View source for Languages of Angola

{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
{{Languages of
| country   = Angola
| official  = [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]
|unofficial=[[Chokwe language|Chokwe]], [[Kikongo]], [[Kimbundu]], [[Oshiwambo]], [[Luchazi language|Luchazi]], [[Umbundu]]
| national  = All recognized languages of Angola are "national languages"
 |vernacular     = [[Angolan Portuguese]]
| regional   = 
|image=Protests in Angola demand justice for Silvio Dala 03.jpg
|caption=Protestors in Angola with signs in Portuguese
|foreign    = [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]], [[Arabic]], [[Chinese language|Chinese]]
 |sign           = [[Namibian Sign Language]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bqJxAcmA9yEC&q=Angola+&pg=PA343|title=The Deaf Way: Perspectives from the International Conference on Deaf Culture|first1=Carol|last1=Erting|first2=Robert C.|last2=Johnson|first3=Bruce C.|last3=Snider|first4=Dorothy L.|last4=Smith|date=August 16, 1994|publisher=Gallaudet University Press|isbn=9781563680267 |via=Google Books}}</ref>
 |keyboard       = [[Portuguese keyboard layout]]
 |keyboard image = [[File:KB Portuguese.svg|frameless]]
}}
{{Culture of Angola}}

[[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] is the official language of [[Angola]].<ref>{{Cite_web |title=Constitution of the Republic of Angola |url=https://mtti.gov.ao/fotos/frontend_1/editor2/constituicao_da_republica_de_angola.pdf}}</ref> Over 46 other languages are spoken in the country, mostly [[Bantu languages]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Angola |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/country/ao |website=Ethnologue}}</ref>

==European languages==
[[File:AngolaLanguageMap.png|thumb|Situation of Portuguese in each province of Angola: {{legend|#045a8d|Official majority language}}
{{legend|#9bbae1|Official language but not majority native language}}]]
Portuguese is the sole [[official language]]. Due to cultural, social and political mechanisms which date back to the colonial history, the number of native Portuguese speakers is large and growing.{{refn|group=note|During late colonialism, 1962–1975, when all Angolans were considered as Portuguese citizens with equal rights, many black middle-class families in the cities refused to teach their children native languages, so that they could compete with the whites, speaking Portuguese the same way.}} A 2012 study by the Angolan National Institute for Statistics found that Portuguese is the mother tongue of 39% of the population.<ref name="ethno">{{Cite web |title=Angola |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/country/AO/languages |website=Ethnologue}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Angola |date=2014 |url=http://poing.me/layar/Colombia/brochuranoCrop.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150107184118/http://poing.me/layar/Colombia/brochuranoCrop.pdf |publisher=7th World Urban Forum |archive-date=2015-01-07}}</ref> It is spoken as a [[second language]] by many more throughout the country, and younger urban generations are moving towards the dominant or exclusive use of Portuguese. The 2014 population census found that about 71% of the nearly 25.8 million inhabitants of Angola speak Portuguese at home.<ref>{{Cite news |date=23 March 2016 |title=População de Angola sobe para mais de 25,7 milhões de pessoas |language=pt |trans-title=Angola's population rises to over 25.7 million people |work=[[Rádio e Televisão de Portugal|RTP]] |agency=Lusa |url=https://www.rtp.pt/noticias/mundo/populacao-de-angola-sobe-para-mais-de-257-milhoes-de-pessoas_n906065 |access-date=2020-05-11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=23 March 2016 |title=Entre os de 1ª e os de 2ª já somos mais de 25,7 milhões |language=pt |trans-title=Between the 1st and the 2nd we are already over 25.7 million |work=Folha 8 |url=http://jornalf8.net/2016/entre-os-de-primeira-e-os-de-segunda-ja-somos-mais-de-257-milhoes/ |access-date=2016-05-26}}</ref><ref name="observa">{{Cite web |title=Angola: português é falado por 71,15% de angolanos |url=http://observalinguaportuguesa.org/angola-portugues-e-falado-por-7115-de-angolanos/ |date=7 April 2016 |website=Observatório da Língua Portuguesa |language=pt |trans-title=Angola: Portuguese is spoken by 71.15% of Angolans |access-date=2016-03-30 |agency=Lusa}}</ref><ref name="Dicionarioe Gramatica">{{Cite web |title=Quantos falantes de português existem? |url=http://dicionarioegramatica.com.br/2016/02/21/quantos-falantes-de-portugues-existem/ |date=21 February 2016 |website=DicionarioeGramatica.com |language=pt |trans-title=How many Portuguese speakers are there? |access-date=2016-02-21}}</ref>

