text:
Languages of Africa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
The traditional language families spoken in Africa:
Afroasiatic
Nilo-Saharan
Niger–Congo
Bantu
Khoisan
Indo-European
Austronesian
The languages of Africa are divided into six major language families:
Afroasiatic languages are spread throughout Western Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa and parts of the Sahel.
Austronesian languages are spoken in Madagascar.
Indo-European languages are spoken in South Africa and Namibia (Afrikaans, English, German) and are used as lingua francas in the former colonies of Britain (English), former colonies of France (French), former colonies of Portugal (Portuguese), former colonies of Spain (Spanish) and the current Spanish territories of Ceuta, Melilla and the Canary Islands (Spanish).
Khoe languages are concentrated in the Kalahari Desert of Namibia and Botswana.
Niger–Congo languages (Bantu and non-Bantu) cover West, Central, Southeast and Southern Africa.
Nilo-Saharan languages (unity debated) are spoken from Tanzania to Sudan and from Chad to Mali.
There are several other small families and language isolates, as well as languages that have yet to be classified. In addition, Africa has a wide variety of sign languages, many of which are language isolates (see below).
The total number of languages natively spoken in Africa is variously estimated (depending on the delineation of language vs. dialect) at between 1,250 to 2,100,[1] and by some counts at "over 3,000",[2] Nigeria alone has over 500 languages (according to the count of SIL Ethnologue),[3] one of the greatest concentrations of linguistic diversity in the world.
Around a hundred languages are widely used for inter-ethnic communication. Arabic, Somali, Berber, Amharic, Oromo, Igbo, Swahili, Hausa, Manding, Fulani and Yoruba are spoken by tens of millions of people. Twelve dialect clusters (which may group up to a hundred linguistic varieties) are spoken by 75 percent, and fifteen by 85 percent, of Africans as a first or additional language.[4] Although many mid-sized languages are used on the radio, in newspapers and in primary-school education, and some of the larger ones are considered national languages, only a few are official at the national level. The African Union declared 2006 the "Year of African Languages".[5]
Contents
[hide]
1 Language groups
1.1 Afroasiatic languages
1.2 Nilo-Saharan languages
1.3 Niger–Congo languages
1.4 Other language families
1.4.1 Austronesian
1.4.2 Indo-European
1.4.3 Small families
1.4.4 Creole languages
1.4.5 Unclassified languages
1.4.6 Sign languages
2 Language in Africa
2.1 Official Languages
2.2 Cross-border languages
2.3 Language change and planning
2.4 Demographics
3 Linguistic features
3.1 Phonological
3.2 Syntactic
3.3 Semantic
4 Number of speakers
5 See also
5.1 General
5.2 Works
5.3 Classifiers
6 Notes
7 References
8 External links
Language groups[edit]
Clickable map showing the traditional language families, subfamilies and major languages spoken in Africa
Most languages spoken in Africa belong to one of three large language families: Afroasiatic, Nilo-Saharan and Niger–Congo. Another hundred belong to small families such as Ubangian (sometimes grouped within Niger-Congo) and the various families called Khoisan, or the Indo-European and Austronesian language families mainly spoken outside Africa; the presence of the latter two dates to 2,600 and 1,500 years ago, respectively. In addition, the languages of Africa languages include several unclassified languages and sign languages.
The earliest Afroasiatic languages are associated with the Capsian culture, the Nilo-Saharan languages are linked with the Khartoum Mesolithic/Neolithic, the Niger-Congo languages are correlated with the west and central African hoe-based farming traditions and the Khoisan languages are matched with the south and southeastern Wilton industries.[6] More broadly, the Afroasiatic family is tentatively grouped within the Nostratic superfamily, and the Nilo-Saharan and Niger-Congo phyla form the Niger-Saharan macrophylum.[7]
Afroasiatic languages[edit]
Main article: Afroasiatic languages
Afroasiatic languages are spoken throughout North Africa, the Horn of Africa, West Asia and parts of the Sahel. There are approximately 375 Afroasiatic languages spoken by over 350 million people. The main subfamilies of Afroasiatic are the Berber languages, Semitic languages, Chadic languages and the Cushitic languages. The Afroasiatic Urheimat is uncertain. However, its most extensive sub-branch, the Semitic languages (including Arabic, Amharic and Hebrew among others), seems to have developed in the Arabian peninsula. The Semitic languages are the only branch of the Afroasiatic family of languages that is spoken outside Africa.
Some of the most widely spoken Afroasiatic languages include Arabic (a Semitic language, and a recent arrival from West Asia), Somali (Cushitic), Berber (Berber), Hausa (Chadic), Amharic (Semitic) and Oromo (Cushitic). Of the world's surviving language families, Afroasiatic has the longest written history, as both the Akkadian language of Mesopotamia and Ancient Egyptian are members.
Nilo-Saharan languages[edit]
Main article: Nilo-Saharan languages
Nilo-Saharan languages consist of a hundred diverse languages. The family has a speech area that stretches from the Nile Valley to northern Tanzania and into Nigeria and DR Congo, with the Songhay languages along the middle reaches of the Niger River as a geographic outlier. Genetic linkage between these languages has not been conclusively demonstrated, and among linguists, support for the proposal is sparse.[8][9] The languages share some unusual morphology, but if they are related, most of the branches must have undergone major restructuring since diverging from their common ancestor. The inclusion of the Songhay languages is questionable, and doubts have been raised over the Koman, Gumuz and Kadu branches.
Some of the better known Nilo-Saharan languages are Kanuri, Fur, Songhay, Nobiin and the widespread Nilotic family, which includes the Luo, Dinka and Maasai. The Nilo-Saharan languages are tonal.
Niger–Congo languages[edit]
Main article: Niger–Congo languages
The Niger–Congo languages constitute the largest language family spoken in Africa and perhaps the world in terms of the number of languages. One of its salient features is an elaborate noun class system with grammatical concord. A large majority of languages of this family are tonal such as Yoruba and Igbo, Ashanti and Ewe language. A major branch of Niger–Congo languages is the Bantu phylum, which has a wider speech area than the rest of the family (see Niger–Congo B (Bantu) in the map above).
The Niger–Kordofanian language family, joining Niger–Congo with the Kordofanian languages of south-central Sudan, was proposed in the 1950s by Joseph Greenberg. Today, linguists often use "Niger–Congo" to refer to this entire family, including Kordofanian as a subfamily. One reason for this is that it is not clear whether Kordofanian was the first branch to diverge from rest of Niger–Congo. Mande has been claimed to be equally or more divergent. Niger–Congo is generally accepted by linguists, though a few question the inclusion of Mande and Dogon, and there is no conclusive evidence for the inclusion of Ubangian.
Other language families[edit]
Several languages spoken in Africa belong to language families concentrated or originating outside the African continent.
Austronesian[edit]
Malagasy belongs to the Austronesian family. It is the national language of Madagascar.
Indo-European[edit]
Afrikaans is Indo-European, as is most of the vocabulary of most African creole languages. Afrikaans evolved from the Dutch vernacular[10][11] of South Holland (Hollandic dialect)[12][13] spoken by the mainly Dutch settlers of what is now South Africa, where it gradually began to develop distinguishing characteristics in the course of the 18th century.[14] Most Afrikaans speakers live in South Africa. In Namibia it is the lingua franca and in Botswana and Zimbabwe it is a minority language of roughly several ten thousand people. Overall 15 to 20 million people are estimated to speak Afrikaans.
Since the colonial era, Indo-European languages such as Afrikaans, English, French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish have held official status in many countries, and are widely spoken, generally as lingua francas. (See African French and African Portuguese.) German was once used in Germany's colonies there from the late 1800s until World War I, when Britain and France took over and revoked German's official status. Despite this, German is still spoken in Namibia, mostly among the white population. Although it lost its official status in the 1990s, it has been redesignated as a national language. Indian languages such as Gujarati are spoken by South Asian expatriates exclusively. In earlier historical times, other Indo-European languages could be found in various parts of the continent, such as Old Persian and Greek in Egypt, Latin and Vandalic in North Africa and Modern Persian in the Horn of Africa.
Small families[edit]
The three small Khoisan families of southern Africa have not been shown to be closely related to any other major language family. In addition, there are various other families that have not been demonstrated to belong to one of these families. (The questionable branches of Nilo-Saharan were covered above, and are not repeated here.)
Mande, some 70 languages, including the major languages of Mali and Guinea. These are generally thought to be divergent Niger–Congo, but debate persists.
Ubangian, some 70 languages, centered on the languages of the Central African Republic; may be Niger–Congo
Khoe, around 10 languages, the primary family of Khoisan languages of Namibia and Botswana
Sandawe, an isolate of Tanzania, possibly related to Khoe
Kx'a, a language of Southern Africa
Tuu, or Taa-ǃKwi, two surviving languages
Hadza, an isolate of Tanzania
Bangime, a likely isolate of Mali
Jalaa, a likely isolate of Nigeria
Laal, a possible isolate of Chad
Khoisan is a term of convenience covering some 30 languages spoken by around 300,000–400,000 people. There are five Khoisan families that have not been shown to be related to each other: Khoe, Tuu and Kx'a, which are found mainly in Namibia and Botswana, as well as Sandawe and Hadza of Tanzania, which are language isolates. A striking feature of Khoisan languages, and the reason they are often grouped together, is their use of click consonants. Some neighbouring Bantu languages (notably Xhosa and Zulu) have clicks as well, but these were adopted from Khoisan languages. The Khoisan languages are also tonal.
Creole languages[edit]
Due partly to its multilingualism and its colonial past, a substantial proportion of the world's creole languages are to be found in Africa. Some are based on Indo-European languages (e.g. Krio from English in Sierra Leone and the very similar Pidgin in Nigeria and parts of Cameroon; Cape Verdean Creole in Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau Creole in Guinea-Bissau and Senegal, both from Portuguese; Seychellois Creole in the Seychelles and Mauritian Creole in Mauritius, both from French); some are based on Arabic (e.g. Juba Arabic in the southern Sudan, or Nubi in parts of Uganda and Kenya); some are based on local languages (e.g. Sango, the main language of the Central African Republic); while in Cameroon a creole based on French, English and local African languages known as Camfranglais has started to become popular.
Unclassified languages[edit]
Further information: Category:Unclassified languages of Africa
A fair number of unclassified languages are reported in Africa. Many remain unclassified simply for lack of data; among the better-investigated ones that continue to resist easy classification are:
possibly Afroasiatic: Ongota, Gomba
possibly Nilo-Saharan: Shabo
possibly Niger–Congo: Jalaa, Mbre, Bayot
possibly Khoe: Kwadi
unknown: Laal, Mpre
Of these, Jalaa is perhaps the most likely to be an isolate.
