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Map showing the approximate distribution of Bantu vs. other Niger-Congo languages.
Map showing the approximate distribution of Bantu vs. other Niger-Congo languages. The Niger-Congo languages constitute one of the world's major language families, and Africa 's largest in terms of geographical area number of speakers and number
Bantu
Geographic
distribution:		 Subsaharan Africa, mostly Southern Hemisphere
Genetic
classification:		 Niger-Congo
 Atlantic-Congo
  Volta-Congo
   Benue-Congo
    Bantoid
     Southern Bantoid
      Bantu
Subdivisions:
—
ISO 639-2: bnt

The Bantu languages (technically Narrow Bantu languages) constitute a grouping belonging to the Niger-Congo family. Sub-Saharan Africa is a geographical term used to describe the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara, or those African countries Southern Hemisphere is the half of a Planet that is South of the Equator —the word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' List of language familiesA language family is a group of Languages related by descent from a common ancestor called the Proto-language of that family The Niger-Congo languages constitute one of the world's major language families, and Africa 's largest in terms of geographical area number of speakers and number In the classification of African languages, Atlantic-Congo constitutes the core of the Niger-Congo family, with the Noun class systems stereotypical In the classification of African languages Volta-Congo is a hypothetical major branch of the Niger-Congo family. The Benue-Congo group of languages constitutes the largest branch of the Niger-Congo language family both in terms of sheer number of languages of which 880 are known (per Ethnologue In the classification of African languages, Bantoid is a branch of the Benue-Congo subfamily of the Niger-Congo phylum In the classification of African languages, Southern Bantoid (or South Bantoid is one of the two branches of the Bantoid subfamily of the Niger-Congo ISO 639-2 is the second part of the ISO 639 standard, which lists codes for the representation of the names of languages The Niger-Congo languages constitute one of the world's major language families, and Africa 's largest in terms of geographical area number of speakers and number This grouping is deep down in the genealogical tree of the Bantoid grouping, which in turn is deep down in the Niger-Congo tree. By one estimate, there are 513 languages in the Bantu grouping, 681 languages in Bantoid, and 1,514 in Niger-Congo. [1] Bantu languages are spoken largely east and south of the present day nation of Nigeria; i. e. , in the regions commonly known as central Africa, east Africa, and southern Africa. Parts of this Bantu chunk of Africa also have languages from outside the Niger-Congo family (see map).

The word Bantu was first used by Wilhelm Heinrich Immanuel Bleek (1827-1875) with the meaning 'people', as this is reflected in many of the languages of this group. Wilhelm Heinrich Immanuel Bleek ( March 8, 1827 - August 17, 1875) was a German linguist. Year 1827 ( MDCCCXXVII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Year 1875 ( MDCCCLXXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common A common characteristic of Bantu languages is that they use a stem form such as -ntu or -tu for 'person', and the plural prefix for people in many languages is ba-, together giving ba-ntu "people". Bleek, and later Carl Meinhof, pursued extensive comparative studies of Bantu language grammars. Carl Friedrich Michael Meinhof ( July 23, 1857 &ndash February 11, 1944) was a German linguist and one of the first linguists

Contents

Classification of the Bantu languages[2]

The approximate locations of the sixteen Bantu zones (with zone J included)
The approximate locations of the sixteen Bantu zones (with zone J included)

The classification of the Bantu languages is still in an incipient state. There still is no well founded genetic classification. The most widely used system, the alphanumeric coding system developed by Malcolm Guthrie, is mainly areal. Malcolm Guthrie ( February 10, 1903 &ndash November 22, 1972) professor of Bantu languages is known primarily for his classification In recent decades, there have been at least two proposals for a genetic classification system to replace the Guthrie system. The "Tervuren" proposal of Bastin, Coupez, and Mann suffers from inferior methodology (its reliance on the "lexicostatistic" method) and the SIL proposal suffers from failure of its creators to publish their methodology. SIL International (the official name of what was originally the Summer Institute of Linguistics) is a worldwide U The Guthrie system needs to be updated, e. g. , by the addition of languages previously overlooked. A classification system for a grouping of languages must be genetic to be scientifically valid; but for the time being, the development of a rigorous genetic classification of many subdivisions of Niger-Congo is hampered by insufficient data. Progress in this field depends on the production of extensive dictionaries for many more member languages.

The Guthrie, Tervuren, and SIL lists are compared side by side in Maho 2002.

Language structure

The phoneme inventory of Proto-Bantu and its core vocabulary were reconstructed by Guthrie.

