Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

has two official languages,

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and French, and over 120 indigenous languages. A vernacular version of Arabic,

Chadian Arabic Chadian Arabic (), also known as Shuwa Arabic, Western Sudanic Arabic, or West Sudanic Arabic (WSA), is a variety of Arabic and the first language of 1.9 million people in Chad, both town dwellers and Baggara, nomadic cattle herders. Most of its ...

, is a

lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, link language or language of wider communication (LWC), is a Natural language, language systematically used to make co ...

and the language of commerce, spoken by 40–60% of the population. The two official languages have fewer speakers than Chadian Arabic. Standard Arabic is spoken by around 615,000 speakers. French is widely spoken in the main cities such as N'Djamena and by most men in the south of the country. Most schooling is in French. The language with the most first-language speakers is probably Ngambay, with around one million speakers. In April 2005 Chad joined the Arab League as an observer, before submitting an application to join the

Arab League The Arab League (, ' ), officially the League of Arab States (, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world. The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945, initially with seven members: Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt, Kingdom of Iraq, ...

as a

member state A member state is a state that is a member of an international organization or of a federation or confederation. Since the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) include some members that are not sovereign states ...

on 25 March 2014, Middle East Monitor
''South Sudan and Chad apply to join the Arab League''
12 April 2014, retrieved 6 May 2017 which was still pending in 2025. Chadian Sign Language is a variant of

Nigerian Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) developed in the United States, starting as a blend of local sign languages and French Sign Language (FSL). Local varieties have developed in many countries, but there is little research on which should be considered ...

, a dialect of

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 ...

; Andrew Foster introduced ASL in the 1960s, and Chadian teachers for the deaf train in Nigeria.

Niger–Congo languages

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 ...

** Goundo ** Kim (15,354, RGPH 1993) ** Moundang (160,000, RGPH 1993) ** Toupouri (90,785, RGPH, 1993) **

Bua languages The Bua languages are a subgroup of the Mbum–Day subgroup of the Savanna languages spoken by fewer than 30,000 people in southern Chad in an area stretching roughly between the Chari River and the Guéra Massif. They were labeled "G13" in Jose ...

: Bua, Niellim, Gula Iro, etc. (total < 30,000)

Nilo-Saharan languages

Maban languages The Maban languages are a small family of languages which have been included in the hypothetical Nilo-Saharan languages, Nilo-Saharan language family. Maban languages are spoken in eastern Chad, the Central African Republic and western Sudan (Da ...

** Maba (120,000, SIL 1991) ** Massalit (50,857, RGPH 1993) ** Karanga ** Kendeje ** Marfa ** Massalat **

Surbakhal Surbakhal is a Maban language of Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad� ...

** Kibet ** Runga * Fur languages ** Mimi ** Amdang (5,000, Bender 1983) * Saharan languages ** Tedaga **

Dazaga Daza (also known as Dazaga) is a Nilo-Saharan language spoken by the Daza people (a sub-group of the Toubou people) inhabiting northern Chad and eastern Niger. The Daza are also known as the Gouran (Gorane) in Chad. Dazaga is spoken by around ...

** Kanembu ** Zaghawa *

Bongo–Bagirmi languages The Bongo–Bagirmi or Sara–Bongo–Bagirmi (SBB) languages are the major branch of the Central Sudanic language family with about forty languages. Principal groups include Bagirmi languages such as Naba and the Sara languages. They are spo ...

(Central Sudanic) ** Bernde (Morom) ** Bagirmi (Barma) (44,761, RGPH 1993) ** Berakou ** Disa ** Gula ** Jaya ** Kenga (30,000, SIL 1993) ** Naba ** Fongoro ** Ngambay ** Sara (Madjingay) (183,471, RGPH 1993) * Sinyar *

Eastern Sudanic languages In most classifications, the Eastern Sudanic languages are a group of nine families of languages that may constitute a branch of the Nilo-Saharan languages, Nilo-Saharan language family. Eastern Sudanic languages are spoken from southern Egypt to ...

** Tama (63,000) ** Sungor (38,000) ** Mararit (43,000) ** Daju

Afro-Asiatic languages

Semitic languages The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. They include Arabic, Amharic, Tigrinya language, Tigrinya, Aramaic, Hebrew language, Hebrew, Maltese language, Maltese, Modern South Arabian language ...

** Bongor Arabic (pidgin) **

Chadic languages The Chadic languages form a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken in parts of the Sahel. They include 196 languages spoken across northern Nigeria, southern Niger, southern Chad, and northern Cameroon. By far the most widely ...

** Bidiyo ** Buduma ** Dangaléat ** Gabri **Herdé ** Kabalai ** Kera ** Kimré ** Kwang ** Lele ** Marba ** Masana ** Masmaje ** Mesme ** Migaama **

Mubi Mubi (; stylized as MUBI; the Auteurs before 2010) is a global streaming platform, production company and film distributor. MUBI produces and theatrically distributes films by emerging and established filmmakers, which are exclusively available ...

** Musey ** Musgu ** Nancere ** Pévé ** Sokoro ** Tobanga ** Tumak (''Ethnologue'' lists 54 Chadic languages in Chad altogether, many of them small.)

Creole languages

* Sango

Unclassified languages

* Laal (749, SIL 2000)

References

External links

''Ethnologue'' page on "Languages of Chad"PanAfrican L10n page on Chad
{{Africa in topic, Languages of