Niger–Congo languages - Knowledge (XXG)

1585:(2016) has indicated that the continuing reassessment of Niger–Congo's "internal structure is due largely to the preliminary nature of Greenberg's classification, explicitly based as it was on a methodology that doesn't produce proofs for genetic affiliations between languages but rather aims at identifying "likely candidates."...The ongoing descriptive and documentary work on individual languages and their varieties, greatly expanding our knowledge on formerly little-known linguistic regions, is helping to identify clusters and units that allow for the application of the historical-comparative method. Only the reconstruction of lower-level units, instead of "big picture" contributions based on mass comparison, can help to verify (or disprove) our present concept of Niger–Congo as a genetic grouping consisting of Benue–Congo plus Volta–Niger, Kwa, Adamawa plus Gur, Kru, the so-called Kordofanian languages, and probably the language groups traditionally classified as Atlantic." 2710:. "No comprehensive reconstruction has yet been done for the phylum as a whole, and it is sometimes suggested (e.g. by Dixon 1997) that Niger-Congo is merely a typological and not a genetic unity. This view is not held by any specialists in the phylum, and reasons for thinking Niger-Congo is a true genetic unity will be given in this chapter. It is, however, true that the subclassification of the phylum has been continuously modified in recent years and cannot be presented as an agreed scheme. The factors which have delayed reconstruction are the large number of languages, the inaccessibility of much of the data, and the paucity of able researchers committed to this field. Emphasis will be placed on three characteristics of Niger-Congo; noun-class systems, verbal extensions, and basic lexicon." See also: Bendor-Samuel, J. ed. 1989. 399:, which is not contiguous with the remainder of the Niger–Congo-language-speaking region and is at the northeasternmost extent of the current Niger–Congo linguistic region. The current prevailing linguistic view is that Kordofanian languages are part of the Niger–Congo language family and that these may be the first of the many languages still spoken in that region to have been spoken in the region. The evidence is insufficient to determine if this outlier group of Niger–Congo language speakers represents a prehistoric range of a Niger–Congo linguistic region that has since contracted as other languages have intruded, or if instead, this represents a group of Niger–Congo language speakers who migrated to the area at some point in prehistory where they were an isolated linguistic community from the beginning. 1908:. However, this is the rarer inventory as oftentimes there are one or more vowels that are not part of a harmonic pair. This has resulted in seven- and nine-vowel systems being the more popular systems. The majority of languages with controlled vowel harmony have either seven or nine vowel phonemes, with the most common non-participatory vowel being /a/. It has been asserted that this is because vowel quality differences in the mid-central region where /ə/, the counterpart of /a/, is found, are difficult to perceive. Another possible reason for the non-participatory status of /a/ is that there is articulatory difficulty in advancing the tongue root when the tongue body is low in order to produce a low vowel. Therefore, the vowel inventory for nine-vowel languages is generally: 1544:, which is in current use among linguists. Many classifications continue to place Kordofanian as the most distant branch, but mainly due to negative evidence (fewer lexical correspondences), rather than positive evidence that the other languages form a valid genealogical group. Likewise, Mande is often assumed to be the second-most distant branch based on its lack of the noun-class system prototypical of the Niger–Congo family. Other branches lacking any trace of the noun-class system are Dogon and Ijaw, whereas the Talodi branch of Kordofanian does have cognate noun classes, suggesting that Kordofanian is also not a unitary group. 2959:, 2 vols. (1976–1977). Blench (2004): "Almost simultaneously , Mukarovsky (1976–7) published his analysis of 'Western Nigritic'. Mukarovsky's basic theme was the relationship between the reconstructions of Bantu of Guthrie and other writers and the languages of West Africa. Mukarovsky excluded Kordofanian, Mande, Ijo, Dogon, Adamawa-Ubangian and most Bantoid languages for unknown reasons, thus reconstructing an idiosyncratic grouping. Nonetheless, he buttressed his argument with an extremely valuable compilation of data, establishing the case for Bantu/Niger-Congo genetic link beyond reasonable doubt." 168: 1407: 1419: 1609:, Crevels, and Muysken (2020) stated: "Greenberg's hypothesis of Niger–Congo phylum has sometimes been taken as an established fact rather than a hypothesis awaiting further proof, but there have also been attempts to look at his argumentation in more detail. Much of the discussion concerning Niger–Congo after Greenberg's seminal contribution in fact centered around the inclusion or exclusion of specific languages or language groups." 1395: 1896:

vowel that is in the whole word, then the rest of the vowels harmonize with that feature. However, if there is no vowel that is , the vowels appear in their underlying form. This form of vowel harmony control is best exhibited in West African languages. For example, in Nawuri, the diminutive suffix /-bi/ will cause the underlying vowels in a word to become phonetically .

