Benin speaks 54 languages. Of these, French is an official language , and all indigenous languages are considered national languages.
Of the Beninian languages, von (GBE) and Yoruba are the most important in the south of the country. In the far north, at least there are 6 indigenous languages, including the Baatonum (a subgroup of the Volt group in which the Mosi language is the main language) and Fula .
French was introduced in the colonial period and remained as an official language after independence.
Deaf education uses American sign language , introduced by the deaf and dumb American missionary Andrew Foster.
The multilingual type of society in Benin is characterized by the number of languages, ethno-linguistic diversity, the stratification of the use of the language (where French and other languages are officially used in other fields of activity), as well as the fact that many Beninians are polyglot .
To record the languages of Benin, a modified version of the Latin alphabet is used - the alphabet for the national languages of Benin .
Links
- Languages of Benin at Ethnologue
- Joshua Project (all peoples, languages, etc.)