Sango
Sango is a creole language spoken widely throughout the CAR, and is the dominant spoken language of the country. It functions as the country's vehicular language (or lingua franca). It is also spoken in cross-border communities in Chad and Cameroon, and in diaspora communities in Brazzaville and France. It is named for the Sango dialect of Ngbandi, which is the creole's lexifier. It is almost never written, though an official writing system was established in 1984. It is not used in education, except for some Protestant religious education. [2]
Despite these limitations, it is widespread as a spoken language, with an estimated 2.5 million speakers. In 1994, 69% of pre-schoolers spoke only Sango. [3] It is estimated that 90% of the CAR's population is able to speak Sango. [4] The language has become the mother tongue of almost all children in Bangui. [1] Sango became a national language in 1964 and an official language (alongside French) in 1991. [2]
Prior to European colonization, there was no lingua franca in the region that is now the CAR. Instead, most people in the region were likely multilingual, speaking their native language and languages of nearby peoples with whom they had trade, social, or other ties. Sango emerged as a lingua franca after 1888, when Alphonse van Gèle's Belgian expedition up the Ubangi River initiated a wave of European colonial and resource-exploitation endeavors. By 1896, a pidgin language was reported to be in use along the river, and over time a creolized version of Sango would emerge as the lingua franca for the region. Sango uses words and structures from a variety of African languages, reflecting the diverse range of African workers the French used in their colonial endeavors in the area. [5] : 699–701, 704
French
In the CAR, French is the language of writing and formal situations. In 2022, around 40% of the population over the age of 10 were estimated to be literate in French. [6] Both governmental and religious education within the CAR has been primarily in French (with the exception of some Protest ant education provided in Sango). It dominates in formal settings, radio and television broadcasting, newspapers and other written settings, and government. [2]
In the colonial era, French was viewed and used as the language of power. One Central African explained his desire to learn French during this era by lamenting, "When you don't know the French language, you aren't a human being," reflecting the French colonial authorities' view of the non-Francophone indigenous peoples as savages. [7] : 379–380