4036: 375:(2004), all specialists in Niger–Congo languages believe the languages to have a common origin, rather than merely constituting a typological classification, for reasons including their shared noun-class system, shared verbal extensions and shared basic lexicon. Similar classifications to Niger–Congo have been made ever since 2059:

between oral and nasal consonants before oral and nasal vowels. Subsequent loss of the nasal/oral contrast in vowels may result in nasal consonants becoming part of the phoneme inventory. In all cases reported to date, the bilabial /m/ is the first nasal consonant to be phonologized. Niger–Congo thus

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Babaev (2013) stated: "The truth here is that almost no attempts in fact have been made to verify Greenberg's Niger–Congo hypothesis. This might seem strange but the path laid by Joseph Greenberg to Proto–Niger–Congo was not followed by much research. Most scholars have focused on individual families

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took Westermann's work as a starting-point for his own classification. In a series of articles published between 1949 and 1954, he argued that Westermann's 'West Sudanic' and Bantu formed a single genetic family, which he named Niger–Congo; that Bantu constituted a subgroup of the Benue–Congo branch;

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Unlike in the root-controlled harmony system, where the two values behave symmetrically, a large number of Niger–Congo languages exhibit a pattern where the value is more active or dominant than the value. This results in the second vowel harmony controller being the value. If there is even one

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in other languages, but there are often a fairly large number of classes (often 10 or more), and the classes may be male human/female human/animate/inanimate, or even completely gender-unrelated categories such as places, plants, abstracts, and groups of objects. For example, in Bantu, the Swahili

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In this period a relation between Bantu and languages with Bantu-like (but less complete) noun class systems began to emerge. Some authors saw the latter as languages which had not yet completely evolved to full Bantu status, whereas others regarded them as languages which had partly lost original

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continued that tradition, making it the starting point for modern linguistic classification in Africa, with some of his most notable publications going to press starting in the 1960s. However, there has been active debate for many decades over the appropriate subclassifications of the languages in

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There are two types of vowels which affect the harmony process. These are known as neutral or opaque vowels. Neutral vowels do not harmonize to the value of the word, and instead maintain their own value. The vowels that follow them, however, will receive the value of the root. Opaque vowels

1616:. The term, as presently used, however, is not without its difficulties. On the one hand, it is employed as a referential label for a group of over 1,500 languages, putting it among the largest commonly cited language groups in the world. On the other hand, the term is also intended to embody a 1558:

between a form in Bantu and in Atlantic languages, or between Bantu and Mande, we have all grounds to trace this form back to Niger–Congo. If we establish such a relationship between Mel and Kru or between Mande and Dogon, we don't have enough reason to claim it Niger–Congo. In other words, all

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The term , as presently used, however, is not without its difficulties. On the one hand, it is employed as a referential label for a group of over 1,500 languages, putting it among the largest commonly cited language groups in the world. On the other hand, the term is also intended to embody a

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The fact that ten vowels have been reconstructed for proto-Ijoid has led to the hypothesis that the original vowel inventory of Niger–Congo was a full ten-vowel system. On the other hand, Stewart, in recent comparative work, reconstructs a seven-vowel system for his proto-Potou-Akanic-Bantu.

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The vowel inventory listed above is a ten-vowel language. This is a language in which all of the vowels of the language participate in the harmony system, producing five harmonic pairs. Vowel inventories of this type are still found in some branches of Niger–Congo, for example in the

1650:, which has consequently had a disproportionate influence on conceptions of what Proto–Niger–Congo may have been like. The only stage higher than Proto-Bantu that has been reconstructed is a pilot project by Stewart, who since the 1970s has reconstructed the common ancestor of the 1508:. In a 1911 work he established a basic division between 'East' and 'West'. A historical reconstruction of West Sudanic was published in 1927, and in his 1935 'Charakter und Einteilung der Sudansprachen' he conclusively established the relationship between Bantu and West Sudanic. 2095:

is thought to have been a tone language with two contrastive levels. Synchronic and comparative-historical studies of tone systems show that such a basic system can easily develop more tonal contrasts under the influence of depressor consonants or through the introduction of a

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all coming after the noun. The major exceptions are found in the western areas where verb-final word order predominates and genitives precede nouns, though other modifiers still come afterwards. Degree words almost always follow adjectives, and except in verb-final languages