Less-well investigated languages include Irimba, Luo, Mawa, Rer Bare (possibly Bantu), Bete (evidently Jukunoid), Bung (unclear), Kujarge (evidently Chadic), Lufu (Jukunoid), Meroitic (possibly Afroasiatic), Oropom (possibly spurious) and Weyto (evidently Cushitic). Several of these are extinct, and adequate comparative data is thus unlikely to be forthcoming. Hombert & Philippson (2009)[15] list a number of African languages that have been classified as language isolates at one point or another. Many of these are simply unclassified, but Hombert & Philippson believe Africa has about twenty language families, including isolates. Beside the possibilities listed above, there are:
Aasax or Aramanik (Tanzania) (South Cushitic? contains non-Cushitic lexicon)
Imeraguen (Mauritania) - Hassaniyya Arabic restructured on an Azêr (Soninke) base
Kara (Fer?) (Central African Republic)
Oblo (Cameroon) (Adamawa? Extinct?)
Roger Blench notes a couple additional possibilities:
Defaka (Nigeria)
Dompo (Ghana)
Sign languages[edit]
See also: List of sign languages § Africa
Many African countries have national sign languages, such as Algerian Sign Language, Tunisian Sign Language, Ethiopian Sign Language. Other sign languages are restricted to small areas or single villages, such as Adamorobe Sign Language in Ghana. Tanzania has seven, one for each of its schools for the Deaf, all of which are discouraged. Not much is known, since little has been published on these languages
Sign language systems extant in Africa include the Paget Gorman Sign System used in Namibia and Angola, the Sudanese Sign languages used in Sudan and South Sudan, the Arab Sign languages used across the Arab Mideast, the Francosign languages used in Francophone Africa and other areas such as Ghana and Tunisia, and the Tanzanian Sign languages used in Tanzania.
Language in Africa[edit]
Throughout the long multilingual history of the African continent, African languages have been subject to phenomena like language contact, language expansion, language shift and language death. A case in point is the Bantu expansion, in which Bantu-speaking peoples expanded over most of Sub-Equatorial Africa, displacing Khoi-San speaking peoples from much of Southeast Africa and Southern Africa and other peoples from Central Africa. Another example is the Arab expansion in the 7th century, which led to the extension of Arabic from its homeland in Asia, into much of North Africa and the Horn of Africa.
Trade languages are another age-old phenomenon in the African linguistic landscape. Cultural and linguistic innovations spread along trade routes and languages of peoples dominant in trade developed into languages of wider communication (lingua franca). Of particular importance in this respect are Berber (North and West Africa), Jula (western West Africa), Fulfulde (West Africa), Hausa (West Africa), Lingala (Congo), Swahili (Southeast Africa), Somali (Horn of Africa) and Arabic (North Africa and Horn of Africa).
After gaining independence, many African countries, in the search for national unity, selected one language, generally the former colonial language, to be used in government and education. However, in recent years, African countries have become increasingly supportive of maintaining linguistic diversity. Language policies that are being developed nowadays are mostly aimed at multilingualism.
Official Languages[edit]
Official languages in Africa:
Afrikaans
Portuguese
Arabic
Spanish
English
Swahili
French
other languages
Besides the former colonial languages of English, French, Portuguese and Spanish, the following languages are official at the national level in Africa (non-exhaustive list):
Afroasiatic
Arabic in Comoros, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Mauritania,[16] Somalia,[17] Sudan, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya and Morocco
Berber in Morocco and Algeria
Amharic in Ethiopia
Somali in Somalia
Tigrinya in Eritrea
Austronesian
Malagasy in Madagascar
Indo-European
Afrikaans
Niger-Congo
Chewa in Malawi and Zimbabwe
Comorian in the Comoros
Kinyarwanda in Rwanda
Kirundi in Burundi
Sesotho in Lesotho, South Africa and Zimbabwe
Setswana/Tswana in Botswana and South Africa
Shona, Sindebele in Zimbabwe
Sepedi in South Africa
Ndebele in South Africa[18]
Swahili in Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda
Swati in Swaziland and South Africa
Tsonga in South Africa
Venda in South Africa
Xhosa in South Africa
Zulu in South Africa
Creoles
Mauritian Creole in Mauritius
Sango in the Central African Republic
Seychellois Creole in the Seychelles
Cross-border languages[edit]
The colonial borders established by European powers following the Berlin Conference in 1884–1885 divided a great many ethnic groups and African language speaking communities. In a sense, "cross-border languages" is a misnomer[citation needed]—the speakers did not divide themselves. Nevertheless, it describes the reality of many African languages, which has implications for divergence of language on either side of a border (especially when the official languages are different), standards for writing the language, etc. Some notable cross-border languages include Berber (which stretches across much of North Africa and some parts of West Africa), Somali (stretches across most of the Horn of Africa), Swahili (spoken in the African Great Lakes region), Fula (in the Sahel and West Africa) and Luo languages (in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan and Sudan).
Some prominent Africans such as former Malian president and former Chairman of the African Commission, Alpha Oumar Konaré, have referred to cross-border languages as a factor that can promote African unity.[19]
Language change and planning[edit]
Language is not static in Africa any more than on other continents. In addition to the (likely modest) impact of borders, there are also cases of dialect levelling (such as in Igbo and probably many others), koinés (such as N'Ko and possibly Runyakitara) and emergence of new dialects (such as Sheng). In some countries, there are official efforts to develop standardized language versions.
There are also many less widely spoken languages that may be considered endangered languages.
Demographics[edit]
Further information: Demographics of Africa
Of the 1 billion Africans (in 2009), about 17 percent speak an Arabic dialect[citation needed]. About 10 percent speak Swahili[citation needed], the lingua franca of Southeast Africa; about 5 percent speak a Berber dialect[citation needed]; and about 5 percent speak Hausa, which serves as a lingua franca in much of the Sahel. Other important West African languages are Yoruba, Igbo and Fula. Major Horn of Africa languages are Amharic, Oromo and Somali. Important South African languages are Zulu, Xhosa and Afrikaans.[20]
English, French and Portuguese are important languages in Africa. About 130 million, 115 million and 30 million Africans, respectively, speak them as either native or secondary languages. Portuguese has become the national language of Angola.[21] Through (among other factors) sheer demographic weight, Africans are increasingly taking ownership[citation needed] of these three world languages and having an ever greater influence on their development and growth.
Linguistic features[edit]
Some linguistic features are particularly common among languages spoken in Africa, whereas others are less common. Such shared traits probably are not due to a common origin of all African languages. Instead, some may be due to language contact (resulting in borrowing) and specific idioms and phrases may be due to a similar cultural background.
Phonological[edit]
Some widespread phonetic features include:
certain types of consonants, such as implosives (/ɓa/), ejectives (/kʼa/), the labiodental flap and in southern Africa, clicks (/ǂa/, /ᵑǃa/). True implosives are rare outside Africa, and clicks and the flap almost unheard of.
doubly articulated labial-velar stops like /k͡pa/ and /ɡ͡ba/ are found in places south of the Sahara.
prenasalized consonants, like /mpa/ and /ŋɡa/, are widespread in Africa but not common outside it.
sequences of stops and fricatives at the beginnings of words, such as /fsa/, /pta/ and /dt͡sk͡xʼa/.
nasal stops which only occur with nasal vowels, such as [ba] vs. [mã] (but both [pa] and [pã]), especially in West Africa.
vowels contrasting an advanced or retracted tongue, commonly called "tense" and "lax".
simple tone systems which are used for grammatical purposes.
Sounds that are relatively uncommon in African languages include uvular consonants, diphthongs and front rounded vowels
Tonal languages are found throughout the world but are predominantly used in Africa. Both the Nilo-Saharan and the Khoi-San phyla are fully tonal. The large majority of the Niger–Congo languages is also tonal. Tonal languages are also found in the Omotic, Chadic and South & East Cushitic branches of Afroasiatic. The most common type of tonal system opposes two tone levels, High (H) and Low (L). Contour tones do occur, and can often be analysed as two or more tones in succession on a single syllable. Tone melodies play an important role, meaning that it is often possible to state significant generalizations by separating tone sequences ("melodies") from the segments that bear them. Tonal sandhi processes like tone spread, tone shift, downstep and downdrift are common in African languages.
Syntactic[edit]
Widespread syntactical structures include the common use of adjectival verbs and the expression of comparison by means of a verb 'to surpass'. The Niger–Congo languages have large numbers of genders (noun classes) which cause agreement in verbs and other words. Case, tense and other categories may be distinguished only by tone.
Semantic[edit]
Quite often, only one term is used for both animal and meat; the word nama or nyama for animal/meat is particularly widespread in otherwise widely divergent African languages.
Number of speakers[edit]
The following is a table displaying the number of speakers of given languages within Africa:
Language
Family
Native speakers (L1)
Official status per country
Afrikaans Indo-European 7,200,000[22] South Africa
Akan Niger–Congo 11,000,000[23] None. Government sponsored language of Ghana
Amharic Afroasiatic 21,800,000[24] Ethiopia
Arabic Afroasiatic 150,000,000[25] but with separate mutually unintelligible varieties Algeria, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia
Berber Afroasiatic 56,000,000[26] (estimated) (including separate unintelligible varieties) Morocco, Algeria
Chewa Niger–Congo 9,700,000[27] Malawi, Zimbabwe
English Indo-European 6,500,000[28] (estimated) see List of territorial entities where English is an official language
French Indo-European 700,330[29][30] (estimated) see List of territorial entities where French is an official language
Fulani Niger–Congo 25,000,000[23]
Gikuyu Niger–Congo 6,600,000[31]
Hausa Afroasiatic 34,000,000[32] Nigeria, Niger
Igbo Niger–Congo 18,000,000[33]
Kinyarwanda Niger–Congo 9,800,000[23] Rwanda
Kirundi Niger–Congo 8,800,000[23] Burundi
Kongo Niger–Congo 5,600,000[34] recognised national language of Angola
Lingala Niger–Congo 5,500,000[23] national language of Democratic Republic of the Congo
Luganda Niger-Congo 4,130,000[35] native language of Uganda
Luo Nilo-Saharan (probable) 4,200,000[36]
Malagasy Austronesian 18,000,000[37] Madagascar
Mauritian Creole Indo-European 1,135,000[38] native language of Mauritius
Mossi Niger–Congo 7,600,000[23] Recognised regional language in Burkina Faso
Ndebele Niger–Congo 1,090,000[39] Statuatory national language in South Africa
Northern Sotho Niger–Congo 4,600,000[40] South Africa
Oromo Afroasiatic 26,000,000[23] Ethiopia
Portuguese Indo-European 13,700,000[41] (estimated) Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe
Sesotho Niger–Congo 5,600,000[42] Lesotho, South Africa, Zimbabwe
Shona Niger–Congo 14,200,000 incl. Manyika, Ndau (2000–2006)[43] Zimbabwe
Somali Afroasiatic 16,600,000[44] Somalia
Spanish Indo-European 2,700,000[citation needed] Equatorial Guinea
Swahili Niger–Congo 15,000,000[45] official in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda national language of Democratic Republic of Congo
Tigrinya Afroasiatic 7,000,000[46] Eritrea