The most prominent grammatical characteristic of Bantu languages is the extensive use of affixes (see Sesotho grammar and Luganda language for detailed discussions of these affixes). Grammar is the field of Linguistics that covers the Rules governing the use of any given natural language. An affix is a Morpheme that is attached to a stem to form a word Note Luganda, sometimes known as Ganda, is a major language of Uganda, spoken by over three million people mainly in the Buganda region which includes Each noun belongs to a class, and each language may have several numbered classes, somewhat like genders in European languages. In Linguistics, the term noun class refers to a system of categorizing Nouns A noun may belong to a given class because of characteristic features of its Referent In Linguistics, grammatical genders, sometimes also called Noun classes are classes of nouns reflected in the behavior of associated words every noun must belong The class is indicated by a prefix on the noun, as well as on verbs and qualificative roots agreeing with it. Plural is indicated by a change of prefix.

The verb has a number of prefixes. In Swahili, for example, Mtoto mdogo amekisoma means 'The small child has read it [a book]'. Swahili (called Kiswahili in the language itself is the First language of the Swahili people (Waswahili who inhabit several large stretches Mtoto 'child' governs the adjective prefix m- and the verb subject prefix a-. Then comes perfect tense -me- and an object marker -ki- agreeing with implicit kitabu 'book'. Pluralizing to 'children' gives Watoto wadogo wamekisoma, and pluralizing to 'books' (vitabu) gives it Watoto wadogo wamevisoma. Plural is a Grammatical number, typically referring to more than one of the Referent in the real world

Bantu words are typically made up of open syllables of the type CV (consonant-vowel) with most languages having syllables exclusively of this type. A syllable ( Greek:) is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds The morphological shape of Bantu words is typically CV, VCV, CVCV, VCVCV, etc; that is, any combination of CV (with possibly a V- syllable at the start). In other words, a strong claim for this language family is that almost all words end in a vowel, precisely because closed syllables (CVC) are not permissible. This tendency to avoid consonant clusters is important when words are imported from English or other non-Bantu languages. In Linguistics, a consonant cluster (or consonant blend) is a group of Consonants which have no intervening Vowel. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States An example from Chichewa: the word "school", borrowed from English, and then transformed to fit the sound patterns of this language, is sukulu. Chichewa ( Chicheŵa in Malawian English, also known as C(hinyanja) is a Language of the Bantu language family widely spoken in south-central That is, sk- has been broken up by inserting an epenthetic -u-; -u has also been added at the end of the word. In Phonology, epenthesis (/əˈpɛnθəsɪs/ Ancient Greek ἐπένθεσις - epenthesis from epi "on" + en "in" Another example is buledi for "bread". Similar effects are seen in loanwords for other non-African CV languages like Japanese. A loanword (or loan word) is a word directly taken into one Language from another with little or no translation is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities

The Bantu language with the largest number of speakers is Swahili (G 40), while the Bantu languages with the most native speakers are Shona and Zulu. Swahili (called Kiswahili in the language itself is the First language of the Swahili people (Waswahili who inhabit several large stretches Shona (or chiShona is a Bantu language, native to the Shona people of Zimbabwe and southern Zambia; the term is also used to identify peoples Zulu (called isiZulu in Zulu is a Language of the Zulu people with about 10 million speakers the vast majority (over 95% of whom live in South Judging from the history of Swahili, some linguists believe that Bantu languages are on a continuum from purely tonal languages to languages with no tone at all. Tone is the use of pitch in Language to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning—that is to distinguish or inflect words

Reduplication

Reduplication is a common morphological phenomenon in Bantu languages and is usually used to indicate frequency of the action signalled by the (unreduplicated) verb stem [1]

Well-known names that have reduplication include

A list of common Bantu languages

The following is a short list of Bantu languages that may be relatively well known:

   Tetela  language Congo
   Tshiluba language|Luba]] (Tshiluba)

