List of extinct languages of Africa explained

This is a list of extinct languages of Africa, languages which have undergone language death, have no native speakers and no spoken descendant. There are 58 languages listed.

List

Language/dialectFamilydata-sort-type=numberDate of extinctionRegionEthnic group(s)
ǁXegwiTuudata-sort-value="1988.00001"1988 AD[1] Lake ChrissieǁXegwi
ǀXamTuudata-sort-value="_"South Africa and LesothoǀXam speakers
African RomanceIndo-Europeandata-sort-value="1400.00001"1400s AD[2] Roman AfricaRomans
AjawaAfro-Asiaticdata-sort-value="1920.00001"1920-1940s AD[3] Bauchi StateNigerians
AsaAfro-Asiaticdata-sort-value="1999.00001"after 1999 AD[4] TanzaniaAsa
AuyokawaAtlantic–Congodata-sort-value="_"Jigawa StateNigerians
Basa-GumnaAtlantic–Congodata-sort-value="_"ChanchagaNigerians
BaygoEastern Sudanic?data-sort-value="_"DarfurBaygo speakers
BertiSaharandata-sort-value="1990.00001"1990s AD[5] South DarfurPeople of Darfur
BikyaAtlantic–Congodata-sort-value="_"CameroonBikya speakers
BirgidEastern Sudanicdata-sort-value="_"North DarfurBirgid speakers
BishuoAtlantic–Congodata-sort-value="_"CameroonBishuo speakers
CopticAfro-Asiaticdata-sort-value="1600.00001"1600s AD[6] Egypt
DuliAtlantic–Congodata-sort-value="_"northern CameroonDuli speakers
EsumaAtlantic–Congodata-sort-value="1800.00001"1800s AD[7] Assinie-MafiaPeople of the Ivory Coast
EgyptianAfro-Asiaticdata-sort-value="400.00001"400s AD[8] Ancient EgyptEgyptians
GafatAfro-Asiaticdata-sort-value="1947.00001"after 1947 AD[9] EthiopiaGafat people
Gamo-NingiAtlantic–Congodata-sort-value="_"Bauchi StateNigerians
GbinMandedata-sort-value="1900.00001"1900s AD[10] BondoukouGbin speakers
GeʽezAfro-Asiaticdata-sort-value="2000.00001"2000 AD[11] Eritrea and Ethiopia
GuancheAfro-Asiatic?data-sort-value="1500.00001"1500s AD[12] Canary IslandsGuanches
GuleKoman?data-sort-value="_"SudanGule speakers
HomaAtlantic–Congodata-sort-value="1975.00001"1975 AD[13] South SudanHoma speakers
HoroCentral Sudanicdata-sort-value="_"ChadHoro speakers
Italian EritreanItalian based Pidgindata-sort-value="_"EritreaItalians and Eritreans
KasabeAtlantic–Congodata-sort-value="1995.11051"5 November, 1995 AD[14] CameroonKasabe people
Koine GreekIndo-Europeandata-sort-value="_"Egypt and NubiaGreeks
KpatiAtlantic–Congodata-sort-value="1971.00001"1971 AD[15] Taraba StateNigerians
KubiAfro-Asiaticdata-sort-value="1995.00001"1995 AD[16] Bauchi StateNigerians
KwadiKhoe–Kwadidata-sort-value="1981.00001"1981 AD[17] AngolaKwadi speakers
Mamluk-KipchakTurkicdata-sort-value=1516.00001"after 1516 AD[18] EgyptMamluk
Mawaunclassifieddata-sort-value="_"NigeriaNigerians
Meroiticunclassifieddata-sort-value="300.00001"300s AD[19] Kingdom of KushMeroitic people
MesmesAfro-Asiaticdata-sort-value="2000.00001"2000 AD[20] Kingdom of KushMeroitic people
MittuCentral Sudanicdata-sort-value="_"South SudanMorokodo and Madi
MozarabicIndo-Europeandata-sort-value="1400.00001"1400s AD[21] North AfricaMozarabs
MuskumChadicdata-sort-value="1981.00001"1981 AD[22] ChadMuskum speakers
NagumiAtlantic–Congodata-sort-value="1977.00001"after 1977 AD[23] Cameroon's Northern regionNagumi people
NgasaAfro-Asiatic?data-sort-value="1950.00001"1950s AD[24] TanzaniaNgasa
NgbeeAtlantic–Congodata-sort-value="_"Democratic Republic of the CongoMangbele
NgomviaAfro-Asiatic?data-sort-value="1976.00001"1976-1999 AD[25] MbuluNgomvia speakers
NumidianAfro-Asiaticdata-sort-value="-200.00001"200s BC[26] NumidiaNumidians
Old NubianEastern Sudanicdata-sort-value="1400.00001"1400s AD[27] NubiaNubians
Palmyrene AramaicAfro-Asiaticdata-sort-value="274.00001"after 274 AD[28] PalmyrenesPalmyrene Empire
PunicAfro-Asiaticdata-sort-value="600.00001"600s AD[29] CarthageCarthaginians
SabaicAfro-Asiaticdata-sort-value="600.00001"600s AD[30] Horn of AfricaSabaeans
SabirRomance-based Pidgindata-sort-value="1800.00001"1800s AD[31] Mediterranean BasinMedieval traders and Crusaders
SenedAfro-Asiaticdata-sort-value="_"TunisiaSpeakers in Sened
SeroaTuudata-sort-value="_"South AfricaSeroa speakers
SingaAtlantic–Congodata-sort-value="_"Rusinga IslandSinga speakers
TeshenawaAfro-Asiaticdata-sort-value="_"Jigawa StateNigerians
TogoyoUbangiandata-sort-value="_"South SudanTogoyo people
ToronaAtlantic–Congodata-sort-value="_"South KordofanTorona people
VandalicIndo-Europeandata-sort-value="400.00001"400s AD[32] North AfricaVandals
VazimbaAustronesiandata-sort-value="_"MadagascarVazimba
Weytounclassifieddata-sort-value="_"Lake TanaWeyto caste
YeniAtlantic–Congodata-sort-value="_"CameroonYeni speakers
ZumayaAfro-Asiaticdata-sort-value="2006.00001"by 2006 AD[33] CameroonZumaya speakers

