African Languages

The Doctor Who Invented a Writing System

Discover the forgotten story of Dr. J. W. P. Davis, a Liberian doctor who invented a unique writing system for…

5 days ago

The Novel That Made Pidgin Literature

When Amos Tutuola published *The Palm-Wine Drinkard* in 1952, its "broken" English was celebrated abroad but scorned as a national…

5 days ago

Tone Spreading in African Languages

Ever wonder how a single word can have multiple meanings based only on its melody? This post explores "tone spreading",…

5 days ago

The Wolof Pronoun System

In many languages, pronouns are simple stand-ins like 'I' or 'they'. But in Wolof, a major language of West Africa,…

1 month ago

The African Tongue with Asian Roots

Journey to the great island of Madagascar, a biodiversity hotspot floating off the coast of Mozambique. You might assume its…

4 months ago

From Pidgin to Power: Nigeria’s Voice

Often dismissed as "broken English", Nigerian Pidgin is in fact a dynamic creole language spoken by over 75 million people.…

4 months ago

The Great Script Divide: Ge’ez vs. Latin in Ethiopia

In Ethiopia's vibrant digital spaces, a cultural and linguistic battle is underway. The ancient, elegant Ge’ez script, a cornerstone of…

4 months ago

Swahili’s 18 Noun Classes

Forget the simple "he" or "she" of European languages. Swahili categorizes its nouns into at least 18 different classes, a…

4 months ago

The Double Negatives of Afrikaans

Ever heard an Afrikaans speaker say "Ek praat nie Afrikaans nie" and wondered about that extra "nie"? This seemingly redundant…

4 months ago

The Fluid Verb: Tense and Aspect in Swahili

Swahili verbs are masterpieces of modular design, built by "gluing" prefixes for tense, person, and more onto a single root.…

4 months ago

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