Languages ​​of Côte d'Ivoire

Côte d'Ivoire is a multilingual country. According to Ethnologue , there are 80 languages ​​in Côte d'Ivoire.

The official language, French , was introduced in the colonial period. This language is taught in schools and serves as the lingua franca in the country. 70 or so indigenous languages ​​can be divided into 5 main branches of the Niger-Congolese family. The kwa languages are located in the southeastern sector, some such as baule and anyin (2-3 million and 1 million people), part of the dialect continuum with the Akan language in Ghana , and others, such as Attiy (half a million) are more at odds. The baule is spoken in the east of Lake Kossu and in the capital of the country, Yamoussoukro , and in anyi along the border with Ghana. In the southwestern sector, there are Kru languages , such as Bete and Ve (gure / wobe), half a million each, and a dyde (250,000) attributed to the languages ​​of Liberia . In the north-west, along the border with Guinea and across Lake Kossu in the center of the country, there are Mande languages such as Dan (one million speakers) and Guro (half a million, on the lake). The lake and the Bandama River divided the east of the country of Kwa languages ​​from the West of the Kru and Mande languages. Through the center and north, various senufo languages are located, such as the senari (one million speakers). A quarter of a million speakers live in the northwestern corner of nearby Comoe National Park , such as Dyula , a lingua franca from neighboring Burkina Faso . Practical spelling adopted in 1979 is used to record the languages ​​of the peoples of Côte d'Ivoire.

There are also about 3,000,000 speakers of immigrant languages ​​(American Gesture, Bis (63,000), East Karaboro (5610), Vietnamese, Glaro-Twabo, Jenama-bozo, Dogoso, Khe, Maasina-Fulfulde (1200), Malba-Birifor , moore, nafaanra, siamu, sisite-senufo, soninke (100,000), turk, southern tussky) mainly from neighboring countries and primarily from Burkina Faso . Ethnic tensions in the north between immigrants and local Ivorians, as well as between Mande / Senufo in the north and Cru / qua in the south, have been many times in the Côte d'Ivoire Civil War.

Deaf education in Côte d'Ivoire uses American sign language , introduced by deaf and dumb missionary Andrew Foster.