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French in Maghrib countries
On pourrait cesser ces invectives gratuites destinées aux langues et à leurs locuteurs.
Mon impression est que l'arabe et le berbère vernaculaires sont pratiquement les seules langues maternelles des Maghrébins, à l'évidence. Ceci-dit le rôle du français a changé : de langue officielle qu'il était avant l'indépendance il est passé à la fonction de langue de communication et d'échange, du moins pour une partie des Maghrébins (que je pense croissante). Il ne faut pas oublier le rôle toujours plus important des bilittoraux qui naviguent entre Afrique & Europe. Mon impression est que le français conserve un rôle de langue écrite et/ou "savante" avec l'arabe classique. C'est une des spécificités qui font la force du Maghreb : la capacité effective à remplir une fonction d'interface entre plusieurs mondes.
French in Africa is present and spoken by many people. As of 2006 an estimated 115 million African people spread across 31 francophone African countries can speak French either as a first or second language, making Africa the continent with the most French speakers in the world. French arrived in Africa with colonisation from France and Belgium. These African French speakers are now an important part of the Francophonie.
French is mostly a second language in Africa, but in some areas it has become a first language, such as in Réunion or in the region of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. In some countries it is a first language among some classes of the population, such as in Tunisia and Morocco where French is a first language among the upper classes (many people in the upper classes are simultaneous bilinguals Arabic/French), but only a second language among the general population.
In each of the francophone African countries French is spoken with local specificities in terms of pronunciation and vocabulary.
French in Africa is present and spoken by many people. As of 2006 an estimated 115 million African people spread across 31 francophone African countries can speak French either as a first or second language, making Africa the continent with the most French speakers in the world. French arrived in Africa with colonisation from France and Belgium. These African French speakers are now an important part of the Francophonie.
French is mostly a second language in Africa, but in some areas it has become a first language, such as in Réunion or in the region of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. In some countries it is a first language among some classes of the population, such as in Tunisia and Morocco where French is a first language among the upper classes (many people in the upper classes are simultaneous bilinguals Arabic/French), but only a second language among the general population.
In each of the francophone African countries French is spoken with local specificities in terms of pronunciation and vocabulary.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_French
African countries with the largest numbers of French speakers:
According to the 2007 report by the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, the African countries with more than 5 million French speakers are:
Democratic Republic of the Congo: 24,320,000 people can speak French either as a first or second language
Algeria (not a member of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie): 19,000,000
Côte d'Ivoire: 12,740,000
Morocco: 10,131,000
Cameroon: 7,343,400
Tunisia: 6,360,000
Guinea: 6,000,000
African countries with the largest percentages of French speakers:
According to the 2007 report by the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, the African countries where more than 50% of the population can speak French are:
Réunion (France): 94.5% of the population can speak French either as a first or second language
Gabon: 80%
Mauritius: 72.7%
Côte d'Ivoire: 70%
São Tomé and Príncipe: 65%
Tunisia: 63.6%
Guinea: 63.2%
Seychelles: 60%
Republic of the Congo: 60%
Equatorial Guinea: 60%
Mayotte (France): 59%
Algeria (not a member of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie): 57%
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_French
Why I didn't know that 60% of the people of Equatorial Guinea are Francophones.
Thta's amazing, considering that Equatorial Guinea made French as a co-official language just in the late 1980's and now more than half of its population speak it.
The spread of French in E.G. is so fast. Thanks to the efficiant educational system.
Thanks informateur for the links!
I saw pictures on this site with high rise buildings in Kinsahsa and Abidjan. African countries are not that primitive as what others in this forum insist. The cities are pretty much the same as those in other countries. Now the detractors of Francophone Africa will shut up because their ignorance is halted by this.
WRITING FRENCH IN AFRICA
Veronique Tadjo: COMMENT
03 April 2007 11:59
Senegalese writer Aminata Sow Fall
Recently, French studies at Wits University invited Aminata Sow Fall, a leading woman writer from Senegal, to talk about African literature, the issue of language and the state of French-speaking Africa.
