Languages of Sudan
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Sudan is a multilingual country dominated by Sudanese Arabic. In the 2005 constitution of the Republic of Sudan, the official languages of Sudan are literary Arabic and English.
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[edit] Languages
Approximately 70 languages are native to Sudan.[1]
Sudanese Arabic is the most widely spoken language in the country. It is the variety of Arabic spoken throughout northern Sudan. It has much borrowed vocabulary from the local languages (El Rotana). This has resulted in a variety of Arabic that is unique to Sudan, reflecting the way in which the country has been influenced by both African and Arab cultures. Some of the tribes in Sudan still have similar accents to the ones in Saudi Arabia. Other important languages include Beja (aka Bedawi) along the Red Sea, with perhaps 2 million speakers; Fur in the west (Darfur), with perhaps a million speakers; and the various Nubian languages along the Nile in the north, with half a million or so speakers. The most linguistically diverse region in the country are the Nuba Hills in Kordofan, inhabited by speakers of multiple language families, with Darfur and the Ethiopian-border regions being second.
Beja is the sole Cushitic language in Sudan. Arabic is Semitic, the Niger–Congo family is represented by many of the Kordofanian languages, and Indo-European by Domari (Gypsy) and English. Historically, Old Nubian, Greek, and Coptic (Egyptian) were the languages of Christian Nubia, and Meroitic the language of the Kingdom of Kush which conquered Egypt.
Sudan also has multiple regional sign languages, which are not mutually intelligible. But 2009 a proposal for a unified Sudanese Sign Language had been worked out, but was not widely known.[2]
[edit] Language policies
Under the 1998 constitution, only Arabic was the official language.[3]
The 2005 constitution designated Arabic and English as the official languages of Sudan.[4]
Article 8:
- All indigenous languages of Sudan are national languages and shall be respected, developed and promoted.
- Arabic is a widely spoken national language in Sudan.
- Arabic, as a major language at the national level and English shall be the official working languages of the national government and the languages of instruction for higher education.
- In addition to Arabic and English, the legislature of any sub-national level of government may adopt any other national language as an additional official working language at its level.
- There shall be no discrimination against the use of either Arabic or English at any level of government or stage of education.
[edit] Literacy and education
Ethnologue reports the literacy rate is 57% for Sudan and South Sudan combined.[1] UNDP reports 61%.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th ed. Dallas: SIL International. Online version: "Languages of Sudan")
- ^ Karen Andrae, 2009. Language for inclusion (Sign language in Sudan)
- ^ Leclerc, Jacques. L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde, "Soudan"
- ^ Sudan constitution of 2005 (English version)
- ^ UNDP. 2006. Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis. Human Development Report 2006. New York: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Human development index Adult literacy rate (% ages 15 and older) (HDI)
[edit] External links
- PanAfriL10n page on Sudan
- Language Map of Sudan Huffman, Steve
