Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

is home to at least 250 languages, with some accounts reporting around 600. These include 55

Afro-Asiatic languages The Afroasiatic languages (also known as Afro-Asiatic, Afrasian, Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic) are a language family (or "phylum") of about 400 languages spoken predominantly in West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of th ...

, two

Nilo-Saharan languages The Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed family of around 210 African languages spoken by somewhere around 70 million speakers, mainly in the upper parts of the Chari River, Chari and Nile rivers, including historic Nubia, north of where the tw ...

, four

Ubangian languages The Ubangian languages form a diverse linkage of some seventy languages centered on the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They are the predominant languages of the CAR, spoken by 2–3 million people, including ...

, and 169

Niger–Congo languages Niger–Congo is a hypothetical language family spoken over the majority of sub-Saharan Africa. It unites the Mande languages, the Atlantic–Congo languages (which share a characteristic noun class system), and possibly several smaller groups ...

. This latter group comprises one

Senegambian language The Senegambian languages, traditionally known as the Northern West Atlantic, sometimes confusingly referred to in literature as the Atlantic languages, are a branch of Atlantic–Congo languages most commonly spoken in Senegal and neighboring ...

(

Fulfulde Fula ( ),Laurie Bauer, 2007, ''The Linguistics Student's Handbook'', Edinburgh also known as Fulani ( ) or Fulah (, , ; Adlam: , , ; Ajami: , , ), is a Senegambian language spoken by around 36.8 million people as a set of various diale ...

), 28

Adamawa languages The Adamawa languages are a putative family of 80–90 languages scattered across the Adamawa Plateau in Central Africa, in northern Cameroon, north-western Central African Republic, southern Chad, and eastern Nigeria, spoken altogether by on ...

, and 142

Benue–Congo languages Benue–Congo (sometimes called East Benue–Congo) is a major branch of the Volta-Congo languages which covers most of Sub-Saharan Africa. Subdivisions Central Nigerian (or Platoid) contains the Plateau languages, Plateau, Jukunoid languages, Juk ...

(130 of which are

Bantu languages The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu language, Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀), or Ntu languages are a language family of about 600 languages of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern, East Africa, Eastern and Southeast Africa, South ...

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

are official languages, a heritage of Cameroon's colonial past as a colony of both

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

from 1916 to 1961. Eight out of the ten

regions of Cameroon The Republic of Cameroon is divided into ten regions. History Between 1961 and 1972, Cameroon was a federal republic made up of two federated states, East Cameroon and West Cameroon. A unitary system came into being in 1972. The countr ...

are primarily

francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

and two are

anglophone The English-speaking world comprises the 88 countries and territories in which English is an official, administrative, or cultural language. In the early 2000s, between one and two billion people spoke English, making it the largest language ...

. The percentage of French and English speakers is estimated by the Presidency of Cameroon to be 70% and 30% respectively. Cameroon is a

Francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

and

Anglophone The English-speaking world comprises the 88 countries and territories in which English is an official, administrative, or cultural language. In the early 2000s, between one and two billion people spoke English, making it the largest language ...

country, where, as of 2024, 11.957 million (41.17%) out of 29.124 million people speak French. The nation strives toward

bilingualism Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

, but in reality very few (11.6%) Cameroonians are literate in both French and English, and 28.8% are literate in neither. The government has established several bilingual schools in an effort to teach both languages more evenly; however, in reality most of these schools separate the anglophone and francophone sections and therefore do not provide a true bilingual experience. Cameroon is a member of both the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majo ...

and

La Francophonie LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smi ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, the country's official language during the German colonial period until World War I, has nowadays almost entirely yielded to its two successors. However, as a foreign language subject German still enjoys huge popularity among pupils and students, with 300,000 people learning or speaking German in Cameroon in 2010. Today, Cameroon is one of the African countries with the highest number of people with knowledge of German. Most people in the English-speaking

Northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

and

Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

provinces speak

Cameroonian Pidgin English Cameroonian Pidgin English, or Cameroonian Creole (, from West Coast), is a language variety of Cameroon. It is also known as Kamtok (from 'Cameroon-talk'). It is primarily spoken in the Northwest Region (Cameroon), North West and Southwest Regio ...

, also called Kamtok, as a lingua franca.

serves the same function in the north, and Ewondo in much of the

Center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

, and

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

provinces.

Camfranglais Camfranglais (), Francanglais, or Francamglais (portmanteau of the French adjectives ''camerounais'', ''français'', and ''anglais'') is a vernacular of Cameroon, containing grammatical and lexical elements from Cameroonian French, Cameroonian ...

(or Frananglais) is a relatively new pidgin communication form emerging in urban areas and other locations where Anglophone and Francophone Cameroonians meet and interact. Popular singers have used the hybrid language and added to its popularity. Education for the deaf in Cameroon uses

American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that i ...

, introduced by the deaf American missionary Andrew Foster. There is little literature, radio, or television programming in native Cameroonian languages. Nevertheless, many Cameroonian languages have alphabets or other writing systems, many developed by the Christian missionary group

SIL International SIL Global (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics International) is an evangelical Christian nonprofit organization whose main purpose is to study, develop and document languages, especially those that are lesser-known, to expan ...