Tshiluba Niger–Congo 6,300,000[47] (1991) national language of Democratic Republic of the Congo
Tswana Niger–Congo 5,800,000[48] South Africa, Botswana
Umbundu Niger–Congo 6,000,000[49] recognised national language of Angola
Xhosa Niger–Congo 7,600,000[23] South Africa, Zimbabwe
Yoruba Niger–Congo 28,000,000[23]
Zulu Niger–Congo 10,400,000[23] South Africa
See also[edit]
Africa portal
Language portal
General[edit]
Languages of the African Union
Writing systems of Africa
Journal of West African Languages
Works[edit]
Polyglotta Africana
The Languages of Africa
Classifiers[edit]
Karl Lepsius
Wilhelm Bleek
Carl Meinhof
Diedrich Westermann
Joseph Greenberg
Notes[edit]
Jump up ^ Heine, Bernd; Heine, Bernd, eds. (2000). African Languages: an Introduction. Cambridge University Press.
Jump up ^ Epstein, Edmund L.; Kole, Robert, eds. (1998). The Language of African Literature. Africa World Press. p. ix. ISBN 0-86543-534-0. Retrieved 2011-06-23. Africa is incredibly rich in language—over 3,000 indigenous languages by some counts, and many creoles, pidgins, and lingua francas.
Jump up ^ "Ethnologue report for Nigeria". Ethnologue Languages of the World.
Jump up ^ "HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2004" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 2004.
Jump up ^ African Union Summit 2006 Khartoum, Sudan. SARPN.
Jump up ^ Language, Volume 61, Issues 3-4. Linguistic Society of America. 1985. p. 695. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
Jump up ^ Blench, Roger (2006). Archaeology, Language, and the African Past. Rowman Altamira. p. 108. ISBN 0759104662. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
Jump up ^ Lyle Campbell & Mauricio J. Mixco, A Glossary of Historical Linguistics (2007, University of Utah Press)
Jump up ^ P.H. Matthews, Oxford Concise Dictionary of Linguistics (2007, 2nd edition, Oxford)
Jump up ^ K. Pithouse, C. Mitchell, R. Moletsane, Making Connections: Self-Study & Social Action, p.91
Jump up ^ J. A. Heese (1971). Die herkoms van die Afrikaner, 1657–1867 [The origin of the Afrikaner] (in Afrikaans). Cape Town: A. A. Balkema. OCLC 1821706. OL 5361614M.
Jump up ^ Herkomst en groei van het Afrikaans - G.G. Kloeke (1950)
Jump up ^ The origin of Afrikaans pronunciation: a comparison to west Germanic languages and Dutch dialects - Wilbert Heeringa, Febe de Wet (2007)
Jump up ^ Standaard Afrikaans (PDF). Abel Coetzee. Afrikaner Pers. 1948. Retrieved 2014-09-17.
Jump up ^ Jean-Marie Hombert & Gérard Philippson. 2009. "The linguistic importance of language isolates: the African case." In Peter K. Austin, Oliver Bond, Monik Charette, David Nathan & Peter Sells (eds). Proceedings of Conference on Language Documentation and Linguistic Theory 2. London: SOAS.
Jump up ^ CIA – The World Factbook.
Jump up ^ According to article 7 of The Transitional Federal Charter of the Somali Republic Archived 18 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine.: “The official languages of the Somali Republic shall be Somali (Maay and Maxaatiri) and Arabic. The second languages of the Transitional Federal Government shall be English and Italian.”
Jump up ^ "The languages of South Africa". southafrica.info.
Jump up ^ African languages for Africa's development ACALAN (French & English).
Jump up ^ The Economist, "Tongues under threat", 22 January 2011, p. 58.
Jump up ^ "The Embassy of the Republic of Angola - Culture".
Jump up ^ "Census 2011 – Home language" (PDF). Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j Nationalencyklopedin "Världens 100 största språk 2007" The World's 100 Largest Languages in 2007
Jump up ^ "Amharic".
Jump up ^ "Arabic".
Jump up ^ "Berber".
Jump up ^ "Chichewa".
Jump up ^ "English".
Jump up ^ "French". Ethnologue.com. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
Jump up ^ William Edmiston; Annie Dumenil (2015-01-01). La France contemporaine. Cengage Learning. p. 90. ISBN 978-1-305-80441-8.
Jump up ^ "Gikuyu".
Jump up ^ Ethnologue (2009) cites 18,5 million L1 and 15 million L2 speakers in Nigeria in 1991; 5.5 million L1 speakers and half that many L2 speakers in Niger in 2006, 0.8 million in Benin in 2006, and just over 1 million in other countries.
Jump up ^ "Ibo - Language Information & Resources".
Jump up ^ "Kongo".
Jump up ^ "Luganda".
Jump up ^ "Dholuo".
Jump up ^ "Malagasy".
Jump up ^ "Morisyen".
Jump up ^ "Ndebele". Ethnologue. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
Jump up ^ "Sotho, Northern".
Jump up ^ "The Future of Portuguese - The Translation Company".
Jump up ^ "Sotho, Southern".
Jump up ^ "Ethnologue report for Shona (S.10)".
Jump up ^ "Somali". SIL International. 2013. Retrieved May 4, 2013.
Jump up ^ Peek, Philip M.; Kwesi Yankah (2004). African folklore: an encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. p. 699. ISBN 0-415-93933-X.
Jump up ^ "Tigrigna".
Jump up ^ "Luba-Kasai".
Jump up ^ "Tswana".
Jump up ^ "Umbundu".
References[edit]
Childs, G. Tucker (2003). An Introduction to African Languages. Amsterdam: John Benjamin.
Chimhundu, Herbert (2002). Language Policies in Africa. (Final report of the Intergovernmental Conference on Language Policies in Africa.) Revised version. UNESCO.
Cust, Robert Needham (1883). Modern Languages of Africa.
Ellis, Stephen (ed.) (1996). Africa Now: People - Policies - Institutions. The Hague: Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS).
Elugbe, Ben (1998) "Cross-border and major languages of Africa." In K. Legère (editor), Cross-border Languages: Reports and Studies, Regional Workshop on Cross-Border Languages, National Institute for Educational Development (NIED), Okahandja, 23–27 September 1996. Windhoek: Gamsberg Macmillan.
Ethnologue.com's Africa: A listing of African languages and language families.
Greenberg, Joseph H. (1983). 'Some areal characteristics of African languages.' In Ivan R. Dihoff (editor), Current Approaches to African Linguistics, Vol. 1 (Publications in African Languages and Linguistics, Vol. 1), Dordrecht: Foris, 3-21.
Greenberg, Joseph H. (1966). The Languages of Africa (2nd edition with additions and corrections). Bloomington: Indiana University.
Heine, Bernd and Derek Nurse (editors) (2000). African Languages: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Webb, Vic and Kembo-Sure (editors) (1998). African Voices: An Introduction to the Languages and Linguistics of Africa. Cape Town: Oxford University Press Southern Africa.
Wedekind, Klaus ( Oxford University Press.
External links[edit]
African language resources for children
Web resources for African languages
Linguistic maps of Africa from Muturzikin.com
Online Dictionaries, e-books and other online fulltexts in or on African languages
[show]
Links to related articles
[show]
v
t
e
Languages of Africa
Sovereign states
Algeria
Angola
Benin
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Cape Verde (Cabo Verde)
Central African Republic
Chad
Comoros
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Republic of the Congo
Djibouti
Egypt
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Gabon
The Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire)
Kenya
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Mauritania
Mauritius
Morocco
Mozambique
Namibia
Niger
Nigeria
Rwanda
São Tomé and Príncipe
Senegal
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Somalia
South Africa
South Sudan
Sudan
Swaziland
Tanzania
Togo
Tunisia
Uganda
Zambia
Zimbabwe
States with limited
recognition
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
Somaliland
Dependencies and
other territories
Canary Islands / Ceuta / Melilla / (see also plazas de soberanía) (Spain)
Madeira (Portugal)
Mayotte / Réunion (France)
Saint Helena / Ascension Island / Tristan da Cunha (United Kingdom)
Western Sahara
[show]
v
t
e
Africa articles
History
Chronology
Antiquity
North Africa
Archaeology
Pre-colonial kingdoms
Bantu expansion
Arab conquest
Exploration
European colonisation
Slavery
Atlantic
Arab
Scramble for Africa
Decolonisation
By topic
Economy
Empires
Historiography
Military
conflicts
By region
Central
East
North
South
West
Geography
Countries and territories
Highest points
Impact craters
Islands
Natural history
Regions
Central
East
North
South
West
Rivers
Politics
African Union
Elections
Heads of government
Heads of state
Human rights
LGBT rights
Linguistic rights
Religious rights
Women's rights
International organisations
Pan-African Parliament
Pan-Africanism
Politics
parties
United States of Africa
Economy
Central banks and currencies
Countries by GDP (nominal)
Countries by GDP (PPP)
Countries by HDI
Education
Internet
Millionaires
Natural resources
Poverty
Renewable energy
Stock exchanges
Society
Caste systems
Etiquette
Health
Circumcision
Infrastructure
Languages
Philosophy
Culture
Architecture
Art
contemporary
Cinema
films
film festivals
Cuisine
Literature
writers by country
Media
Newspapers
Radio
TV
Music
musicians
guitarists
Religion
Irreligion
World Heritage Sites
Sport
African Cricket Association
African Games
Afro-Asian Games
Australian-rules football
Confederation of African Football
Africa Cup of Nations
FIBA Africa
Rugby Africa
Africa Cup
Stadiums by capacity
Tour d'Afrique
Demographics
Countries by population
density
Emigration
Ethnic groups
HIV/AIDS
Urbanization
cities
metropolitan areas
By year
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Outline
Index
Book
Category
Portal
[show]
v
t
e
Countries and languages lists
[hide]
Countries
By languages
Spoken
Countries by spoken languages
Official
Countries by the number of recognized official languages
Arabic
Chinese
Dutch/Afrikaans
English
French
German
Malay
Portuguese
Romanian
Russian
Spanish
Tamil
Endonyms
Countries and capitals in native languages
Exonyms
Country names in various languages
A–C
D–I
J–P
Q–Z
Languages of the European Union
[hide]
Languages
By continent
Africa
Americas
North
South
Asia
East
South
Europe
Oceania
By country
Official languages
by state
List of languages without official status
Countries by the number of recognized official languages
Languages by the number of countries in which they are recognized as an official language
By population
By number of native speakers
By number of total speakers
Languages in censuses
By family
Language families
Language-based
geopolitical
organizations
Arab League (Arabic)
Dutch Language Union (Dutch)
English Speaking Union
Francophonie (French)
Community of Portuguese Language Countries (Portuguese)
Países Africanos de Língua Oficial Portuguesa (Portuguese)
Latin Union (Romance)
Hispanidad (Spanish)
Turkic Council (Turkic)
International Organization of Turkic Culture (Turkic)
See also
Lists of languages
Category:Languages
Authority control
LCCN: sh85001729
GND: 4120108-5
SUDOC: 027235920
BNF: cb119321874 (data)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Languages_of_Africa&oldid=819520369"
Categories:
Languages of Africa
Hidden categories:
CS1 Afrikaans-language sources (af)
Webarchive template wayback links
All articles with unsourced statements
Articles with unsourced statements from June 2016
Articles with unsourced statements from February 2015
Articles with unsourced statements from December 2015
Articles with unsourced statements from January 2018
Use dmy dates from May 2011
Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers
Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers
Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers
Navigation menu
Personal tools
Not logged in
Talk
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Namespaces
Article
Talk
Variants
Views
Read
Edit
View history
More
Search
Navigation
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version
In other projects
Wikimedia Commons
Languages
Afrikaans
العربية
Asturianu
বাংলা
Български
Català
Cymraeg
Deutsch
Español
Esperanto
فارسی
Français
Frysk
한국어
Հայերեն
हिन्दी
Bahasa Indonesia
IsiXhosa
Italiano
עברית
ಕನ್ನಡ
ქართული
Kiswahili
Kongo
Кыргызча
Nederlands
日本語
Norsk
Norsk nynorsk
Occitan
Patois
Polski
Português
Русский
Simple English
Српски / srpski
Suomi
Svenska
தமிழ்
Українська
اردو
Vèneto
Tiếng Việt
中文
Edit links
This page was last edited on 9 January 2018, at 20:42.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Cookie statement
Mobile view
Enable previews

