African French - Varieties

Varieties

There are many different varieties of African French, but they can be broadly grouped into three categories:

• the French spoken by Africans in Western, Central, and East Africa – about 75 million first and second language speakers of this French variety
• the French variety spoken by the Arabs and Berbers in Northwest Africa (see Maghreb French) – about 36 million first and second language speakers of this French variety
• the French spoken by Creoles in the Indian Ocean (Réunion, Mauritius, and Seychelles) – about 1.6 million first and second language speakers of this French variety, not to be confused with French-based creole languages which are also spoken in the area.

All the African French varieties differ from standard French both in terms of pronunciation and vocabulary, but the formal African French used in education, media, and legal documents is based on standard French vocabulary.