, who have translated the Bible, Christian hymns, and other materials. The

General Alphabet of Cameroon Languages The General Alphabet of Cameroon Languages is an orthography, orthographic system created in the late 1970s for all Languages of Cameroon, Cameroonian languages.Tadadjeu, Maurice and Etienne Sadembouo. 1979Alphabet Générale des Langues Camerounai ...

was developed in the late 1970s as an orthographic system for all Cameroonian languages. In the late 19th century, the

Bamum script The Bamum scripts are an evolutionary series of six scripts created for the Bamum language by Ibrahim Njoya, King of Bamum (now western Cameroon). They are notable for evolving from a pictographic system to a semi-syllabary in the space of f ...

was developed by Sultan

Ibrahim Njoya Sultan Ibrahim Njoya (Bamum language, Bamum: , ''Iparəim Nʃuɔiya'', formerly spelled in Bamum language, Bamum as , and Germanisation, Germanicized as ''Njoja'') in Yaoundé, was seventeenth in a long dynasty of kings that ruled over Bamum kingd ...

to write the Bamum (Shüpamom) language.

Official languages

Literacy in French for individuals of age 12 and above rose from 41.3% to 57.6% between 1987 and 2005 while that of English rose from 13.4% to 25.3%. The global proportion of individuals literate in official languages has thus markedly increased between 1987 and 2005, rising from 53.3% to 71.2%. In 2005, the probability to be literate in French while being anglophone was 0.46 while that of being literate in English while being francophone was 0.20, resulting from the predominant status of the French language in Cameroon as a whole.

Indigenous languages

Most of the 260 languages spoken in Cameroon are indigenous languages. With a population estimated in 25 million people, UNESCO classified the country as a distinctive cultural density. The National Institute of Statistics of Cameroon reported that four percent of the indigenous languages have disappeared since 1950. Currently, ten percent of them are neglected, and seven percent of them are considered as threatened.

''Ethnologue''

The following list of languages in Cameroon is mostly based from ''

Ethnologue ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensive catalogue of languages. It w ...

''.

ALCAM (2012)

The ''Atlas linguistique du Cameroun'' (''ALCAM'', or "Linguistic Atlas of Cameroon") lists about 250 languages in Cameroon. The list is provided below.

Classification

The 2012 edition of the ''Atlas linguistique du Cameroun'' (''ALCAM'') provides the following classification of the

of Cameroon. ;Adamawa *Samba *Daka *Kobo-Dii (Vere-Duru) **North: Doyayo, Longto **South: Peere *Mumuye *Mbum **North: Tupuri, Mundang, Mambay **South: Mbum, Pana, Kali-Dek, Kuo, Gbete, Pam, Ndai *Fali: North, South *Nimbari ;Ubangian *Gbaya; Bangando *Baka ;Benue-Congo *Jukunoid: Mbembe, Njukun, Kutep, Uuhum-Gigi, Busua, Bishuo, Bikya, Kum, Beezen Nsaa *Cross River: Korop; Efik *Bendi: Boki *Bantoid (see below) ;Bantoid *Mambiloid: Njoyame, Nizaa, Mambila, Kwanja, Bung, Kamkam, Vute *Tivoid: Njwande, Tiv, Iyive, Iceve, Evand, Ugare, Esimbi, Batomo, Assumbo, Eman, Caka, Ihatum, Amasi *Ekoid: Ejagham *Nyang: Denya, Kendem, Kenyang *Beboid **Western: Naki, Bu, Misong, Koshin, Muŋgɔŋ, Cuŋ **Eastern: Bebe, Kemezuŋ, Ncane, Nsari, Noone, Busuu, Bishuo, Bikya *Grassfield (see below) *Bantu (see below) ;Grassfield *Western **Momo ***Ngwɔ, Widikum **Menchum ***Modele, Befang **Ring ***''West'': Aghem ***''Central'': Mmen ***''East'': Lamnso' ***''South'': Kənswei Nsei, Niemeng, Vəŋo, Wushi *Eastern **Ngemba: Bafut, Mundum, Mankon, Bambili, Nkwen, Pinyin **Bamileke-Central: Ngomable, New; Kwa', Ghomala', Fe'fe', Nda'nda' **Noun: Mamenyan, Shüpamem, Bangolan, Cirambo, Bamali, Bafanji, Mungaka, Medumba **Northern: Limbum, Dzodinka, Yamba, Mbe', Central Mfumte, Southern Mfumte ;Bantu *Jarawan: Ngoŋ-Nagumi, Mboŋa *Mbam (see below) *Equatorial: A, B, C, D (partial) (see below) *Zambeze: D (partial), E, F, G, H ,I, J, K, L, M, N, P, R, S ;Mbam *ex-A40b **Ndemli, Tikari **Ninyoo, Tunan, Nomande, Atomp **Nigi **Bati *ex-A60 **Yambasa: Nugunu, Nuasua, Nubaca, Dumbula **Sanaga: Tuki ;Equatorial Bantu *North **A ***Bafia (A50): Təbɛya, Lefa', Dimboŋ, Ripɛy, Rikpa **B ***Coastal ****A10: Oroko (West, East dialects), Lifɔ'-Balɔŋ, Nsose, Akoose ****A20: Bakɔlɛ, Wumbuko, Mokpwe, Isu, Bubia; Duala ****A30: Yasa, Batanga ***Basaa (A40): Bankon, Basaa, Bakoko ***Beti (A70): Bəti-Faŋ, Bəmbələ, Bəbil ***Meka (A80): Məkaa, Sɔ, Bikele, Kwasio, Bagyɛli, Kɔɔzime, Mpo ***Kakɔ (A90): Polri, Kwakum, Kakɔ *South: B, C, D (partial)

References

Sources

* * *

External links

''Ethnologue'' page on Languages of Cameroon

PanAfriL10n page on Cameroon

(article focuses on Cameroon)
Rosendal, Tove. 2008. "Multilingual Cameroon: Policy, Practice, Problems and Solutions." University of Gothenburg, Africana Informal Series, No. 7
{{Niger-Congo branches