[6] It is important to know French to get an administrative position or work in the cities in general, and speaking it is a mark of prestige.

According to a study by Amadou Sanni and Mahouton Atodjinou in 2012, it is estimated that Benin will be completely Francophone by 2060.

[9] A unique variety of French called français d'Afrique has developed in the streets and markets of Cotonou.

[5] According to title II, article 11 of the Constitution, all communities comprising the Béninese nation shall enjoy the freedom to use their spoken and written languages and to develop their own culture while respecting those of others, and the State must promote the development of national languages of intercommunication.

[11] Other important languages are Yoruba, Bariba, Mina, Dendi, Mokole, Yom, and Aja.

[12] In the capital of Porto Novo, the two main ethnolinguistic groups are Yoruba and Gun-Gbe, with the smaller population of Wemi, Seto, Tori, Xwala, Defi, and Tofin speakers.

[19] A common alphabet for the national languages of Benin is based on the Latin alphabet, with the addition of the letters Ɓ ɓ, Ɖ ɖ, Ɗ ɗ, Ɛ ɛ, Ǝ ǝ, Ƒ ƒ, Ɣ ɣ, Ɩ ɩ, Ŋ ŋ, Ɔ ɔ, Ʊ ʊ, Ʋ ʋ, Ƴ ƴ, and Ʒ ʒ. Diacritical marks are used for marking tone and nasalization: Superscript (Ṽ) or subscript (V̰) tilde in other languages.