Manual of Romance Languages in Africa (Manuals of Romance Linguistics)

With more than two thousand languages spread over its territory, multilingualism is a common reality in Africa. The main official languages of most African countries are Indo-European, in many instances Romance. As they were primarily brought to Africa in the era of colonization, the areas discussed in this volume are thirty-five states that were once ruled by Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal, or Spain, and the African regions still belonging to three of them. Twenty-six states are presented in relation to French, four to Italian, six to Portuguese, and two to Spanish. They are considered in separate chapters according to their sociolinguistic situation, linguistic history, external language policy, linguistic characteristics, and internal language policy. The result is a comprehensive overview of the Romance languages in modern-day Africa. It follows a coherent structure, offers linguistic and sociolinguistic information, and illustrates language contact situations, power relations, as well as the cross-fertilization and mutual enrichment emerging from the interplay of languages and cultures in Africa. Manuals of Romance Linguistics Table of Contents 1 Introduction Northern Africa French 2 Algeria 3 Morocco 4 Tunisia Italian 5 Libya Portuguese 6 Portugal: Madeira Spanish 7 Spain: Canary Islands 8 Spain: Ceuta and Melilla Western Africa French 9 Benin 10 Burkina Faso 11 Côte d’Ivoire 12 Guinea 13 Mali 14 Mauritania 15 Niger 16 Senegal 17 Togo Portuguese 18 Cabo Verde 19 Guinea-Bissau Middle Africa French 20 Cameroon 21 Central African Republic 22 Chad 23 Congo-Brazzaville 24 Congo-Kinshasa 25 Gabon Portuguese 26 Angola 27 São Tomé and Príncipe Spanish 28 Equatorial Guinea Eastern Africa French 29 Burundi and Rwanda 30 Djibouti 31 France: Réunion and Mayotte 32 Madagascar and Comoros 33 Mauritius and Seychelles Italian 34 Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia Portuguese 35 Mozambique Overview Country Key Facts 36 Country Key Facts Language Index Linguistic Subject Index General Subject Index Person Index