Notes

These languages can still be spoken today, but are only used liturgically.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Mesthrie, Rajend. Language in South Africa. 2002. In 1975 I interviewed Jopi Mabinda, the last //Xegwi speaker. He was able to reproduce perfectly the linguistic material he had given to Lanham and Hallowes and he was fluent in Zulu. He told me he was the only speaker of the language and that he spoke it to his sister and brother-in-law, who only had a passive knowledge of it. He was murdered at Lothair, in the eastern Transvaal, in 1988. 42.
  2. Book: Loporcaro, Michele. Vowel Length from Latin to Romance. Oxford University Press. ...as well as by the evidence for a spoken Romance variety which developed locally out of Latin and persisted, in rural areas of Tunisia, as late as the last two decades of the 15th century. 47. 2015.
  3. Web site: Ajawa. Ethnologue. 2024-06-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20090130115546/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ajw. 2009-01-30. dead. Became extinct between 1920 and 1940..
  4. Web site: Aasáx. Ethnologue. 2024-06-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20080927222304/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=aas. 2008-09-27. dead. Reported in 1999 to still be spoken in the central Massai Steppe..
  5. Web site: Sudan - The Muslim Peoples. 7 June 2024.
  6. Book: P. Allen, James. CCoptic: A Grammar of Its Six Major Dialects. 1. 25 November 2020. Coptic is the name of the final stage of the ancient Egyptian language, spoken and written from the fourth century AD until perhaps sometime in the seventeenth century..
  7. Web site: Esuma. https://web.archive.org/web/20190604190150/http://multitree.org/codes/esm. dead. 4 June 2019. 6 June 2024. LINGUIST List. Until c. 1800 AD..
  8. Web site: Hieroglyphics Cracked 1,000 Years Earlier Than Thought. 2004-10-07. 7 June 2024. ScienceDaily. Following the Roman invasion of Egypt in 30 BC the use of hieroglyphics began to die out with the last known writing in the fifth century AD..
  9. Book: Lipiński, Rajend. Semitic Languages: Outline of a Comparative Edward. 2001. Gafat was a Semitic language spoken in the region of the Blue Nile, in western Ethiopia. At present, the language disappeared completely in favour of Amharic. Its study is based mainly on a translation of the Song of Songs made from Amharic into Gafat in 1769-72 at the request of James Bruce and on the ample documentation collected in 1947 by W. Leslau from four native speakers.. 89.
  10. Web site: One Hundred Years Old Language Documentation: Preliminary Notes on the Gbin Language. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304034048/http://paperno.bol.ucla.edu/gbin_walc.pdf. dead. 4 March 2016. 6 June 2024. The now-dead language Gbin belonged to the South branch of the Mande linguistic family; as recently as one hundred years ago Gbin speakers lived in the city of Bondoukou and its surroundings..
  11. Book: O'Leary, De Lacy. Comparative grammar of the Semitic languages. 23. 1923. ...Ge'ez or Ethiopic. It ceased to be a spoken tongue in the fourteenth century A.D..
  12. Web site: Guanche. Ethnologue. 2024-06-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20080927222506/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=gnc. 2008-09-27. dead. Extinct in the 16th century..
  13. Web site: Homa. Ethnologue. 2024-06-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20081005195922/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=hom. 2008-10-05. dead. Extinct in 1975..
