Languages of Mozambique
Mozambique is a multilingual country. A number of Bantu languages are indigenous to Mozambique. Portuguese, inherited from the colonial period, is the official language, and Mozambique is a full member of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries. Ethnologue lists 43 languages spoken in the country.
Accordinag to INE - Mozambique's National Institute for Statistics - Portuguese is the most widely spoken language in Mozambique: 39.6% of the national population and 72.4% of people living in urban areas are fluent in the language. Other widely spoken languages include Swahili, Makhuwa, Sena, Ndau, and Shangaan (Tsonga). Other indigenous languages of Mozambique include Lomwe, Makonde, Chopi, Chuwabu, Ronga, Kimwani, Zulu, and Tswa.
Small communities of Arabs, Chinese, and Indians speak their own languages (Indians from Portuguese India speak any of the Portuguese Creoles of their origin) aside from Portuguese as their second language. Most educated Mozambicans speak English[citation needed], which is used in schools and business as second or third language.
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[edit] Sociolinguistics
[edit] Multilingualism
Most Mozambicans speak more than one language.[citation needed]. According to the latest census (2007) about 50.4% of all people aged 5 and older speak Portuguese, and 10.7%, including pure-blooded Portuguese and mestiços, speak it as their first language.
[edit] Linguistic geography
[edit] Influence among languages
Many indigenous languages of Mozambique have loan words of Portuguese origin.
[edit] Largest language groups
| Language | Number of speakers (L1) | Percentage of population |
|---|---|---|
| Emakhuwa | 4,007,010 | 24.8 |
| Cisena | 1,807,319 | 11.2 |
| Xichangana | 1,799,614 | 11.2 |
| Elomwe | 1,269,527 | 7.9 |
| Cishona | 1,070,471 | 6.6 |
| Xitswa | 763,029 | 4.7 |
| Xironga | 626,174 | 3.9 |
| Portuguese (Mozambican) |
489,915 | 3 |
| Cinyungwe | 446,567 | 2.8 |
| Cicopi | 406,521 | 2.5 |
| Ciyao | 374,426 | 2.3 |
| Shimakonde | 371,111 | 2.3 |
| Ekoti | 102,393 | 0.6 |
| Kimwani | 29,980 | 0.2 |
| Swahili | 21,070 | 0.1 |
| Swazi | 7,742 | 0.05 |
| Zulu | 3,529 | 0.02 |
| Total | 16,135,403 | 100 |
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Inquérito Nacional aos Agregados Familiares sobre Condições de Vida, Resultados Gerais, Instituto Nacional de Estatística, Maputo, 1998.
[edit] External links
- Ethnologue Listing of Mozambican Languages
- Línguas de Moçambique(Portuguese) - A Portuguese-language collection of publications in Mozambican languages. (A Google Translate Gadget is available)
- Tindzimi ta Mozambique (Language and Language Policy in Mozambique)
- PanAfrican L10n page on Mozambique
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