Sango is classified as a Ngbandi-based croele and is used as the main language of the Central African Republic. It is also spoken in southern Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and as about 1.6 million speakers.
Sango, which is also known as Sangho, developed from Northern Ngbandi, an Ubangian language, during the 19th century. It was used as a lingua franca along the Ubangi River, and after the region was colonised by the French, many words were borrowed from French, however Sango retained its Ngbandi structure.
Since the 1960s Sango has been increasingly spoken as a first language in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, and this has lead to an expansion of vocabulary, and increased status for the language. Sango is now one of the official languages of the Central African Republic, along with French.
Sango was first written by Christian missionaries, who published Sango translations of the Bible and other religious texts in the 1960s. An official Sango orthography was introduced in 1984.
Adü âzo kûê yamba, ngâ âla lîngbi terê na lêgë tî nëngö-terê na tî ângangü. Ala kûê awara ndarä na börö-li sï âla lîngbi tî dutï na âmbâ tî âla gï na lêngö söngö.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Information about Sango pronunciation compiled by Wolfram Siegel
Information about Sango | Phrases | Numbers | Tower of Babel
Information about the Sango language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sango_language
http://sango.free.fr/
http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=sag
Betawi, Bislama, Cape Verdean Creole, Chavacano, Chinook Jargon, Dominican Creole French, Fanagalo, French Guianese Creole, Guadeloupean Creole, Guinea-Bissau Creole, Haitian Creole, Jamaican, Kituba, Manado Malay, Mauritian Creole, Nagamese, Ndyuka, Norfuk, Nubi, Palenquero, Papiamento, Pijin, Réunion Creole, Sango, Saramaccan, Seychelles Creole, Sierra Leonean Creole, Singlish, Sranan, Saint Lucian Creole, Tok Pisin, Torres-Strait Creole
Languages written with the Latin alphabet
Page last modified: 29.11.21
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