In urban areas, 85% of the population declared to speak Portuguese at home in the 2014 census, against 49% in rural areas.<ref name=observa/> Portuguese was adopted by Angolans in the mid-twentieth century as a [[lingua franca]] among the various ethnic groups. After the [[Angolan Civil War]], many people moved to the cities where they learned Portuguese. When they returned to the countryside, more people were speaking Portuguese as a first language. The variant of the Portuguese language used in Angola is known as [[Angolan Portuguese]]. Phonetically, this variant is very similar to the Mozambican variant with some exceptions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Angola e Moçambique querem gerir o seu tempo na ratificação do Acordo Ortográfico |url=https://www.buala.org/pt/a-ler/angola-e-mocambique-querem-gerir-o-seu-tempo-na-ratificacao-do-acordo-ortografico |last=Lança |first=Marta |date=11 April 2012 |website=www.buala.org |language=pt |trans-title=Angola and Mozambique want to manage their time in ratifying the Orthographic Agreement |publication-date=20 May 2017}}</ref><ref name="Prophetarum">{{Cite web |title=Da situação da língua portuguesa em Angola |url=http://movv.org/2008/09/12/da-situacao-da-lingua-portuguesa-em-angola/ |last=Prophetarum |first=Clavis |date=12 September 2008 |website=MOVV.org |language=pt |trans-title=The situation of the Portuguese language in Angola |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101105175705/http://movv.org/2008/09/12/da-situacao-da-lingua-portuguesa-em-angola/ |archive-date=5 November 2010 |access-date=26 October 2016}}</ref> Some believe that Angolan Portuguese resembles a pidgin in some aspects.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Portuguese language in Angola: luso-creoles' missing link? |url=http://www.personal.psu.edu/jml34/angola.pdf |last=Lipski |first=John M. |date=1995-08-09|work=Annual meeting of the [[American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese]]|access-date=2021-06-27|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008121355/http://www.personal.psu.edu/jml34/angola.pdf|archive-date=2018-10-08}}</ref>

However, in [[Cabinda Province|Cabinda]], wedged between two French-speaking countries — the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo|DRC]] and the [[Republic of Congo|Congo]] — many people speak [[French language|French]] as well as, or better than, Portuguese. In fact, of the literate population, 90 percent speak French while 10 percent speak Portuguese.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/cabinda.htm|title=Cabinda|last=Pike|first=John|website=www.globalsecurity.org|access-date=2017-07-21}}</ref> {{Better source needed|date=February 2024}} Also, the Angolan [[Bakongo]] who were exiled in the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]] usually speak better French and [[Lingala]] than Portuguese and Kikongo.<ref name=ethno/>