When asked why she wrote in French rather than in Wolof, her mother tongue, she replied that when she began her literary career back in 1963, Wolof, the most widely spoken language in Senegal, had not yet been properly codified in the Roman alphabet. So she had no choice, she said. But she was quick to add that if she had not felt at ease in French, she would not have written a book.
Sow Fall’s response prompted me to revisit this burning issue as it is my belief that, to some extent, this debate also applies to English in Africa.
When most of the former French colonies became independent in the 1960s, it was a time of euphoria and great hope for the future of Africa. Less than a decade later, things were not going that well in francophone Africa. Neo-colonialism took hold of the economy and the political elites proved too greedy to honour the promises they had made at independence. A period of disillusionment followed.
The saga of Les soleils des indépendances (The Suns of Independence), a novel by Ahmadou Kourouma from Côte d’Ivoire, best illustrates this post-independence disenchantment. When Kourouma submitted his manuscript, it was refused by publishers in France and in Africa on the grounds that it was written in “incorrect” French. The manuscript was passed around until it was finally published in Canada in 1968. It became an instant bestseller and was subsequently bought by a prestigious French publisher in 1970.
Cheaper editions were produced for the African market and the book was read by millions of school children and is still being taught today.
What was revolutionary in Kourouma’s novel was the fact that for the first time a writer attempted to recreate the way common people in Africa really speak. Kourouma fused French with his Malinke mother tongue -- French syntax and grammar were twisted and some words took on a whole new meaning. His language ignored basic rules. The style was exuberant and full of a raw sensuality.
KOUROUMA’S BOOK SHOWED THAT FRENCH WASN’T JUST THE LANGUAGE OF THE FORMER OPPRESSORS, THAT IT WAS ALSO POSSIBLE TO USE IT TO SERVE OUR PURPOSE AND RENDER OUR AFRICAN EXPERIENCE. HE DEMONSTRATED THAT THE LANGUAGE BELONGED TO US, TOO, AND THAT WE WERE FREE TO USE IT HOW WE WANTED IN ORDER TO COMMUNICATE OUR REALITY.
Roughly 10 years later, Sony Labou Tansi, a Congolese novelist, poet and dramatist, came onto the literary scene to continue this linguistic revolution. His writing dealt with the rampant corruption and entrenchment of a decadent leadership. His weapon was political satire and his irreverence was also directed at the French language, whose conventions he deliberately broke, inventing his own literary aesthetics.
Labou Tansi had learnt French in a Congolese school where using his mother tongue was forbidden. He used to say that French was the language in which he was “raped”.
IF IT IS TRUE THAT THE COLONISERS WANTED TO USE FRENCH IN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY COULD IMPOSE A FRENCH LINGUISTIC AND CULTURAL MODEL THAT WOULD ULTIMATELY LEAD TO ASSIMILATION, THINGS DID NOT GO QUITE AS PLANNED. THE FRENCH LANGUAGE HAS BECOME A LANGUAGE IN WHICH AFRICANS CAN EXPRESS THEIR OWN ASPIRATIONS AND FIGHT FOR FREEDOM. A LANGUAGE IS AT THE SERVICE OF WHOEVER WANTS TO USE IT, AS LONG AS IT IS SEEN NOT AS AN IMPOSITION BUT AS SOMETHING TO BE CONQUERED.
DANIEL MAXIMIN, A WRITER AND POET FROM GUADELOUPE, SAYS IT IS IMPORTANT NOT TO CONFUSE LANGUAGE AND CITIZENSHIP, TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE FRENCH LANGUAGE IS NOT CONFINED WITHIN THE GEOGRAPHICAL BORDERS OF FRANCE. THE FRENCH LANGUAGE IS USED TO EXPRESS MANY IDENTITIES, FROM THE CONGOLESE TO THE VIETNAMESE, TO THE CANADIAN. THERE ARE MORE THAN 20 AFRICAN COUNTRIES IN WHICH FRENCH IS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE. THEREFORE, THE QUESTION THAT REMAINS IS NOT WHY WE WRITE IN FRENCH, BUT HOW WE WRITE IN FRENCH.
Véronique Tadjo is a writer from Côte d’Ivoire and Head of French Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand.