key: html

type: local

value: div

attrs: id class

values: mw-page-base noprint

values: mw-head-base noprint

value: a

attrs: id class lang

values: firstHeading firstHeading en

values: siteSub noprint

values: jump-to-nav mw-jump

value: img

attrs: href class

value: span

attrs: class style

values: display:inline-block; width:1.5em; height:1.5em; margin:1px 0; border:1px solid black; background-color: #D8CC6B; color:black; font-size:100%; text-align:center;

attrs: href title

values: -webkit-column-break-inside: avoid;page-break-inside: avoid;break-inside: avoid-column

values: display:inline-block; width:1.5em; height:1.5em; margin:1px 0; border:1px solid black; background-color: #35256E; color:black; font-size:100%; text-align:center;

values: display:inline-block; width:1.5em; height:1.5em; margin:1px 0; border:1px solid black; background-color: #A33929; color:black; font-size:100%; text-align:center;

values: display:inline-block; width:1.5em; height:1.5em; margin:1px 0; border:1px solid black; background-color: #C05545; color:black; font-size:100%; text-align:center;

values: display:inline-block; width:1.5em; height:1.5em; margin:1px 0; border:1px solid black; background-color: #2FA7E8; color:black; font-size:100%; text-align:center;

values: display:inline-block; width:1.5em; height:1.5em; margin:1px 0; border:1px solid black; background-color: #7DE647; color:black; font-size:100%; text-align:center;

values: display:inline-block; width:1.5em; height:1.5em; margin:1px 0; border:1px solid black; background-color: #FBFF36; color:black; font-size:100%; text-align:center;

values:
/wiki/Lingua_francas
mw-redirect
Lingua francas

values:
/wiki/Southeast_Africa
mw-redirect
Southeast Africa

values:
/wiki/SIL_Ethnologue
mw-redirect
SIL Ethnologue

values:
/wiki/Amharic_language
mw-redirect
Amharic language

values:
/wiki/Fulani_language
mw-redirect
Fulani language

values:
/wiki/Dialect_cluster
mw-redirect
Dialect cluster

values:
/wiki/Unclassified_languages
mw-redirect
Unclassified languages

values:
/wiki/Sign_languages
mw-redirect
Sign languages

values:
/wiki/Arabic_language
mw-redirect
Arabic language

values:
/wiki/Akkadian_language
mw-redirect
Akkadian language

values:
/wiki/Nile_Valley
mw-redirect
Nile Valley

values:
/wiki/Songhay_language
mw-redirect
Songhay language

values:
/wiki/Tonal_language
mw-redirect
Tonal language

values:
/wiki/Portuguese_in_Africa
mw-redirect
Portuguese in Africa

values:
/wiki/Old_Persian_language
mw-redirect
Old Persian language

values:
/wiki/Sierra_Leone_Krio_language
mw-redirect
Sierra Leone Krio language

values: Category:Unclassified languages of Africa

values:
/wiki/Mpre_language
mw-redirect
Mpre language

values:
/wiki/Aasax_language
mw-redirect
Aasax language

values:
/wiki/Ethiopian_Sign_Language
mw-redirect
Ethiopian Sign Language

values:
/wiki/Francophone_Africa
mw-redirect
Francophone Africa

values:
/wiki/Sub-Equatorial_Africa
mw-redirect
Sub-Equatorial Africa

values:
/wiki/Trade_language
mw-redirect
Trade language

values:
/wiki/Berber_language
mw-redirect
Berber language

values:
/wiki/Dioula_language
mw-redirect
Dioula language

values:
/wiki/Lingala_language
mw-redirect
Lingala language

values: display:inline-block; width:1.5em; height:1.5em; margin:1px 0; border:1px solid black; background-color: #FF8C00; color:black; font-size:100%; text-align:center;

values: display:inline-block; width:1.5em; height:1.5em; margin:1px 0; border:1px solid black; background-color: #8EB423; color:black; font-size:100%; text-align:center;

values: display:inline-block; width:1.5em; height:1.5em; margin:1px 0; border:1px solid black; background-color: #19822D; color:black; font-size:100%; text-align:center;

values: display:inline-block; width:1.5em; height:1.5em; margin:1px 0; border:1px solid black; background-color: #DAC716; color:black; font-size:100%; text-align:center;

values: display:inline-block; width:1.5em; height:1.5em; margin:1px 0; border:1px solid black; background-color: #C35A91; color:black; font-size:100%; text-align:center;

values: display:inline-block; width:1.5em; height:1.5em; margin:1px 0; border:1px solid black; background-color: #55433B; color:black; font-size:100%; text-align:center;

values: display:inline-block; width:1.5em; height:1.5em; margin:1px 0; border:1px solid black; background-color: #415096; color:black; font-size:100%; text-align:center;

values: display:inline-block; width:1.5em; height:1.5em; margin:1px 0; border:1px solid black; background-color: #8A8B8D; color:black; font-size:100%; text-align:center;

values:
/wiki/Chichewa_language
mw-redirect
Chichewa language

values:
/wiki/Sesotho_language
mw-redirect
Sesotho language

values:
/wiki/Setswana_language
mw-redirect
Setswana language

values:
/wiki/Berlin_Conference_(1884)
mw-redirect
Berlin Conference (1884)

values: This claim needs references to reliable sources. (June 2016)

values:
noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact
white-space:nowrap;

values: Chairperson of the African Union Commission

values: Edit section: Language change and planning

values:
/wiki/N%27Ko_language
mw-redirect
N'Ko language

values:
/wiki/Runyakitara_language
mw-redirect
Runyakitara language

values:
/wiki/Sheng_(linguistics)
mw-redirect
Sheng (linguistics)

values: This claim needs references to reliable sources. (February 2015)

values: This claim needs references to reliable sources. (December 2015)

values: Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

values:
/wiki/Labial-velar_consonant
mw-redirect
Labial-velar consonant

values:
/wiki/Advanced_tongue_root
mw-redirect
Advanced tongue root

values:
/wiki/Tonal_sandhi
mw-redirect
Tonal sandhi

attrs: width data-sort-type class tabindex role title

values:
15%
number
headerSort
0
columnheader button
Sort ascending

values:
/wiki/Afroasiatic_language
mw-redirect
Afroasiatic language

values:
/wiki/Gikuyu_language
mw-redirect
Gikuyu language

values:
/wiki/Niger-Congo_languages
mw-redirect
Niger-Congo languages

values: This claim needs references to reliable sources. (January 2018)

values: display:table-cell;padding:0.2em 0.2em 0.2em 0.3em;vertical-align:middle

values: margin:0.5em 0 0.5em 1em;border:solid #aaa 1px

values:
nofollow
external text
//www.worldcat.org/oclc/1821706

values:
nofollow
external text
//openlibrary.org/books/OL5361614M

values:
nofollow
http://www.acalan.org/
external text

values:
nofollow
external text
http://www.ethnologue.com/language/amh

values:
nofollow
external text
http://www.ethnologue.com/language/ara

values:
nofollow
external text
http://www.ethnologue.com/language/nya

values:
nofollow
external text
http://www.ethnologue.com/language/eng

values:
nofollow
external text
http://www.ethnologue.com/language/fra

values:
nofollow
external text
http://www.ethnologue.com/language/kik

values:
nofollow
external text
http://www.ethnologue.com/language/kon

values:
nofollow
external text
http://www.ethnologue.com/language/luo

values:
nofollow
external text
http://www.ethnologue.com/language/mlg

values:
nofollow
external text
http://www.ethnologue.com/language/mfe

values:
nofollow
external text
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/nso

values:
nofollow
external text
http://www.ethnologue.com/language/sot

values:
nofollow
external text
http://www.ethnologue.com/language/som

values:
nofollow
external text
http://www.ethnologue.com/language/tir

values:
nofollow
external text
http://www.ethnologue.com/language/lua

values:
nofollow
external text
http://www.ethnologue.com/language/umb

values:
nofollow
external text
http://kasahorow.org

values:
nofollow
http://www.africanlanguages.com/
external text

values:
/wiki/Languages_of_Cape_Verde
mw-redirect
Languages of Cape Verde

values: Languages of the Central African Republic

values: Languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

values:
/wiki/Languages_of_Equatorial_Guinea
mw-redirect
Languages of Equatorial Guinea

values:
/wiki/Languages_of_Malawi
mw-redirect
Languages of Malawi

values: Languages of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

values:
/wiki/Languages_of_Somaliland
mw-redirect
Languages of Somaliland

values: Languages of the Canary Islands (page does not exist)

values: Languages of Ceuta (page does not exist)

values: Languages of Melilla (page does not exist)

values:
/wiki/Languages_of_Madeira
mw-redirect
Languages of Madeira

values:
/wiki/Languages_of_Mayotte
mw-redirect
Languages of Mayotte

values:
/wiki/Languages_of_R%C3%A9union
mw-redirect
Languages of Réunion

values: Languages of Saint Helena (page does not exist)