==African languages==
[[File:Angola Ethnic map 1970.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|Ethnolinguistic map of Angola]]
All native languages of Angola are considered to be [[national language]]s. After independence, the government said it would choose six to be developed as [[literary language]]s. The six languages vary between government pronouncements, but commonly included are 
[[Umbundu language|Umbundu]], [[Kimbundu]], [[Kongo language|Kikongo]] (presumably the Fiote of Cabinda), [[Chokwe language|Chokwe]], [[Kwanyama]] (Ovambo), and [[Mbunda language|Mbunda]] (never clearly defined; may be [[Nyemba language|Nyemba]], [[Luchazi language|Luchazi]], or indeterminate).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.embaixadadeangola.org/cultura/linguas/set_lnac.html|title=Serviços Culturais da Embaixada de Angola em Portugal|website=www.embaixadadeangola.org|access-date=2017-07-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=9 November 2014 |title=Harmonização das línguas bantu dificultada pela fonética e grafia |language=pt |trans-title=Harmonization of Bantu languages hampered by phonetics and spelling |work=Notícias ao Minuto |agency=Lusa |url=https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/cultura/303519/harmonizacao-das-linguas-bantu-dificultada-pela-fonetica-e-grafia}}</ref> Angolan radio transmits in fourteen of the "main" national languages: [[Bangala language|Bangala]] ('Mbangala'), [[Chokwe language|Chokwe]], [[Fiote language|Fiote]], [[Herero language|Herero]] ('Helelo'), [[Kikongo]], [[Kimbundu]], [[Kwanyama]], [[Lunda language|Lunda]], [[Ngangela language|Ngangela]], [[Ngoya language|Ngoya]], [[Nyaneka language|Nyaneka]], [[Ovambo language|Ovambo]] ('Oxiwambo'), [[Songo language|Songo]], [[Umbundu]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rádio N'Gola Yetu |url=http://www.rna.ao/radio-ngola-yetu/ |website=www.rna.ao |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151112181401/http://www.rna.ao/radio-ngola-yetu/ |archive-date=2015-11-12}}</ref> Some of the national languages are used in Angolan schools, including the provision of teaching materials such as books, but there is a shortage of teachers.<ref name=observa/>

Umbundu is the most widely spoken Bantu language, spoken natively by about 23 percent of the population, about 5.9 million. It is mainly spoken in the center and south of the country.<ref name=observa/> Kimbundu is spoken in [[Luanda Province]] and adjacent provinces. Kikongo is spoken in the northwest, including the exclave of Cabinda.<ref name=ELL>{{ELL2|Angola: Language Situation}}</ref> About 8.24% of Angolans use Kikongo. Fiote is spoken by about 2.9%, mainly in Cabinda.<ref name=observa/> Lingala is also spoken in Angola.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lingala |url=https://www.mustgo.com/worldlanguages/lingala/ |website=MustGo.com |access-date=2019-07-18}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=May 2020}}

The [[San people]] speak languages from two families, the [[!Kung language|!Kung]] and [[Khoe language|Khoe]], though only a few hundred speak the latter. The majority of San fled to South Africa after the end of the civil war. The extinct [[Kwadi language]] may have been distantly related to Khoe, and [[Kwisi language|Kwisi]] is entirely unknown; their speakers were neither Khoisan nor Bantu.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brenzinger |first=Matthias |title=Language Death: Factual and Theoretical Explorations with Special Reference to East Africa |date=1992 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |pages=367}}</ref>

==Asian languages==
A (very small) number of Angolans of Lebanese descent speak [[Lebanese Arabic|Arabic]] and/or French. Due to increasing [[Angola-China relations]], there is now a [[Chinese language|sinophone]] community of about 300,000.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Benguela Railway 2012, Part 1 |url=http://www.internationalsteam.co.uk/tales/angolatales01.htm |last=Dickinson |first=Rob |website=The International Steam Pages |access-date=2017-07-21}}</ref>

== List of Languages of Angola ==
Listed below are the languages of Angola.<ref name="ethno" />

