Amazing stuff! The Tower of Babel is a baby? I wish I could speak this many languages.
I did not have the time to check whether these articles below also discuss how different these local languages are. My suspicion is some of these local languages might be somewhat similar, maybe even like dialects.
According to Wikipedia: "Eleven languages have the status of government-sponsored languages: three Akan dialects (Akuapem Twi, Asante Twi and Fante) and two Mole–Dagbani languages (Dagaare and Dagbanli). The others are Ewe, Dangme, Ga, Nzema, Gonja, and Kasem."
"Africa is a multilingual continent and many adults speak several languages fluently. An empirical study ... now shows that the roots of this multilingualism can be found in infancy: In Ghana, most babies grow up multilingually, with most of them coming into contact with two to six languages and just as many regular speakers of each language. ...
The researchers also showed that the babies heard some languages primarily indirectly – i.e. via radio, television or background conversations – while other languages were used by their caregivers to directly communicate with them. ...
the number of caregivers the children have also ranges between two and six, and babies who have more adults in their daily lives who regularly take care of them also hear more different languages. ...
A key finding of the study is the distinction between direct and indirect language input. While English is primarily acquired through indirect channels such as television and official communication, children receive most of the local languages (such as Akan, Ga and Ewe) through direct contact with their caregivers. ...
The study makes it clear that it is not only the number of languages a child hears, but also the diversity of people and the different forms of input that have a decisive influence on language acquisition. “Our research shows that for many children, a multilingual environment is a dynamic, vibrant reality from the very beginning. Multilingualism is not just a bonus, but a fundamental part of children's identity and social structure,” the researcher says."
From the highlights and abstract:
"Highlights
• Infant language input was estimated in a highly multilingual environment.
• Tools were a Language Input Estimate interview protocol and a logbook over a day.
• Ghanaian infants are raised multilingually, with between two and six languages.
• Infants with more input providers also hear more different languages.
• Ghanaian infants get more indirect than direct input in Ghanaian English
Abstract
Examining the language input experiences of infants growing up in multilingual African environments is essential to understanding their language acquisition.
We explored the language input to 3;0–12;0-month-old infants (N = 121) in Ghana (Sub-Saharan Africa), a non-Western and less-economically rich social context and highly multilingual country. Data collection involved an interview assessment, followed by caregivers completing a 12-hour logbook to indicate the languages their child heard over a day.
Results demonstrated consistency of the infant's language exposure across both input measurement tools, suggesting their reliability. Results revealed that Ghanaian infants are raised multilingually, exposed to between two and six languages, and engage with between two and six regular input providers.
There was no evidence for associations of age with number of languages or regular input providers. Analyses of the relative amount of input in Ghanaian English, Akan, Ewe, and Ga, revealed that infants receive less direct than indirect input in Ghanaian English, with no such difference observed in Akan, Ewe, Ga, and no evidence of age effects. These findings shed light on the language environment and input to African infants raised in multilingual societies, highlighting the impact of social and cultural contexts on linguistic input. We conclude with reflections on studying infants in non-Western, less-economically Rich social contexts in multilingual Africa."
How many languages can babies learn? Study shows how Ghanaian babies grow up speaking two to six languages
Fig. 1. Percentage of infants and the number of input languages reported in the CIME and logbook.