values: Languages of Ascension Island (page does not exist)

values:
/wiki/Languages_of_Tristan_da_Cunha
mw-redirect
Languages of Tristan da Cunha

values:
/wiki/Languages_of_Western_Sahara
mw-redirect
Languages of Western Sahara

values: nowraplinks collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner

values:
/wiki/Ancient_history_of_Africa
mw-redirect
Ancient history of Africa

values:
/wiki/Arab_conquest_of_North_Africa
mw-redirect
Arab conquest of North Africa

values:
/wiki/Exploration_of_Africa
mw-redirect
Exploration of Africa

values:
/wiki/History_of_Central_Africa
mw-redirect
History of Central Africa

values:
/wiki/History_of_East_Africa
mw-redirect
History of East Africa

values:
/wiki/History_of_Southern_Africa
mw-redirect
History of Southern Africa

values: List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Africa

values: List of African countries by highest point

values:
/wiki/Politics_of_Africa
mw-redirect
Politics of Africa

values: List of linguistic rights in African constitutions

values:
/wiki/Freedom_of_religion_in_Africa
mw-redirect
Freedom of religion in Africa

values: List of central banks and currencies of Africa

values: List of African countries by GDP (nominal)

values: List of African countries by Human Development Index

values:
/wiki/List_of_African_millionaires
mw-redirect
List of African millionaires

values: List of African countries by population density

values: nowraplinks hlist collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner

values: Template talk:Countries and languages lists

values: List of countries by the number of recognized official languages

values: List of countries where Arabic is an official language

values: List of territorial entities where Chinese is an official language

values: List of territorial entities where Afrikaans and Dutch are official languages

values: List of countries where French is an official language

values: List of countries where German is an official language

values: List of territorial entities where Malay is an official language

values: List of territorial entities where Portuguese is an official language

values: List of countries where Romanian is an official language

values: List of countries where Russian is an official language

values: List of countries where Spanish is an official language

values: List of territorial entities where Tamil is an official language

values: List of countries and dependencies and their capitals in native languages

values: List of country names in various languages

values: List of country names in various languages (A–C)

values: List of country names in various languages (D–I)

values: List of country names in various languages (J–P)

values: List of country names in various languages (Q–Z)

values: nowraplinks collapsible expanded navbox-subgroup

values: List of languages without official status

values: List of languages by the number of countries in which they are recognized as an official language

values: List of languages by number of native speakers

values: List of languages by total number of speakers

values:
/wiki/English_Speaking_Union
mw-redirect
English Speaking Union

values: Organisation internationale de la Francophonie

values: Community of Portuguese Language Countries

values: International Organization of Turkic Culture

values: nowraplinks collapsible collapsed navbox-inner

values:
nofollow
external text
https://d-nb.info/gnd/4120108-5

values:
nofollow
external text
https://www.idref.fr/027235920

values: Category:CS1 Afrikaans-language sources (af)

values: Category:Webarchive template wayback links

values: Category:All articles with unsourced statements

values: Category:Articles with unsourced statements from June 2016

values: Category:Articles with unsourced statements from February 2015

values: Category:Articles with unsourced statements from December 2015

values: Category:Articles with unsourced statements from January 2018

values: Category:Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers

values: Category:Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers

values: Category:Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers

values: Discussion about edits from this IP address [ctrl-alt-n]

values: A list of edits made from this IP address [ctrl-alt-y]

values: You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory

values: You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [ctrl-alt-o]

values:
/wiki/Languages_of_Africa
View the content page [ctrl-alt-c]
c

values: Discussion about the content page [ctrl-alt-t]

values: p-namespaces navigation vectorTabs p-namespaces-label

values:
p-variants
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-variants-label

values: Past revisions of this page [ctrl-alt-h]

values: p-views navigation vectorTabs p-views-label

values:
p-cactions
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-cactions-label

values:
mw-wiki-logo
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page

values:
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page [ctrl-alt-z]
z

values: Featured content – the best of Wikipedia

values: Find background information on current events

values:
/wiki/Special:Random
Load a random article [ctrl-alt-x]
x

values: portal navigation p-navigation p-navigation-label

values: Guidance on how to use and edit Wikipedia

values: About the project, what you can do, where to find things

values: A list of recent changes in the wiki [ctrl-alt-r]

values: portal navigation p-interaction p-interaction-label

values: List of all English Wikipedia pages containing links to this page [ctrl-alt-j]

values: Recent changes in pages linked from this page [ctrl-alt-k]

values:
/wiki/Wikipedia:File_Upload_Wizard
Upload files [ctrl-alt-u]
u

values: A list of all special pages [ctrl-alt-q]

values: Permanent link to this revision of the page

values: Link to connected data repository item [ctrl-alt-g]

values: Printable version of this page [ctrl-alt-p]

values: portal navigation p-wikibase-otherprojects p-wikibase-otherprojects-label

values:
uls-settings-trigger
Language settings
0
button
true

values: اللغات في أفريقيا – Arabic

values: আফ্রিকার ভাষা – Bangla

values: Африкански езици – Bulgarian

values: زبان‌های آفریقایی – Persian

values: 아프리카의 언어 – Korean

values: Աֆրիկա մայրցամաքի լեզուներ – Armenian

values: अफ़्रीका की भाषाएं – Hindi

values: Bahasa-bahasa di benua Afrika – Indonesian

values: שפות באפריקה – Hebrew

values: ಆಫ್ರಿಕದ ಭಾಷೆಗಳು – Kannada

values: აფრიკის ენები – Georgian

values: Африка тилдери – Kyrgyz

values: アフリカの言語 – Japanese

values: Languij a hAfrika – Jamaican Creole English

values: Языки Африки – Russian

values: Афрички језици – Serbian

values: ஆப்பிரிக்க மொழிகள் – Tamil

values: Африканські мови – Ukrainian

values: افریقی زبانیں – Urdu

values: /static/images/wikimedia-button-1.5x.png 1.5x, /static/images/wikimedia-button-2x.png 2x

values: /static/images/poweredby_mediawiki_132x47.png 1.5x, /static/images/poweredby_mediawiki_176x62.png 2x

values:
suggestions
display: none; font-size: 13px;

values: mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject page-Languages_of_Africa rootpage-Languages_of_Africa skin-vector action-view