Most are known in English without the class prefix (Swahili, Tswana, Ndebele), but are sometimes used with the (language-specific) prefix (Kiswahili, Setswana, Sindebele). The South Africa national football team or Bafana Bafana' (The Boys is the national team of South Africa and is controlled by the South African Football The Zambia national football team represents the country of Zambia and is governed by the Football Association of Zambia. Eric Daniel Djemba-Djemba (born 4 May 1981 in Douala, Cameroon) is a football defensive midfielder who currently plays Lomana Trésor LuaLua (born December 28, 1980 in Kinshasa) is a professional footballer who plays for Qatar side Al-Arabi Chichewa ( Chicheŵa in Malawian English, also known as C(hinyanja) is a Language of the Bantu language family widely spoken in south-central Luganda, sometimes known as Ganda, is a major language of Uganda, spoken by over three million people mainly in the Buganda region which includes Gikuyu (sometimes written Kikuyu) pronounced "gĩkũyũ", is a language in the Central Bantu branch of the Niger-Congo family spoken primarily by the The Gusii language (also known as Kisii or Ekegusii) is a Bantu language spoken in the Kisii district in western Kenya,whose head-quarters Haya (OluHaya Swahili:Kihaya is a Niger-Congo language spoken by the Haya people of Tanzania, in the south and southwest coast of Lake Kichagga (kichaga is one of the Bantu languages spoken by the Chaga people of Tanzania South of Mount Kilimanjaro. Kinyarwanda (also known simply as Rwanda) is a Bantu language spoken primarily in Rwanda, where it is one of the Official languages of the Kikongo or Kongo is the Bantu language spoken by the Bakongo and Bandundu people living in the tropical forests of the Democratic Republic Kikamba is a Bantu language spoken by the Akamba people of Kenya. Luhya (also Luyia Luhia is a group of Bantu languages spoken in the western part of Kenya by the Luhya people residing between Lake Victoria This article is about the Lusoga language For the people see Basoga, and for the ‎Busoga kingdom and region see Busoga. Mongo (also Lomongo and Mongo-Nkundu) is the language spoken by the Mongo people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, mostly south of the Rukiga (also called Lukiga or Chiga is closely related to the Runyankole language spoken by the Banyankore, Banyakole or Ankole as the people are also Kirundi (also written Rundi) is a Bantu language (D62 in Guthrie 's classification spoken by some 6 million people in Burundi and adjacent Runyankole (also Runyankore) is a Bantu language spoken by the Banyankole of Southwestern Uganda. Nyoro language (autonym Runyoro) is a local language of Nyoro in Uganda. Rutooro is a Bantu Language spoken mainly by the Batooro people from the Toro (kingdom region of western Uganda. Swahili (called Kiswahili in the language itself is the First language of the Swahili people (Waswahili who inhabit several large stretches The Tumbuka language is a Bantu language which is spoken in parts of Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania. Yao (ChiYao Achawa Adsawa Adsoa Ajawa Ayawa Ayo Ayao Djao Haiao Hiao Hyao Jao Veiao WaJao - SIL code) is a Bantu language in Africa with approximately Masaba, ( Lumasaaba) sometimes Lugisu, after one of its dialects is a Bantu language spoken by about 750000 people in eastern Uganda in Oshiwambo or Oshivambo is a cluster of several very closely related languages in Angola and northern Namibia, notably Kwanyama (or Oshikwanyama Ndonga Northern Sotho ( Sesotho sa Leboa in the language itself is one of the official languages of South Africa, and is spoken by nearly five million—4208980 people Shona (or chiShona is a Bantu language, native to the Shona people of Zimbabwe and southern Zambia; the term is also used to identify peoples Swati ( siSwati in the language itself isiSwazi in Zulu is a Bantu language of the Nguni group spoken in Swaziland and Phuthi ( Síphùthì)is a Nguni Bantu language spoken in southern Lesotho and areas in South Africa adjacent to the same border History Should include probable history of the language what form of Bantu it is most closely derived from (the coolest forms! dates of movement of major groups Swati ( siSwati in the language itself isiSwazi in Zulu is a Bantu language of the Nguni group spoken in Swaziland and The Tsonga or Xitsonga language is spoken in southern Africa by the Tsonga people also known as the Shangaan. Tswana ( Setswana) is a Bantu language written in the Latin Alphabet. Venda, also known as Tshivenḓa, or Luvenḓa, is a Bantu language Xhosa (ˈkǁʰoːsa ( isiXhosa) is one of the Official languages of South Africa. Zulu (called isiZulu in Zulu is a Language of the Zulu people with about 10 million speakers the vast majority (over 95% of whom live in South Basaa (also spelled Bassa, Basa, Bissa) is a Bantu language spoken in Cameroon. Kako is a language spoken mainly in Cameroon, but also has speakers in the Central African Republic and Congo. Ngumba is a language of Cameroon, spoken in the south along the coast and at the border with Equatorial Guinea by some 70 000 members of the Ngumba Beti is the language spoken by the Beti-Pahuin group of people who inhabit the Rain forest regions of Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, The bare (prefixless) form typically does not occur in the language itself. So, in the country of Botswana the people are the Batswana, 'one person' is a 'Motswana', and the language is 'Setswana'. The Republic of Botswana (Lefatshe la Botswana is a Landlocked nation in Southern Africa. Tswana ( Setswana) is a Bantu language written in the Latin Alphabet.

Today most Bantu linguists would regard the southwards migration, or Bantu expansion, that started about 2000 years before present as originating in the region of eastern Nigeria or Cameroon. Bantu may refer to Bantu expansion, a series of migrations of Bantu speakers Bantu languages Bantu people Nigeria, officially named the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal Constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and one Federal The Republic of Cameroon is a unitary republic of central and western Africa.

Bantu words popularised in western cultures

Some words from various Bantu languages have been borrowed into western languages. These include:

Other relevant links

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ Ethnologue report for Bantoid
  2. ^ Maho 2001

External links

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