  14. Book: Crystal, David. Language Death: Factual and Theoretical Explorations with Special Reference to East Africa. 1. 2002. On 4 November 1995, Kasabe existed; on 5 November, it did not..
  15. Book: Brenzinger, Matthias. Language Death: Factual and Theoretical Explorations with Special Reference to East Africa. 1992.
  16. Web site: Kubi. Endangered Languages Project. 2024-06-06.
  17. Web site: Kwadi. Ethnologue. 2024-06-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20090131064558/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=kwz. 2009-01-31. dead. J. C. Winter (1981) says it is extinct. There were 3 speakers in 1971 who used it regularly (E. O. J. Westphal)..
  18. Web site: STATUS OF THE KYPCHAK LANGUAGE IN MAMLUK EGYPT: LANGUAGE - BARRIER OR LANGUAGE - CONTACT?. Gulnar Nadirova Logo. 25 April 2024. Even towards the end of the Mamluk period, during the reign of the last sultan al-Ghawri (1501-1516), the Mamluk, called Asanbay min Sudun, copied the religious Hanbali tract of Abu al-Layth in Kypchak language for the royal library..
  19. Web site: Meroitic. https://archive.today/20150418172752/http://multitree.org/codes/xmr. dead. 18 April 2015. 7 June 2024. 200 BC - 4th century AD..
  20. Book: Ahland, Michael Bryan. Language death in Mesmes: A sociolinguistic and historical-comparative examination of a disappearing language. 2010.
  21. Web site: Mozarabic. https://web.archive.org/web/20210224200034/http://multitree.org/codes/mxi. LINGUIST List. dead. 24 February 2021. 7 June 2024. Extinct c 1400 AD...
  22. Web site: Muskum. Ethnologue. 2024-06-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20081023221717/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=mje. 2008-10-23. dead. There was 1 speaker in 1976..
  23. Web site: Nagumi. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304203648/http://archive.ethnologue.com/16/show_language.asp?code=ngv. Ethnologue. dead. 4 March 2016. 9 June 2024.
  24. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20070821031348/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=nsg. Ngasa. Ethnologue. 2024-06-09. 21 August 2007. dead. Use began to diminish in the 1950s..
  25. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20080927225502/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=wka. Kw'adza. Ethnologue. 2024-06-09. 27 September 2008. dead. C. Ehret was reported to be working with the last speaker (M. L. Bender 1976:280). Confirmed by R. Kiessling (1999)..
  26. Web site: Berbère. https://archive.today/20150124231249/http://multitree.org/codes/nxm. LINGUIST List. dead. 24 January 2015. 7 June 2024. c. 200 BC..
  27. Web site: Old Nubian. https://archive.today/20150218185116/http://multitree.org/codes/onw. LINGUIST List. dead. 18 February 2015. 7 June 2024. 8th - 15th centuries AD..
  28. Web site: THE ARABIC WORDS IN PALMYRENE INSCRIPTIONS . 7 June 2024 . The earliest dated Palmyrene inscription is from the year 44 BC and the latest discovery has been dated to the year 274 AD.. ResearchGate.
  29. Web site: Punic. https://web.archive.org/web/20110811122641/http://multitree.org/codes/xpu. dead. LINGUIST List. 11 August 2011. 2024-06-06. 1st Millennium BC - 600 AD..
  30. Web site: Sabaic. https://archive.today/20150124203025/http://multitree.org/codes/xsa. dead. 24 January 2015. LINGUIST List. 7 June 2024. 100 BC - 600 AD..
  31. Book: The Lingua Franca. Natalie Operstein. 2021.
  32. Web site: Vandalic. https://archive.today/20130704084848/http://multitree.org/codes/xvn. dead. 4 July 2013. 6 June 2024. LINGUIST List. 5th century AD..
  33. Web site: Roger. Blench. Mallam. Dendo. The Afro-Asiatic Languages. 7 July 2024. 14 November 2006.

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