts as well as global, regional and bilateral trade relations.