In my opinion, Arabic is and will be the most spoken language in Africa. In the old French colonies Arabic is stronger, and it is more spoken and more useful than French.
French people will refuse that in a minute. So, I need to write this webpage of Arabic language to see the reality. You can observe the map of Arabic language.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_language
Wow!!!!!!, that is right. Now Arabic is more spoken and spread than 20 years ago. It is spoken in a lot of old French colonies: not only Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, but Djibouti, Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Tchad, Comores, etc.
If Arabic become stronger, this language will be spoken in Cameroon and Congo, and that will mean the disapearance of French as lingua franca of North and Central Africa.
Hey Slemani or Sam BOBO,
If Arabic is gonna take over French Africa then how come the figures of French speakers in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Mauritania when just after their independence it was just 20%
African countries with the largest numbers of French speakers:
According to the 2007 report by the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, the African countries with more than 5 million French speakers are:
Algeria (not a member of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie): 19,000,000
Morocco: 10,131,000
Tunisia: 6,360,000
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_French
Sure, Arabic is taking over Francophone Africa its speaker prefer to use it in government, education, and commerce.
I never heard that Arabic is now that important in Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Cameroun and the rest but only from the mind of a HISPANIC DUNG BEETLE and Francophobe like you. Just read your atlas and almanac for the articles of each country that you insist that Arabic is official and I assure none.
And I don't read anything in your link that Arabic is taking over Francophone Africa. It's because you're a real BOBO.
Arabic will be spoken in Hispanic America once the people there became aware of their ancestry.
Most mestizos there are descendants of Moriscos that were expelled from Spain by Philipp and Isabella and they were moslems. They moved to Hispanic America to avoid persecution.
They will revert back to that heritage and will soon be speaking Arabic.
Wow!!!!!!! And I couldn't for Chinese to take the share in Hispanic America because the region is not experiencing any progress. I hope China and the Chinese will take over it by investing huge sum of money there and buy those ailing enterprises that are not profitable.
Sure thing with Chinese investment in latin America, Chinese language and culture will take over it.
Arabic will be spoken in Hispanic America once the people there became aware of their ancestry.
Most mestizos there are descendants of Moriscos that were expelled from Spain by Philipp and Isabella and they were moslems. They moved to Hispanic America to avoid persecution.
They will revert back to that heritage and will soon be speaking Arabic.
LA SANGRE LLAMA!
MAGHREB
French in Maghreb, French is an administrative language and commonly used though not on an official basis in the Maghreb states, Mauritania, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. The French language was introduced in the region during the colonial era. The majority of the population in Maghreb speak either a Semitic Arabic vernacular (see; Maghrebi Arabic, Darija, Algerian Arabic, Moroccan Arabic, Tunisian Arabic) or a Berber language as native language. Classical Arabic, spoken natively by no one, is the official language of all the Maghreb states.
Algeria
Algeria was a part of the French colonial empire during 130 years, see; French rule in Algeria. Algeria was the home to about one million pieds-noirs which later were relocated in France. French is still the most widely studied foreign language, and widely spoken (distantly followed by English), but very rarely spoken as a native language. Since independence, the government has pursued a policy of linguistic Arabisation of education and bureaucracy, with some success, although many university courses continue to be taught in French. French is also widely used in media and commerce.
Morocco
French serves as Morocco's primary language of commerce and economics. It is taught universally and still is widely used in education, media and government.
Tunisia
The situation in Tunisia is similar to that of Morocco. French is used widely in education (for example being the medium of instruction in the sciences in secondary school), the press, and in business, and most educated Tunisians are able to speak it. Many Tunisians mix Tunisian Arabic with French.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maghreb_French
Sam is so envious because non of the non-hispanics declared that Spanish belongs to them too.
Conclusion: French is not exclusive not just to to the French, Canadian, Swiss, Belgians, Mauritians, Haitians, and people of DOM-TOM. It's also the language of the Magrebian and Sub-Saharan Francophone African and it includes Equatorial Guinea of which 60% of the people are French speakers. Whether Sam or Slemani the Hispanic like it or not.
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