text:
Anderson Paak
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Not to be confused with Anderson Park.
Anderson .Paak
Paak in Rockaway Beach, 2015
Background information
Birth name
Brandon Paak Anderson
Also known as
Breezy Lovejoy (2009–12)
Born
(1986-02-08) February 8, 1986 (age 31)
Oxnard, California, United States
Genres
Hip hop
R&B
funk
soul
Occupation(s)
Singer
songwriter
rapper
record producer
Instruments
Vocals
drums
percussion
keyboards
Years active
2009–present
Labels
Stones Throw
Steel Wool
OBE
ArtClub
Empire
Aftermath
Associated acts
NxWorries
Knxwledge
Dr. Dre
Earl Sweatshirt
KAYTRANADA
Watsky
Dean
Website
www.andersonpaak.com
Brandon Paak Anderson[1][2] (born February 8, 1986), better known by his stage name Anderson Paak (stylized as Anderson .Paak), is an American singer, songwriter, drummer, rapper and record producer from Oxnard, California. He released his debut album, O.B.E. Vol. 1 in 2012, under the pseudonym Breezy Lovejoy. He went on to release Venice in 2014, under his current moniker.[3] Paak followed with Malibu, in 2016,[4] which received a nomination for Best Urban Contemporary Album at the Grammy Awards. Apart from his solo career, Paak is also one-half of NxWorries, alongside record producer Knxwledge. He is accompanied by the band The Free Nationals, who play a variety of instruments such as electric guitar, bass, piano, keyboards, and drums, and also serve as backing vocalists.
Contents
[hide]
1 Early life
2 Career
3 The Free Nationals – Band members
4 Discography
4.1 Albums
4.2 Extended plays
4.3 Singles
4.4 Guest appearances
5 Awards and nominations
5.1 BET Hip Hop Awards
5.2 Grammy Awards
5.3 Soul Train Music Awards
6 References
7 External links
Early life[edit]
Paak was born in Oxnard, California in 1986. He is half-African American.[5] At the age of seven, Paak witnessed his estranged father attack his mother: "My little sister and I went out front, and my pops was on top of my mom. There was blood in the street. He was arrested, and that was the last time I saw him. I think he did 14 years."[6]
Career[edit]
Paak began producing music from his bedroom as a teenager, while attending Foothill Technology High School. His first experiences performing were as a drummer at his family's church where he met and married his first wife. After a few years, they divorced, and when Paak was teaching at a music school, he met his second wife, a music student from South Korea.[7] In 2011, prior to being a successful working musician, Paak was working at a marijuana farm in Santa Barbara. He was let go without warning, becoming homeless together with his wife and infant son.[8]
In 2011, Paak had started earning acceptance in the Los Angeles music world as he worked on his debut album. Shafiq Husayn of Sa-Ra helped Paak recover financially from losing his job in Santa Barbara by employing him as an assistant, videographer, editor, writer and producer. He completed O.B.E. Vol.1 and released the album in mid-2012. He became the drummer for American Idol contestant Haley Reinhart.[8]
Paak performing in July 2016
On November 27, 2013, Paak produced and recorded Cover Art, an all-covers EP. Paak was inspired by the white artists of the 1950s who achieved commercial success by remaking songs written by black blues and R&B singers, while hardly ever compensating the original artists.[9] Cover Art reversed the process and transformed folk and rock classics from white musicians into a mold of soul, jazz, hip hop, and R&B. The album was released by the independent Hellfyre Club and OBE labels.[10] Paak was the lead producer for Watsky's 2014 album All You Can Do and is featured on three of its tracks.
On October 28, 2014, Paak released Venice, his debut album as Anderson .Paak, on OBE and Steel Wool. Paak performed on six songs on Dr. Dre's 2015 album Compton and two on The Game's The Documentary 2. In October 2015, he announced that he had recorded material with ScHoolboy Q and 9th Wonder. Paak released his second album, Malibu, on January 15, 2016, to critical acclaim.[4][11]
In January 2016, he indicated that he had been recording with Flying Lotus.[12] On January 30, 2016, Paak spoke with Scott Simon of NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday in an interview entitled: "Anderson .Paak: 'The Dot Stands For Detail' " about his tumultuous background as a child of mixed-race parents, the significance of "." (dot) Paak, his apprenticeship with Dr. Dre and how all of these influences shaped his music.[13] On January 30, Paak announced via Twitter he has signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment.[14]
In 2016, Paak was named one of the XXL Freshman, along with Lil Dicky, Desiigner, Dave East, Denzel Curry, Lil Yachty, G Herbo, Lil Uzi Vert, 21 Savage, & Kodak Black. He said he always sends his ideas to Dr. Dre and the two work very fast.[15]
The Free Nationals – Band members[edit]
Anderson Paak – lead vocals, drums
Jose Rios – guitarist, backing vocals
Ron Tnava Avant – keyboards, backing vocals
Kelsey Gonzales – bass guitar
Callum Connor – DJ, drums
Discography[edit]
Albums[edit]
List of studio albums, with selected chart positions
Title
Album details
Peak chart positions
US
[16]
US
R&B
[17]
US
Vinyl
[18]
AUS
[19]
CAN
[20]
FRA
NL
[21]
NZ
[22]
SWI
O.B.E. Vol. 1
(as Breezy Lovejoy)
Released: June 26, 2012
Label: Jakarta Records
Format: LP, digital download
— — — — — — — — —
Lovejoy
(as Breezy Lovejoy)
Released: October 31, 2012
Label: Self-released
Format: Digital download
— — — — — — — — —
Venice
Released: October 28, 2014
Label: Steel Wool, OBE, Empire
Format: CD, LP, digital download
— — — — — — — — —
Malibu
Released: January 15, 2016
Label: Steel Wool, OBE, Art Club, Empire
Format: CD, LP, digital download
79 9 17 85 88 92 18 39 33
Yes Lawd!
(with Knxwledge as NxWorries)
Released: October 21, 2016
Label: Stones Throw Records
Format: CD, LP, digital download
59 3 5 48 — — 82 — —
Extended plays[edit]
List of extended plays, with selected details
Title
Details
Violets Are Blue
(as Breezy Lovejoy)
Released: February 14, 2010
Label: Block Cheddar
Format: Digital download
Cover Art
Released: December 4, 2013
Label: Hellfyre Club
Format: Digital download
The Anderson .Paak EP
(with Blended Babies)
Released: September 28, 2015
Label: BBMG
Format: Digital download
Link Up & Suede
(with Knxwledge, as NxWorries)
Released: December 4, 2015
Label: Stones Throw Records
Format: CD, digital download
Singles[edit]
List of singles, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name
Title
Year
Peak chart positions
Certifications
Album
US
US
R&B
"Drugs"
2014 — — Venice
"Miss Right"
— —
"Suede"
(with Knxwledge, as NxWorries)
2015 — — Link Up & Suede
"The Season / Carry Me"
— — Malibu
"Am I Wrong"
(featuring ScHoolboy Q)
— —
"Link Up"
(with Knxwledge, as NxWorries)
— — Link Up & Suede
"Room in Here"
(featuring The Game)
— — Malibu
"Come Down"[23]
(featuring T.I.)
2016 — —
"—" denotes a title that did not chart, or was not released in that territory.
Guest appearances[edit]
List of guest appearances, with other performing artists, showing year released and album name
Title
Year
Other performer(s)
Album
"Do Thangs"
2009 Afro Classics The Classic EP
"The Follow Through"
"Sing My Song"
2010 Verbs The Progress EP 2: Fuck Yea Man
"Cell Phone"
2011 Dumbfoundead DFD
"Bitch"
"No More Sunny Days"
"Body High"
2012 Love Everyday EP
"Wine"
Take the Stares
"Fuck It"
"Drinking Alone"
"Much Better"
Verbs The Progress EP 3: Manifest Awesome
"Dreaming Out Loud"
Mike B. Dear Michael, You're Welcome
"Summer Breeze"
2013 EOM ForAllWeKnow
"I'm on It"
"AimShootReload"
"Prelection"
Jose Rios To Live and Grow in LA
"Sweet Day"
"Feels Good"
Wax Continue
"Too Much to Ask"
2014 Nocando Jimmy the Burnout
"Stand for Something"
Watsky All You Can Do
"Ink Don't Bleed"
"Hand Over Hand"
"My Supernova"
Tiron & Ayomari A Sucker for Pumps: Limited Edition
"It's Better for You"
Shafiq Husayn N/A
"A Day Trip to the Nightosphere"
Milo A Toothpaste Suburb
"Realla"
Tokimonsta Desiderium
"New Days"
Kush Mody Creature Comforts and a Collection of Songs
"Freight Train"
"Locked"
"Sexy Sadie"
"Get Along"
2015 EOM Sunrain
"Green Light"
Jonwayne Jonwayne Is Retired
"Til It's Done"
DJ Premier, BMB Spacekid N/A
"Shifty"
Mike Gao
"Own Life"
Vindata Through Time and Space...
"Liberation"
Sir Seven Sundays
"Cold Crush"
Jose Rios Jose Rios
"All in a Day's Work"
Dr. Dre, Marsha Ambrosius Compton
"Issues"
Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Dem Jointz
"Deep Water"
Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, Justus
"For the Love of Money"
Dr. Dre, Jon Connor, Jill Scott
"Animals"
Dr. Dre
"Medicine Man"
Dr. Dre, Eminem, Candice Pillay
"Magnus Carlsen"
The Game The Documentary 2.5
"Crenshaw / 80s and Cocaine"
The Game, Sonyae Elise
"The Strip"
MED, Blu, Madlib Bad Neighbor
"Bloomingdales"
White Boiz Neighborhood Wonderful
"Worlds to Run"
Busdriver Thumbs
"Unique"
GoldLink And After That, We Didn't Talk
"Put It Down"
Tokimonsta Fovere
"Found in You"
N/A
"Put My Hands on You"
Dean
"Church" (West Coast Remix)
BJ the Chicago Kid
"Dance Off"
2016 Macklemore, Ryan Lewis, Idris Elba This Unruly Mess I've Made
"IT G MA Remix (josh pan Opus)"
Keith Ape N/A
"Dapper"
Domo Genesis Genesis
"Glowed Up"
Kaytranada 99.9%
"Blessings (Reprise)"
Chance the Rapper Coloring Book
"Money on Me"
Snakehips Money on Me
"Blank Face"
ScHoolboy Q Blank Face LP
"No Slaves"
Knox Brown Searching
"Responsibilities"
Thane, BJ the Chicago Kid Topia
"Dang!"
Mac Miller The Divine Feminine
"Movin Backwards"
A Tribe Called Quest We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service
"OooWee"
Rapsody Crown / Laila's Wisdom
"It Don't Matter"
2017 Moonbase N/A
"New LA"
SiR, King Mez Her Too
"Nobody""
Rapsody, Black Thought, Moonchild Laila's Wisdom
Awards and nominations[edit]
BET Hip Hop Awards[edit]
The BET Hip Hop Awards are an annual awards show, airing on BET, showcasing hip hop performers, producers and music video directors.
Year
Nominee/work
Award
Result
Ref.
2016 Anderson .Paak Best New Hip Hop Artist Nominated [24]
Grammy Awards[edit]
The Grammy Awards are annual awards presented by The Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the mainly English-language music industry.
Year
Nominee/work
Award
Result
Ref.
2017 Anderson .Paak Best New Artist Nominated [25]
Malibu Best Urban Contemporary Album Nominated
Soul Train Music Awards[edit]
The Soul Train Music Awards is an annual award show which previously aired in national television syndication, and honors the best in Black music and entertainment.
Year
Nominee/work
Award
Result
Ref.
2016 Anderson .Paak Best New Artist Nominated [26]
Centric Certified Award Won
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Munday, Matt (April 10, 2016). "Anderson Paak: 'If Dre had called five years ago, I don't think I'd have been ready'". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
Jump up ^ Kennedy, Gerrick D. (March 4, 2016). "Anderson .Paak hits big time in L.A. after struggling up the road but a world away in Oxnard". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
Jump up ^ Reeves, Mosi (November 1, 2014). "10 New Artists You Need To Know: November 2014 – Anderson Paak". Rolling Stone.
^ Jump up to: a b "Review: Anderson .Paak More Than Makes Up for Lost Time on 'Malibu'". spin.com.
Jump up ^ "R&B Singer Anderson Paak Has a Curious New Project". laweekly.com. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
Jump up ^ Martins, Chris (January 14, 2016). "Anderson Paak: Dr. Dre's Golden Child Goes From Protege to Solo Star". Billboard Magazine.
Jump up ^ Breakfast Club Power 105.1 FM (2016-07-28), Anderson .Paak Interview With The Breakfast Club (7-28-16), retrieved 2017-02-07
^ Jump up to: a b Weiss, Jeff (November 27, 2013). "R&B singer Anderson Paak has a curious new project". LA Weekly.
Jump up ^ "The Sound of Tomorrow with Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals (LIVE)". theecho.com. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
Jump up ^ "Cover Art". hellfyreclub.bandcamp.com. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
Jump up ^ "Life After Dre: Anderson .Paak on "Compton," Style & His New Album - DJBooth". DJBooth.net. Retrieved 2015-10-23.
Jump up ^ "BBC Radio 6 Music - Gilles Peterson, Ed Motta and Anderson. Paak". Bbc.co.uk. 2016-01-16. Retrieved 2016-05-12.
Jump up ^ "Anderson .Paak: 'The Dot Stands For Detail'". npr.org. Retrieved 2016-01-30.
Jump up ^ "Andy $ide$tick on Twitter: "Aftermath gets the last laugh 💨🍃🍂🍃". Twitter. 2016-01-30. Retrieved 2016-05-12.
Jump up ^ Smith, Trevor (19 November 2016). "Anderson Paak describes relationship with Dr. Dre". Retrieved 19 November 2016.
Jump up ^ "Anderson Paak – Chart history: Billboard 200". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
Jump up ^ "Anderson Paak – Chart history: R&B/Hip-Hop Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
Jump up ^ http://www.billboard.com/artist/6845246/anderson-paak/chart?f=1177
Jump up ^ Anderson Paak peaks in Australia:
Yes Lawd! "Discography Anderson .Paak". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved November 1, 2016.
Malibu: "ARIA CHART WATCH #408". auspOp. February 18, 2017. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Anderson Paak – Chart history: Canadian Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
Jump up ^ "Discografie Anderson .Paak" (in Dutch). Dutch Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved April 5, 2011.
Jump up ^ "Discography Anderson .Paak". New Zealand Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved April 5, 2011.
Jump up ^ https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/come-down-feat.-t.i.-single/id1115957129
Jump up ^ Vulpo, Mike (October 5, 2016). "BET Hip Hop Awards 2016 Winners: The Complete List". E! Online News. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
Jump up ^ "59th Annual GRAMMY Awards Winners & Nominees - GRAMMY.com". GRAMMY.com. The Recording Academy. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
Jump up ^ Iasimone, Ashley (November 27, 2016). "2016 Soul Train Awards: See the Full Winners List". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
External links[edit]
Official website
[hide]
v
t
e
Anderson Paak
Studio albums
Venice (2014)
Malibu (2016)
Collaborative EPs & albums
Link Up & Suede (2015)
Yes Lawd! (2016)
Singles
"Suede"
"Link Up"
Related
NxWorries
Knxwledge
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Anderson_Paak&oldid=822288617"
Categories:
1986 births
Living people
21st-century American singers
African-American male rappers
African-American record producers
American record producers
African-American songwriters
American songwriters
Aftermath Entertainment artists
American hip hop singers
American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
American musicians of Korean descent
American rappers of Asian descent
Musicians from Oxnard, California
Neo soul singers
People from Oxnard, California
Singers from Los Angeles
Songwriters from California
West Coast hip hop musicians
Hidden categories:
CS1 Dutch-language sources (nl)
Articles with hCards
Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia
Navigation menu
Personal tools
Not logged in
Talk
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Namespaces
Article
Talk
Variants
Views
Read
Edit
View history
More
Search
Navigation
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version
Languages
Dansk
Deutsch
Español
Français
한국어
Italiano
עברית
Русский
Türkçe
Edit links
This page was last edited on 25 January 2018, at 14:31.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Cookie statement
Mobile view
Enable previews