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
!Rank
!Languages
!Number of speakers in Angola
|-
|1
|[[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]
|15,470,000
|-
|2
|[[Umbundu]]
|6,000,000
|-
|3
|[[Kongo language|Kikongo]]
|2,000,000
|-
|4
|[[Kimbundu]]
|1,700,000
|-
|5
|[[Luvale]]
|464,000
|-
|6
|[[Kwanyama]] ([[Oshiwambo]])
|461,000
|-
|7
|[[Chokwe language|Cokwe]]/[[Chokwe language|Chokwe]]
|456,000
|-
| rowspan="2" |8
|[[Lucazi]]
| rowspan="2" |400,000
|-
|[[Mbangala]]
|-
|10
|[[Ibinda]]
|350,000
|-
|11
|[[Nyaneka]]
|300,000
|-
| rowspan="2" |12
|[[Mbwela]]
| rowspan="2" |222,000
|-
|[[Nyemba]]
|-
|14
|[[Yaka language (Congo–Angola)|Yaka]]
|200,000
|-
|15
|[[Lunda people|Lunda]]
|178,000
|-
|16
|[[Nkumbi]]
|150,000
|-
|17
|[[Mbunda language|Mbunda]]
|135,000
|-
|18
|[[Ruund language|Ruund]]
|98,500
|-
|19
|[[Kuvale]]
|70,000
|-
|20
|[[Luba-Kasai]]
|60,000
|-
|21
|[[Songo]]
|50,000
|-
|22
|[[Luimbi]]
|43,900
|-
|23
|[[Yombe]]
|39,400
|-
| rowspan="2" |24
|[[Mpinda]]
| rowspan="2" |30,000
|-
|[[Suku language|Suku]]
|-
| rowspan="2" |26
|[[Gciriku language|Gciriku]]
| rowspan="2" |24,000
|-
|[[Sama language (Angola)|Sama]]
|-
|28
|[[Holu language|Holu]]
|23,100
|-
| rowspan="2" |29
|[[Ndombe language|Ndombe]]
| rowspan="2" |22,300
|-
|[[Nkangala dialect|Nkangala]]
|-
|31
|[[Kwangali]]
|22,000
|-
| rowspan="2" |32
|[[Herero language|Himba]]/[[Herero language|Herero]]
| rowspan="2" |20,000
|-
|[[Khongo]]
|-
|34
|[[Dhimba language|Dhimba]]/[[Zemba language|Zemba]] 
|18,000
|-
|35
|[[Yauma]]
|17,100
|-
|36
|[[Ongandjera|Ngandyera]] ([[Oshiwambo]])
|13,100
|-
|37
|[[Nyengo]]
|9,380
|-
|38
|[[Kwandu]]
|6,000
|-
|39
|[[Northwestern ǃKung]]
|5,630
|-
|40
|[[Kung-Ekoka]]
|5,500
|-
|41
|[[Mbukushu]]
|4,000
|-
|42
|[[Makoma]]
|3,000
|-
| rowspan="2" |43
|[[Kibala]]
| rowspan="2" |2,630
|-
|[[Mashi]]
|-
|45
|[[Ngendelengo]]
|900
|-
|46
|[[Khwedam]]
|200
|-
| -
|[[Kilari]]
|Unknown number in Angola
|-
| -
|[[Kwadi]]
|No known native speakers in Angola
|}

==Foreign languages==
The foreign languages most taught at school are [[English language|English]] and [[French language|French]]. The Angolan Government has planned to make English a compulsory subject in the future.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.worldatlas.com:443/articles/what-languages-are-spoken-in-angola.html | title=What Languages Are Spoken in Angola? | date=August 2017 }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Angolan Portuguese]]
*[[Constitution of Angola]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*Tola Akindipe, Geofrey Kakaula & Alcino Joné, [http://chokwe.mofeko.com/ Largest Chokwe language resource on the internet (Mofeko)]
*Tola Akindipe, André Tati. [https://ibinda.mofeko.com/ Largest Ibinda (Fiote) language resource on the web (Mofeko)]
*[http://www.panafril10n.org/wikidoc/pmwiki.php/PanAfrLoc/Angola PanAfrican L10n page on Angola]
*[http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/afrique/Angola.htm L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde – Angola]
*[http://www.ethnologue.com/search/search_by_page/Angola Ethnologue Listing of Angolan Languages]
*[http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/country/Angola endangeredlanguages.com]

{{Languages of Angola}}
{{Africa in topic|Languages of}}
{{Angola topics}}

[[Category:Languages of Angola| ]]