Does Africa Have Dialects or Languages??

  First of all, an apology is warranted; I've been sooo bad at updating. But that doesn't mean that I've been neglecting sharing my ideas online entirely--I'll let you guys know ways you can see what I've been doing recently in my next post. Please check it out to support me!!

  So what I wanted to briefly let you guys know is about how to steer clear of ignorance when it comes to verbal communication in Africa.

  It's truly startling that I still have people approach me and inquire whether I can click my tongue, or if I can speak 'African". So I'll address this first: THERE IS NO SUCH LANGUAGE AS AFRICAN. STOP SAYING IT.

  If you even think about it for a moment, does it make any sense for an entire continent to speak a single language? For countries that have different histories, backgrounds, cultures and identities that happen to occupy the same giant landmass to all speak one language?? Of course not. That's like me asking a French person if they can speak European--it doesn't add up in the least.

  The more excusable mistake is when I am asked if I can speak "Nigerian". Don't get me wrong--it's still ignorance, but in this case, an understandable form. Since in Germany they speak German and in Russia they speak Russian, I can understand this mistake. However, I must inform you that this is a wrong assumption. As far as Nigeria is concerned, there are 520 living languages in the nation (is actually 527, but 7 of them are extinct). Imagine--that's just in one country out of 54. I'm not asking anyone to go learn about each of them--I simply want you all to understand and acknowledge that there are many, many, many languages spoken within the African continent, and one shouldn't assume anything when asking an African about which one they speak.

   This leads nicely into today's topic of discussion. When I have told such things to people, they always ask, 'Are they languages, or just dialects?'

  And in my opinion, they are indeed distinct languages. Of course, I'm no linguistics expert, and I can't speak for every African language, but from my experience, what outsiders are assuming to be related dialects are actually different language.

  Generally, the main criterium for determining if spoken communication methods are languages or dialects is whether they are "mutually intelligible"--that is, whether individuals who speak them can understand each other.

   Of course, this criterium get confusing, because "understanding" is a very vague term. For instance, while I was in the Dominican Republic, I met people from Mexico, Venezuela, Spain--all Spanish-speaking countries like the D. R., but they said they had trouble communicating, especially with listening. And then you have instances like with Danish and Norwegian--while they are considered mutually intelligible, they are still considered different languages.

   This being said, I suppose that the question presented previously is a valid one. I of course have not come in contact with all 520 Nigerian languages, talk less those of the rest of the continent, but here's what I can tell you from my experience.

   I speak 'Edo' (not to be confused with Japan's Edo), which is sometimes referred to as Benin (not to be confused with the nation Benin). However, I cannot understand Yoroba, Igbo, Hausa, Fulani, etc. Last year I went to a traditional Nigerian wedding that was conducted entirely in Yoroba; I had no clue what was going on, and spent the entire time having my mother and aunt translating for me (they both speak Yoroba). There are some exceptions to this, though. I remember once I spoke Benin to my mother in front of an Esan speaker, and he understood exactly what I said. Turns out, this is because they both belong to the Edoid language family. However, Edo and Esan remain separate languages, as do Yoroba, Igbo, and the others. 

   I hope this explanation is clear enough to display the true diversity of languages within Africa. The continent's tragic history unfortunately overshadows the wealth of culture that is held within it (however, its wealth in natural resources never goes unnoticed by those ready to exploit it.......but that's another conversation). Please feel to comment anything you'd like to say or add!