values: mw-page-base noprint

values: mw-head-base noprint

values: firstHeading firstHeading en

values: siteSub noprint

values: jump-to-nav mw-jump

attrs: href class title

values:
/wiki/Anderson_Park_(disambiguation)
mw-redirect mw-disambig
Anderson Park (disambiguation)

attrs: role class

values:
note
hatnote navigation-not-searchable

value: th

attrs: colspan style

value: tr

attrs: alt src width height srcset data-file-width data-file-height

value: td

values:
nofollow
external text
http://www.andersonpaak.com

values:
/wiki/Venice_(Anderson_.Paak_album)
mw-redirect
Venice (Anderson .Paak album)

values: Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album

values:
/wiki/African_American
mw-redirect
African American

attrs: alt src width height class srcset data-file-width data-file-height

values: Edit section: The Free Nationals – Band members

values: Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique

values: background: #ececec; color: #2C2C2C; vertical-align: middle; font-size: smaller; text-align: center;

values:
/wiki/Jonwayne_Is_Retired
mw-redirect
Jonwayne Is Retired

values:
/wiki/Bad_Neighbor_(album)
mw-redirect
Bad Neighbor (album)

values:
/wiki/Church_(BJ_The_Chicago_Kid_song)
mw-redirect
Church (BJ The Chicago Kid song)

values:
/wiki/Snakehips_(band)
mw-redirect
Snakehips (band)

values:
/wiki/ScHoolboy_Q
mw-redirect
ScHoolboy Q

values: background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center;

values:
wikitable plainrowheaders
table-layout: fixed; margin-right: 0;

values:
/wiki/Grammy_Awards
mw-redirect
Grammy Awards

values:
/wiki/Television_syndication
mw-redirect
Television syndication

values: background: #99FF99; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center;

values:
/wiki/E!_Online_News
mw-redirect
E! Online News

values:
nofollow
external text
http://www.grammy.com/nominees

values: -moz-column-width: 30em; -webkit-column-width: 30em; column-width: 30em; list-style-type: decimal;

values:
Anderson_Paak
fn
font-size:114%;margin:0 4em

values:
row
navbox-group
width:1%;background: #EEEEEE;

values: nowraplinks vcard collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner

values: Category:American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters

values: Category:American musicians of Korean descent

values: Category:American rappers of Asian descent

values: Category:Musicians from Oxnard, California

values: Category:CS1 Dutch-language sources (nl)

values: Category:Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia

values: Discussion about edits from this IP address [ctrl-alt-n]

values: A list of edits made from this IP address [ctrl-alt-y]

values: You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory

values: You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [ctrl-alt-o]

values:
/wiki/Anderson_Paak
View the content page [ctrl-alt-c]
c

values: Discussion about the content page [ctrl-alt-t]

values: p-namespaces navigation vectorTabs p-namespaces-label

values:
p-variants
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-variants-label

values: Past revisions of this page [ctrl-alt-h]

values: p-views navigation vectorTabs p-views-label

values:
p-cactions
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-cactions-label

values:
mw-wiki-logo
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page

values:
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page [ctrl-alt-z]
z

values: Featured content – the best of Wikipedia

values: Find background information on current events

values:
/wiki/Special:Random
Load a random article [ctrl-alt-x]
x

values: portal navigation p-navigation p-navigation-label

values: Guidance on how to use and edit Wikipedia

values: About the project, what you can do, where to find things

values: A list of recent changes in the wiki [ctrl-alt-r]

values: אנדרסון פאאק – Hebrew

values: Андерсон Пак – Russian

values: mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject page-Anderson_Paak rootpage-Anderson_Paak skin-vector action-view


