| Languages of Burkina Faso | |
|---|---|
 Ethnolinguistic map of Burkina Faso | |
| Official | Mooré,Bissa,Dyula,Fula |
| Semi-official | African French (working language) |
| Indigenous | Mande languages,Gur languages,Senufo languages,Wara–Natyoro languages,Hausa,Humburi Senni,Siamou,Tamasheq,Western Plains Dogon |
| Foreign | English,Punjabi,Spanish,German,Italian,Hindi,Hebrew,Arabic,Chinese,Portuguese,Japanese,Russian,Danish,Dutch |
| Signed | American Sign Language Burkina Sign Language |
Burkina Faso is amultilingual country. An estimated 70 languages are spoken there, of which about 66 areindigenous.[1]Mooré is spoken by about 52.5% of the population, mainly in the central region around the capital,Ouagadougou.
In the west,Mande languages are widely spoken, the most predominant beingDyula (also spelled Jula or Dioula), others includingBobo,Samo, andMarka.Peul (Fula:fulfulde), a dialect of Fulani, is spoken in the north, however it is widely spoken throughout the country as a lingua franca.Gourmantché is spoken in the east, while theBissa language is spoken in the south.[2]
In 2024, the Francophone population of Burkina Faso represents 22.8%, which is approximately 5,379,000 people. Among them, 1.3% (around 302,000 individuals) speak French as theirfirst language.[3] Additionally, 5,063,000 people, or 21.5% of the total population of 23,550,000, use French as asecond language.[4]
Education for the deaf in Burkina usesAmerican Sign Language, which was introduced by the deaf American missionaryAndrew Foster. TheBurkina Sign Language is used in Ouagadougou.[5]
Mooré is the most widely spoken official language in the country, with 48 percent of Burkinabe being speakers as of 2008 and is a lingua franca.[6]Bissa,Dyula, andPeul are also official languages. This has caused consternation with speakers of the other languages, who have protested it as an injustice.[7]
The country's name was taken from words in two of the official languages, with ‘Burkina’ meaning ‘man of integrity’ in Mooré and ‘Faso’ meaning ‘father’s house’ in Dyula.
Peul is thelingua franca in many parts of Burkina Faso.[8] It is widely spoken in the north and east of the country as a first language, with 8.36 percent of the population able to speak it.[2][9] Dyula is also a lingua franca and is widely used as a trading language, particularly in the west and inBobo-Dioulasso.[2] A 2014 survey reported that 5.7% of the population speaks Dyula as their dominant language at home,[10] but the number ofL2 speakers is likely much higher. Bissa is spoken by 2.85% of the population.
Most spoken languages belong to either theMande orGur families. In rural areas of Burkina Faso, one's native language is typically used for common activities.[2] In large towns, most people are multilingual.[11] Although not recognized as an official language,Gourmanché is spoken by 5.51% of the population. Other important minority languages includeBwamu, spoken by 1.91%,Dagara, spoken by 1.76%; andSamo, spoken by 1.66%.[9] Dagara is spoken in the southwestern part of Burkina Faso and borrows heavily from French and, to a lesser degree, English.[12]
Endangered languages include:
Theworking languages areFrench, which was introduced when France colonized Burkina Faso in 1919, andEnglish. In December 2023, the government of Burkina Faso adopted a bill revising the Constitution regarding language. Indigenous languages were set as official languages, while French was made a "working language" only.[24] French is a language of instruction in the nation's schools.[25] However, fewer than 15 percent of the population uses French on a day-to-day basis.[6] Despite this low percentage, there is a high amount of support in keeping French as a language of instruction because it provides children a pathway to social mobility and assures continued economic support for education.[26] In fact, according to a 1998 report, “Burkinabe saw no interest in sending their children to school to learn a language that they already spoke at home”.[27]