ARABIC: THE MOST SPOKEN INDIGENOUS AFRICAN LANGUAGE IN THE CONTINENT

Abstract

act: By: Mohammad Kamel Ahmad, PhD Kwara State University, Malete, Ilorin, Nigeria mohammadkamelahmad65@gmail.com The number of languages natively spoken in the fifty four (54) African states is variously estimated at between 1,250 and 2,100, and by some counts at over 3000.2) These languages belong to many distinct language families. Of all these languages, five (5) are the most used by their speakers in terms of population within the African continent. The five are Arabic, Swahili, Hausa, Oromo, and Yoruba. Each of these languages is spoken by multiple African countries by small or large population. They are the leading African languages attested to by scholars and researchers and confirmed by different and rigorous studies conducted thus far.