text:
Easter Bunny
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Easter Bunny
A 1907 postcard featuring the Easter Bunny
Grouping
Legendary creature
Sub grouping
Animal
Mythology
Folkloric figure and symbol of Easter
Other name(s)
Easter Rabbit, Easter Hare
Country
Germany
Habitat
Grass
The Easter Bunny (also called the Easter Rabbit or Easter Hare) is a folkloric figure and symbol of Easter, depicted as a rabbit bringing Easter eggs. Originating among German Lutherans, the "Easter Hare" originally played the role of a judge, evaluating whether children were good or disobedient in behavior at the start of the season of Eastertide.[1] The Easter Bunny is sometimes depicted with clothes. In legend, the creature carries colored eggs in his basket, candy, and sometimes also toys to the homes of children, and as such shows similarities to Santa Claus or the Christkind, as they both bring gifts to children on the night before their respective holidays. The custom was first[2][unreliable source?] mentioned in Georg Franck von Franckenau's De ovis paschalibus[3] ('About Easter Eggs') in 1682, referring to a German tradition of an Easter Hare bringing Easter eggs for the children.
Contents
[hide]
1 Symbols
1.1 Rabbits and hares
1.2 Eggs
2 Association with Ēostre
2.1 Transformed bird
3 See also
4 References
5 External links
Symbols
Rabbits and hares
The hare was a popular motif in medieval church art. In ancient times, it was widely believed (as by Pliny, Plutarch, Philostratus, and Aelian) that the hare was a hermaphrodite.[4][5][6] The idea that a hare could reproduce without loss of virginity led to an association with the Virgin Mary, with hares sometimes occurring in illuminated manuscripts and Northern European paintings of the Virgin and Christ Child. It may also have been associated with the Holy Trinity, as in the three hares motif.[4][7] Eggs, like rabbits and hares, are fertility symbols[8] of antiquity. Since birds lay eggs and rabbits and hares give birth to large litters in the early spring, these became symbols of the rising fertility of the earth at the Vernal Equinox.
Rabbits and hares are both prolific breeders. Female hares can conceive a second litter of offspring while still pregnant with the first.[9][10] This phenomenon is known as superfetation. Lagomorphs mature sexually at an early age and can give birth to several litters a year (hence the saying, "to breed like rabbits" or "to breed like bunnies"). It is therefore not surprising that rabbits and hares should become fertility symbols, or that their springtime mating antics should enter into Easter folklore.
Eggs
Main articles: Easter egg and Egg decorating
In addition, Orthodox churches have a custom of abstaining from eggs during the fast of Lent. The only way to keep them from being wasted was to boil or roast them, and begin eating them to break the fast.[citation needed] As a special dish, they would probably have been decorated as part of the celebrations. Later, German Protestants retained the custom of eating colored eggs for Easter, though they did not continue the tradition of fasting.[11] Eggs boiled with some flowers change their color, bringing the spring into the homes, and some over time added the custom of decorating the eggs.[12] Many Christians of the Eastern Orthodox Church to this day typically dye their Easter eggs red,[13] the color of blood, in recognition of the blood of the sacrificed Christ (and, of the renewal of life in springtime). Some also use the color green, in honor of the new foliage emerging after the long-dead time of winter. The Ukrainian art of decorating eggs for Easter, known as pysanky, dates to ancient, pre-Christian times. Similar variants of this form of artwork are seen amongst other eastern and central European cultures.[14]
The idea of an egg-giving hare went to the U.S. in the 18th century. Protestant German immigrants in the Pennsylvania Dutch area told their children about the "Osterhase" (sometimes spelled "Oschter Haws"[15]). Hase means "hare", not rabbit, and in Northwest European folklore the "Easter Bunny" indeed is a hare. According to the legend, only good children received gifts of colored eggs in the nests that they made in their caps and bonnets before Easter.[16]
Dreihasenfenster (Window of Three Hares) in Paderborn Cathedral in Paderborn, Germany
Marshmallow bunnies and candy eggs in an Easter basket
A bunny and decorated Easter eggs
A chocolate Easter Bunny
Chocolate Easter Bunny molds from Alsace Musée du pain d'épices
Association with Ēostre
In his 1835 Deutsche Mythologie, Jacob Grimm states "The Easter Hare is unintelligible to me, but probably the hare was the sacred animal of Ostara". This proposed association was repeated by other authors including Charles Isaac Elton [17] and Charles J Billson.[18] In 1961 Christina Hole wrote, "The hare was the sacred beast of Eastre (or Eostre), a Saxon goddess of Spring and of the dawn."[19] The belief that Ēostre had a hare companion who became the Easter Bunny was popularized when it was presented as fact in the BBC documentary Shadow of the Hare (1993).[20]
The Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore however states "... there is no shred of evidence" that hares were sacred to Ēostre, noting that Bede does not associate her with any animal.[21]
Transformed bird
Sarah Ben Breathnach in Mrs Sharp's Traditions (1990) provides an origin story for the Easter Bunny: "According to legend, Eostre's favorite animal was a large handsome bird, which in a fit of anger she turned into a hare."[22] Another version of this story, in which Ēostre transforms the bird into a hare in an act of mercy, was written by Jean-Andrew Dickmann and appeared in Cricket magazine.[23] Both Breathnach and Dickmann present their respective 'transformed bird' stories as if they were legend, though no earlier version of either has been attested.
See also
Domestic and pet rabbits
Easter Bilby
Ēostre
Mad as a March hare
Osterfuchs[de] (Easter Fox) (in German)
Rabbits in the arts
Rabbits in culture and literature
The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs
References
Jump up ^ Cross, Gary (2004). Wondrous Innocence and Modern American Children's Culture. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195348133.
Jump up ^ Easter Bunny - What Does He Have To Do With Easter?, occultcenter.com
Jump up ^ Franck von Franckenau, Georg (1682). Disputatione ordinaria disquirens de ovis paschalibus / von Oster-Eyern. Satyrae Medicae. XVIII. Heidelberg. p. 6. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
^ Jump up to: a b Chapman, Chris (2004). "What does the Symbol Mean?". Three Hares Project. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
Jump up ^ Marta Powell Harley. "Rosalind, the hare, and the hyena in Shakespeare's As You Like It". Shakespeare Quarterly.
Jump up ^ "Sir Thomas Browne (1646; 6th ed., 1672) Pseudodoxia Epidemica III:xvii (pp. 162-166)".
Jump up ^ "Three Hares as representation of the Trinity". Threehares.blogspot.com. 2006-02-25. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
Jump up ^ Heller, Steven (April 2014). "Seeing Rabbits". Academic Search Complete (Vol. 68 Issue 2). |access-date= requires |url= (help)
Jump up ^ Martinez-Gomez, Margarita (September 2004). "Overlapping litters and reproductive performance in the domestic rabbit". Academic Search Complete (Vol. 82 Issue 4). Physiology & Behavior. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
Jump up ^ Lumpkin, Susan; John Seidensticker (2011). Rabbits: The Animal Answer Guide. JHU Press. ISBN 0-8018-9789-0. p. 122.
Jump up ^ Shrove Tuesday Pancakes! by Bridget Haggerty - Irish Culture & Customs, World Cultures European, paragraph 5 line 2 refers to the Catholic custom of abstaining from eggs during Lent. Accessed 3/1/08
Jump up ^ Snodgrass, Lucie L. (March 2005). "DYED IN Tradition". Academic Search Complete (Issue 329). Vegetarian Times. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
Jump up ^ How To Dye Red Eggs with Onion Skins for Greek Easter by Nancy Gaifyllia from Your Guide to Greek Food on About.Com Accessed April 9, 2008
Jump up ^ Hallett, Vicky (March 31, 2003). "Egg-cellent art". Academic Search Complete (Vol. 134 Issue 10). U.S. News & World Report. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
Jump up ^ "Gruß vom Osterhasen: Oschter Haws Song : GERMAN WORLD MAGAZINE". Germanworldonline.com. 2011-04-23. Retrieved 2013-03-31.
Jump up ^ Easter Symbols Archived 2008-03-12 at the Wayback Machine. from Lutheran Hour Ministries. Accessed 2/28/08
Jump up ^ Charles Isaac Elton (1890), Origins of English History
Jump up ^ Charles J Billson (1892), Folk-Lore vol 3 issue 4
Jump up ^ Christina Hole (1961) Easter and its Customs
Jump up ^ Attenborough, Sir David (Presenter) (April 12, 1993). Wildlife on One Easter Special Shadow of the Hare (Television). United Kingdom: BBC.
Jump up ^ Jacqueline Simpson and Stephen Roud (2000), A Dictionary of English Folklore
Jump up ^ Sarah Ben Breathnach (1990), Mrs Sharp's Traditions: Reviving Victorian Family Celebrations of Comfort and Joy
Jump up ^ Jean-Andrew Dickmann (2002), The Coming of Eostre, Cricket magazine vol 29 issue 7
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Easter Bunny.
Charles J. Billson. "The Easter Hare". Folk-Lore. Vol. 3, No. 4 (December 1892).
On the Bunny Trail: In Search of the Easter Bunny, Stephen Winick, Folklife Today, March 22, 2016
[show]
v
t
e
Easter
Main topics
Controversies
Date
Easter Sunday
Etymology
Observances
Traditions
Christianity
Apostles' Fast
Bright Week
Burial of Jesus
Crucifixion of Jesus
Dormition of the Theotokos
Easter Monday
Easter Vigil
Epitaphios
Exsultet
Good Friday
Good Friday Prayer
Good Friday prayer for the Jews
Great Lent
Holy Week
Jesus
Last Supper
Lent
Lumen Christi
Maundy Thursday
Myrrhbearers
Paschal candle
Paschal cycle
Paschal greeting
Paschal Homily
Paschal Tide
Paschal trikirion
Paschal troparion
The Passion
Pentecostarion
Resurrection of Jesus
Tenebrae
Traditions
Artos
Burning of Judas
Cascarón
Clipping the church
Croatian pisanica
Crucession
Easter basket
Easter Bilby
Easter bonnet
Easter Bunny
Easter egg
Easter egg tree
Easter postcard
Easter Sepulchre
Egg dance
Egg decorating
Egg decorating in Slavic culture
Egg hunt
Egg rolling
Egg tapping
Egg tossing
Fasika
Gorzkie żale
Holy Fire
Holy Week procession
Lieldienas
Osterbrunnen
Pace Egg play
Polish pisanka
Pysanka
Radonitsa
Rouketopolemos
Saitopolemos
Scoppio del carro
Sunrise service
Święconka
Traditional Easter games and customs
Media
Film
Fiction
Songs
Related topics
Computus
Dionysius Exiguus' Easter table
Easter controversy
Easter Epic
Ecclesiastical new moon
Paschal Full Moon
Pussy willow
Reform of the date of Easter
Related events
Divine Mercy Sunday
Easter Monday
Easter Tuesday
Easter Wednesday
Easter Thursday
Easter Friday
Easter Saturday
Eastertide
Easter Triduum
Easter Week
Good Friday
Holy Saturday
Maundy Thursday
Mid-Pentecost
Octave of Easter
Palm Sunday
Pentecost
Pre-Lenten Season
Trinity Sunday
Society
Ēostre
Maslenitsa
Salzburg Easter Festival
Authority control
GND: 4172936-5
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Easter_Bunny&oldid=835456319"
Categories:
Advertising characters
Christian folklore
Easter traditions
German folklore
Holiday characters
Fictional hares and rabbits
Hidden categories:
Pages using citations with accessdate and no URL
Webarchive template wayback links
Wikipedia indefinitely semi-protected pages
All articles lacking reliable references
Articles lacking reliable references from April 2017
All articles with unsourced statements
Articles with unsourced statements from April 2017
Interlanguage link template link number
Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers
Navigation menu
Personal tools
Not logged in
Talk
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Namespaces
Article
Talk
Variants
Views
Read
View source
View history
More
Search
Navigation
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version
In other projects
Wikimedia Commons
Languages
العربية
Asturianu
Беларуская
Català
Dansk
Deutsch
Eesti
Ελληνικά
Español
Esperanto
فارسی
Français
한국어
Ido
Bahasa Indonesia
Italiano
עברית
Kaszëbsczi
Latina
Latviešu
Lëtzebuergesch
Magyar
Bahasa Melayu
Nederlands
Nedersaksies
日本語
Norsk
Norsk nynorsk
Plattdüütsch
Polski
Português
Ripoarisch
Română
Русский
Simple English
Ślůnski
Suomi
Svenska
Türkçe
Українська
Tiếng Việt
中文
33 more
Edit links
This page was last edited on 8 April 2018, at 20:33.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Cookie statement
Mobile view
Enable previews

values: mw-page-base noprint

values: mw-head-base noprint

attrs: class id

values: firstHeading firstHeading en

values: siteSub noprint

values: jump-to-nav mw-jump

value: caption

values: The material near this tag may rely on an unreliable source. (April 2017)

values:
/wiki/Virgin_Mary
mw-redirect
Virgin Mary

values:
/wiki/Holy_Trinity
mw-redirect
Holy Trinity

values:
/wiki/Vernal_Equinox
mw-redirect
Vernal Equinox

values: This claim needs references to reliable sources. (April 2017)

values:
noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact
white-space:nowrap;

values:
/wiki/Paderborn,_Germany
mw-redirect
Paderborn, Germany

values:
/wiki/Rabbits_in_the_arts
mw-redirect
Rabbits in the arts

values: -moz-column-width: 30em; -webkit-column-width: 30em; column-width: 30em; list-style-type: decimal;

values:
/wiki/Paschal_Full_Moon
mw-redirect
Paschal Full Moon

values: nowraplinks collapsible collapsed navbox-inner

values:
nofollow
external text
https://d-nb.info/gnd/4172936-5

values: Category:Pages using citations with accessdate and no URL

values: Category:Webarchive template wayback links

values: Category:Wikipedia indefinitely semi-protected pages

values: Category:All articles lacking reliable references

values: Category:Articles lacking reliable references from April 2017

values: Category:All articles with unsourced statements

values: Category:Articles with unsourced statements from April 2017

values: Category:Interlanguage link template link number

values: Category:Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers

values: Discussion about edits from this IP address [ctrl-alt-n]

values: A list of edits made from this IP address [ctrl-alt-y]

values: You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory

values: You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [ctrl-alt-o]

values:
/wiki/Easter_Bunny
View the content page [ctrl-alt-c]
c

values:
This page is protected.
You can view its source [ctrl-alt-e]

values: portal navigation p-interaction p-interaction-label

values: List of all English Wikipedia pages containing links to this page [ctrl-alt-j]

values: Recent changes in pages linked from this page [ctrl-alt-k]

values:
/wiki/Wikipedia:File_Upload_Wizard
Upload files [ctrl-alt-u]
u

values: A list of all special pages [ctrl-alt-q]

values: Permanent link to this revision of the page

values: Link to connected data repository item [ctrl-alt-g]

values: Printable version of this page [ctrl-alt-p]

values: portal navigation p-wikibase-otherprojects p-wikibase-otherprojects-label

values: أرنب الفصح – Arabic

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-ast
display: none;

values: Велікодны заяц – Belarusian

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-be
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-ca
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-da
display: none;

values:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osterhase
Osterhase – German
de
de
interlanguage-link-target

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-et
display: none;

values: Λαγουδάκι του Πάσχα – Greek

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-el
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-eo
display: none;

values: خرگوش عید پاک – Persian

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-fa
display: none;

values: 부활절 토끼 – Korean

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-ko
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-io
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-it
display: none;

values: ארנב הפסחא – Hebrew

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-he
display: none;

values:
https://csb.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zajc
Zajc – Kashubian
csb
csb
interlanguage-link-target

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-csb
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-la
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-lv
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-lb
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-hu
display: none;

values:
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paashaas
Paashaas – Dutch
nl
nl
interlanguage-link-target

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-nl
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-nds-nl
display: none;

values: イースター・バニー – Japanese

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-ja
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-no
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-nn
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-nds
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-pl
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-ksh
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-ro
display: none;

values: Пасхальный заяц – Russian

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-simple
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-szl
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-fi
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-sv
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-tr
display: none;

values: Великодній заєць – Ukrainian

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-uk
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-vi
display: none;

values: All languages (initial selection from common choices by you and others)

values: /static/images/wikimedia-button-1.5x.png 1.5x, /static/images/wikimedia-button-2x.png 2x

values: /static/images/poweredby_mediawiki_132x47.png 1.5x, /static/images/poweredby_mediawiki_176x62.png 2x

values:
suggestions
display: none; font-size: 13px;

values: mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject page-Easter_Bunny rootpage-Easter_Bunny skin-vector action-view