The African languages are generally divided into four language families:

• Afro-Asiatic languages (Semitic, etc.)
• Nilo-Saharan languages, possibly including Kadu languages
• Niger-Congo languages, possibly including Kordofanian languages
• Khoisan languages

Unclassified or particularly controversial single languages include:

• possibly Afro-Asiatic: Ongota, Kujarge
• possibly Nilo-Saharan: Shabo
• possibly Niger-Congo: Laal, Mpre, and Jalaa.
• possibly Khoisan: Hadza, Sandawe, and Kwadi.

Non-African families

The above are families indigenous to Africa. Several African languages belong to non-African families: Malagasy is an Austronesian language, and Afrikaans is Indo-European, as is the lexifier of most African creoles.

• External link: Ethnologue.com's Africa : More on African languages and language families.

Studying African Languages

In Europe there is a project going on building up a common curriculum in African Languages and Linguistics called EEQUALL (European Equivalences In African Languages And Linguistics). It will allow students to get credit points from different universities.

• External link: EEQUALL (currently a bit outdated)
• External link: African Languages at the K-12 Level Looks at how American schools are studying African languages.

See also

• Polyglotta Africana
• Joseph H. Greenberg
• Diedrich Hermann Westermann
• Malcolm Guthrie