Languages of Mali

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The official language of Mali is French. It is part of the standard school curriculum and fairly widely understood. Bambara, a Manding language in the Mande family, is the most used language however (by about 80% of the population). Bambara, propagated as the national language by the government, is spoken mainly in central and Southern Mali. It is very similar to Dioula (also spelled "Jula"), spoken in Ivory Coast, Guinea, and Burkina Faso. The name "Dioula" is actually a Bambara word meaning "trader." Bambara is used as a trade language in Mali between language groups.

Other languages include the Mande languages Malinke, Soninke and Kassonke in the region of Kayes in western Mali, Senufo in the Sikasso region (south), Fulfulde (Peul in French) as a widespread trade language in the Mopti region and beyond, the Dogon languages of Pays Dogon (Dogon country), the Bozo languages along the middle Niger, 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."

Contents 1 Descriptions 2 Language Policies & Planning 2.1 General 2.2 Education 3 External links

[edit] 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.

[edit] Language Policies & Planning

[edit] General

[edit] Education

[edit] External links

• Ethnologue listing for Mali
• PanAfrican L10n page on Mali
• Linguistic situation in Mali