80% of African Languages are Oral Only

submitted by MagicMike from self.whatever

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[–]Countach_3D 4 insightful - 3 fun4 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 3 fun -  (13 children)

lol 80% of human languages are oral only.

​

Quick, what's the standard orthography for Swiss German?

[–]Canbot 5 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 2 fun -  (12 children)

Looks like you are being pedantic to obscure a valid observation. The lack of written language is absolutely not a normal part of all human groups. If there is some sub division of german that does not have a unique written expression those who speak it still know how to write in german. It is common for african americans to struggle with reading and writing. I would bet that the majority of the speakers of these african languages that have no written form are in fact illiterate. Your implication that this is no different than europeans is a blatant attempt at deception.

[–]ActuallyNot 3 insightful - 3 fun3 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 3 fun -  (11 children)

The lack of written language is absolutely not a normal part of all human groups.

Europeans existed for 50,000 years before any writing system showed up in the fertile crescent.

How do you figure those 50 millennia were "not normal" but the recent 500 years are "normal"?

Is this some new meaning of "normal"?

[–]Canbot 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (9 children)

We are talking about modern African society being illiterate.

[–]ActuallyNot 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (8 children)

Are we?

I thought we were talking about African Languages not having a written form.

What's the relationship between the African languages that don't have a written form and personal illiteracy?

You realise that speaking a language with no written form doesn't preclude you from being literate in another language.

[–]Questionable 3 insightful - 3 fun3 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 3 fun -  (6 children)

I think I see what you are saying. It's not the individual that's broken, it's their entire culture and society. Which causes the individual to be broken.

Odd Flex.

[–]ActuallyNot 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

What?

No I'm saying that to get from "80% of African Languages have no written form", to "Africans are illiterate", you have to assume that Africans only speak one language, and the unwritten languages are just as commonly spoken as the written ones.

One of my workmates is from Nigeria. He speaks five languages well enough to buy things in the shops and three fluently. I don't know if his local language or his tribal language have a written form, and looking at the numbers, I would guess not. But he's not illiterate. He reads and writes English with fluency, and can usually get the meaning reading French.

Having said that there is a lot of illiteracy in Africa, but nowhere near 80%. It's maybe a third, and it's driven by development, not availability of a suitable language that can be written.

[–]Questionable 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (3 children)

Oh, I guess it was me implying that. But whatever.

72% of the world's illiterates are in Africa Despite improvements

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2014_2019/documents/acp/dv/8-education_/8-education_en.pdf

9 in 10 Children in Africa Can't Read - Global Citizen

https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/these-organisations-help-child-literacy-in-africa/

[–]ActuallyNot 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

72% of the world's illiterates are in Africa Despite improvements

But that also says then have 72% literacy. Which is a lot more than the 20% you would think of you thought "80% of African Languages are Oral Only" was a relevant statistic.

9 in 10 Children in Africa Can't Read - Global Citizen

This is a problem with kids being unable to attend school. It's not a problem with the languages they speak.

[–]Questionable 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

This is a problem with kids being unable to attend school.

Just another excuse to send moneys to charities and launder it, while cherry picking and lying through statistics.

The C.I.A runs a lucrative business. Virtue signalling is key to the propaganda war.

[–]musky-the-nigger 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

did you ever preclude deez nuts and read a comment that you regretted afterward?