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African languages.

Few things disappoint me like the fact that so many African languages are not regulated or poorly regulated. In the most developed languages in the world e.g. Italian & English, there's a correct version of the language that is spoken in formal settings, legal structures & informative media which is taught at schools then there's the colloquial (or slang) version of the language spoken on street corners & in the general public. The correct language usually has an institution where linguists, professors of the language & people who have studied the language at depth regulate the language & usually print out a dictionary for the language every few years. Often, to keep the language pure, these learned individuals of the language make up new words for new innovations & technologies. This institution is known as the regulators of the national language. 

Many African languages are formalised but we haven't found words for new concepts like gymanstics & calculators hence you find strange translations of new technologies that just don't feel right as a native speaker of a language. Now, we should be more forgiving because African languages are more spoken languages & not "serious" languages. Many words in African languages are just opinion-based & lose meaning over time because new technologies don't accomodate indigenous African languages. But why should new technologies accomodate African languages? African languages are languages of hunting, mysticism & obscure traditions that are very rarely practiced in the modern world. Swahili, Africa's biggest language, may be a language of trade but like other African languages - it is not a language of technology & innovation. You can correct me if I am wrong but I do not think it possible that people who make the first African smart tablet or EV will speak only an African language. They would likely be fluent in a European language & maybe their own language second. It is incredibly hard to come across technologists, other than electricians, who speak only their indigenous African language. 

Example of a stop sign written in Zulu (both Latin & indigenous scripts).

For this reason, i. e. the failure to adapt to modern times, I feel most African languages are more colloquial than used in their correct form. Spelling & grammar aside, just the vocabulary of many African languages is more often than not used incorrectly or borrowed words from foreign lands. While languages do generally borrow words from foreign lands or formalise colloquial terms for new concepts & technologies - language is also a national symbol of the strength of the people's identity. You will notice that when a culture or identity of a people has been weakened, the people no longer see fit to use the formal language of the land & colloquial or foreign terms are preferred. And even if it is a soft & illusive concept, language is political. Using the correct form of the language is, at times, a matter of national pride.


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