Atlantic-Congo · ISO 639-3 dag
Dagbani Language
Dagbani is an Atlantic-Congo language spoken by about 3.2 million people in 1 country. It is written in the Latin script.
Where Dagbani is spoken
- Official language
- Regional official
- Spoken by 10%+
- 1–10%
- Smaller communities
Countries that speak Dagbani
Language family
- Atlantic-Congo
- Volta-Congo
- North Volta-Congo
- Gur
- Central Gur
- Northern Central Gur
- Bwamu-Oti-Volta
- Oti-Volta
- Nuclear Oti-Volta
- Gurma-Yom-Oti-Volta Occidental
- Oti-Volta Occidental
- Nuclear Oti-Volta Occidental
- Southeast Western Oti-Volta
- Mampruli-Dagbani
- Dagbani
Writing system
Latin script
Related languages
About the Dagbani language
Dagbani is spoken by about 3.2 million people, which makes it the 240th most spoken language in the world — just behind Waray (Philippines) (3.2 million) and ahead of Kenyi (3.1 million). It belongs to the Atlantic-Congo language family and, more precisely, to the Mampruli-Dagbani group within the North Volta-Congo branch.
Where is Dagbani spoken?
Dagbani is used in 1 country. The largest communities live in Ghana (800,000).
Dagbani is not a national official language anywhere.
Writing system and status
Dagbani is written in the Latin script. It is a safe, widely transmitted language: children still learn it at home as their first language.
Its closest relatives in the same branch of the family are Mossi, Southern Dagaare, Dagaari Dioula, Northern Dagara, Farefare, Kabiyè and 2 more.
ISO codes: ISO 639-3 dag.
Frequently asked questions about Dagbani
How many people speak Dagbani?
Where is Dagbani spoken?
What language family does Dagbani belong to?
Is Dagbani an endangered language?
Data: Languages of the World dataset (MIT) — ISO 639-3, Glottolog (CC BY 4.0), Unicode CLDR, Google LinguaMeta (CC BY 4.0) and Wikidata; country lists: samayo/country-json (MIT). Speaker numbers include first- and second-language speakers where sources report them.