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Languages of Chad
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Chad has two official languages, Arabic and French,[1]: 575 and Ethnologue reports over 120 indigenous languages in the country.[2] Due to governmental bilingualism, inter-ethnic marriages, and language contact, most Chadians are multilingual.[1]: 581
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Official languages
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The co-official languages of Chad, French and Arabic, reflect Chad's complex sociolinguistic history where indigenous people and languages coexist with two different waves of colonization.[1]: 575
Arabic took hold following 16th century Arab migrations from Sudan, Nubia, and possibly through Trans-Saharan trade routes. A vernacular version of Arabic, Chadian Arabic, is a lingua franca and the language of commerce, spoken by approximately 60% of the population.[3]
France gained control of Chad during the early 20th century, and their colonial policies focused on spreading French as the primary language in Chad. A 1924 letter from the governor general of French Chad declared: "The spread of French is a necessity [...] The native is only allowed to present his/her requests in French." After Chad gained independence in 1960, French was retained by the new government as the official language, in part because it functioned as a neutral choice, rather than having to elevate one indigenous language over another.[1]: 576
Arabic joined French as a co-official language in 1978, as part of a deal ending the Chadian Civil War by increasing northern Chadians' role in government.[4] French remains the dominant language in many workplaces, schools, and administrative institutions. A 2022 analysis found that about 75% of administrative institutions spoke exclusively in French, and a further 20% spoke French and Arabic.[1]: 577 [5]: 7
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Non-official languages
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The language with the most first-language speakers in Chad is likely Ngambay, which has an estimated one million speakers.[6] Ngambay is used as a commercial and inter-ethnic bridge language in Southern Chad and in the capital, N'Djamena.[1]: 587
Many of major indigenous languages of Chad are members of the Sara-Bongo-Bagirmi language branch of the proposed Nilo-Saharan language family. In addition to Ngambay, these include Kaba, Deme, Lutos, and Barma/Bagirmi. These languages are mostly used in southern Chad and some of them extend into neighboring countries, especially Cameroon or the Central African Republic.[6]
In parts of Southern Chad, the linguistic landscape is highly diverse. It is a border region between three language families: Niger-Congo, Nilo-Saharan, and Afro-Asiatic, plus a language isolate, Laal. A 2025 study in two villages along the Chari River found that every villager spoke at least three languages fluently, and most spoke at least four. As a result, even though many of the languages have a small number of speakers, they are relatively vibrant, continuing to get passed down through the generations.[7]: 450, 456–457, 471–473
The Chadian government produced the Chadian National Alphabet, which provides Arabic script and Latin script transcription for various Chadian languages.[8]: 273
Chadian Sign Language is a poorly-studied language that is considered to be a variant of Nigerian Sign Language, which is itself based on American Sign Language.[9] Andrew Foster, a Deaf African-American educator, introduced ASL instruction to West Africa beginning in the 1960s, eventually establishing 32 schools across 13 countries. Foster began teaching a summer course in ASL for French-speaking teachers, and this in turn led to the founding of a school in Chad in 1976. Although Foster's course taught ASL-based signs, the language may be more of a creole, combining ASL signs with French structure.[10]
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Languages used in Chad
Ethnologue lists 123 living indigenous languages in use in Chad. Of these, 55 are considered Afro-Asiatic languages, 46 are Nilo-Saharan languages, and 23 are Niger-Congo languages.[2] Some languages that have been attested in Chad are listed below.
All languages listed below are taken from Ethnologue's list unless otherwise cited.
Niger–Congo languages
Nilo-Saharan languages
Afro-Asiatic languages
Creole languages
Language isolate
References
External links
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