Languages of Guinea-Bissau
The language situation in Guinea- Bissau is similar to that of many other countries in sub-Saharan Africa: More and more people give their own West African language in favor of the former colonial language - which became the official language of the independent Republic - on.
There are 18 local languages in Guinea- Bissau. Each ethnic group in the country has its own language, which is also the mother tongue of their members. Most regional languages are West Atlantic languages. Several Mande languages are also local languages. Overall, about 87.6 % of the population speak West Atlantic languages and 12.4%, Mande.
However, the only official language of the country is Portuguese. Since the official language is Portuguese, and education takes place exclusively in Portuguese, it dominate more and more inhabitants as their mother tongue. Standard Portuguese are now talking about 14 percent of the population. The literacy rate is about 45 percent. The school is nationally held in Portuguese, although most of the children do not speak this language at home. French is also taught in the schools, as the country is surrounded by French-speaking countries and a full member of both the Francophonie and the CPLP is ( Lusophone ).
There is a creole language based on Portuguese, the guinabissauische Creole, which is officially recognized as a regional language; the language gets lately gaining popularity among the population and is increasingly being used as a mother tongue. The guineabissauische Creole is also lingua franca and is influenced by the languages of the various ethnic groups. The popular Portuguese based Creole is now dominated by around 60 per cent of the population. Kreol to raise the language of instruction is very difficult to date, because the writing was developed only recently and so hardly stand teaching materials in this language.
Languages and dissemination
In 1998, the languages of Guinea-Bissau had the following numbers of speakers:
- Guineabissauisches Kreol
- Balante, 254,000
- Fulani, 169,000
- Mandjak, 118,000
- Pepel, 59,000
- Mankanja, 25,000
- Biafada, 18,000
- Padjadinka, 12,000
- Bidyogo, 16,000
- Diola, 15,000
- Mansonka, 9000
- Bayot, 5000
- Nalu, 5000
- Kasanga, 400
- Kobiana, 300
- Maninka, 96,000
- Soninke, 2000
- Susu, 2000
- Djakanka