African Studies | Lingoblog

Is Basque related to the African language Dogon?

03/12/2025 by Peter Bakker

Today is International Day of the Basque Language, which we celebrate at Lingoblog with an article by Peter Bakker.

One person in Spain has claimed that Basque is related with the Dogon language spoken in Mali in Africa. Does that claim make sense? It sounds unlikely, but it is important not to reject the idea without checking the evidence.

Background information:
Languages are classified into language families. The languages of a family have been proven to be related, i.e. scholars are certain that these languages descend from the same ancestor language, which was perhaps spoken many millennia ago. Some families are as small as one language, for instance Basque. A language like Basque is therefore strictly speaking not a family, … ↪

Swahili: The Rise of an African World Language

07/07/2025 by Kofi Yakpo

Today Lingoblog celebrates United Nations Swahili Day with this post by Kofi Yakpo.

Encounters with Swahili

In 1995, I won a scholarship to study Swahili at the Institute of Swahili and Foreign Languages in Zanzibar, Tanzania. I had crammed for two months before the qualifying exam, trying to catch up with African Studies students who had been studying Swahili for two years. I couldn’t utter a single coherent sentence, but I knew all the nominal classes and verbal extensions by heart. It got me through.

I stayed with the family of Bi Faiza in Michenzani, Zanzibar, a household consisting of Bi Faiza and her three daughters. She welcomed me as her son, and so, my journey of learning began. … ↪