1550:(2012) stated: "The hypothesis of kinship between Niger–Congo languages didn't appear as a result of discovery of numerous related forms, for example, in Mande and Adamawa. It appeared as a result of comparison between the Bantu languages, for which the classical 1791:) feature. In this type of vowel harmony, the position of the root of the tongue in regards to backness is the phonetic basis for the distinction between two harmonizing sets of vowels. In its fullest form, this type involves two classes, each of five vowels. 2054:

have originated under the influence of nasal vowels; this hypothesis is supported by the fact that there are several Niger–Congo languages that have been analysed as lacking nasal consonants altogether. Languages like this have nasal vowels accompanied with

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There are two types of vowel harmony controllers in Niger–Congo. The first controller is the root. When a root contains a or vowel, then that value is applied to the rest of the word, which involves crossing morpheme boundaries. For example, suffixes in

2087:. A typical Niger–Congo tone system involves two or three contrastive level tones. Four-level systems are less widespread, and five-level systems are rare. Only a few Niger–Congo languages are non-tonal; Swahili is perhaps the best known, but within the 1579:

or groups, and classifications as well as reconstructions were made on lower levels. Compared with the volume of literature on Atlantic or Mande languages, the list of papers considering the aspects of Niger–Congo reconstruction per se is quite scarce."

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The verb-final languages of the Mende region have two quite unusual word order characteristics. Although verbs follow their direct objects, oblique adpositional phrases (like "in the house", "with timber") typically come after the verb, creating a

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The following is an overview of the language groups usually included in Niger–Congo. The genetic relationship of some branches is not universally accepted, and the cladistic connection between those who are accepted as related may also be unclear.

2443:. However, the structure SC-OC-VbStem (Subject concord, Object concord, Verb stem) found in the "verbal complex" of the SVO Bantu languages suggests an earlier SOV pattern (where the subject and object were at least represented by pronouns). 3870: 1453:

attempted a careful classification, the groupings of which in quite a number of cases correspond to modern groupings. An early sketch of the extent of Niger–Congo as one language family can be found in Koelle's observation, echoed in

1575:, apart from the recent inclusion of some of the Kordofanian groups, but not Niger–Congo as a whole. They list the following as separate families: Atlantic–Congo, Mande, Dogon, Ijoid, Lafofa, Katla-Tima, Heiban, Talodi, and Rashad. 1891:

Furthermore, the directionality of assimilation in root-controlled vowel harmony need not be specified. The root features and spread left and/or right as needed, so that no vowel would lack a specification and be ill-formed.

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Whereas Claudi (1993) argues for SVO on the basis of existing SVO > SOV grammaticalization paths, Gensler (1997) points out that the notion of 'basic word order' is problematic as it excludes structures with, for example,

323:. The connection of the Mande languages especially has never been demonstrated, and without them, the validity of Niger–Congo family as a whole (as opposed to Atlantic–Congo or a similar subfamily) has not been established. 2347:

In the Bantu languages, where noun classification is particularly elaborate, it typically appears as prefixes, with verbs and adjectives marked according to the class of the noun they refer to. For example, in Swahili,

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Several branches of Niger–Congo have a regular phonological contrast between two classes of consonants. Pending more clarity as to the precise nature of this contrast, it is commonly characterized as a contrast between

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that Adamawa-Eastern, previously not considered to be related, was another member of this family; and that Fula belonged to the West Atlantic languages. Just before these articles were collected in final book form (

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system), and possibly several smaller groups of languages that are difficult to classify. If valid, Niger–Congo would be the world's largest in terms of member languages, the third-largest in terms of speakers, and

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maintain their own value as well, but they affect the harmony process behind them. All of the vowels following an opaque vowel will harmonize with the value of the opaque vowel instead of the vowel of the root.

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change. Verbs are composed of a root followed by one or more extensional suffixes. Nouns consist of a root originally preceded by a noun class prefix of (C)V- shape which is often eroded by phonological change.

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of languages of uncertain genetic unity, spoken along the Ivory Coast, across southern Ghana and in central Togo, with a total of some 40 million speakers (2010s). The largest language in this group is

1757:(though it has not been reconstructed) is thought to have been CVCV, a structure still attested in, for example, Bantu, Mande and Ijoid – in many other branches this structure has been reduced through 1418: 1346:

region. These are minor languages, spoken by a total of about 100,000 people according to 1980s estimates. Katla and Rashad languages show isoglosses with Benue–Congo that the other families lack.

2316:, traces of which can be found in every branch of the family but Mande, Ijoid, Dogon, and the Katla and Rashad branches of Kordofanian. These noun-classification systems are somewhat analogous to 391:

An important unresolved issue in determining the time and place where the Niger–Congo languages originated and their range prior to recorded history is this language family's relationship to the

441:, as part of the Niger–Congo language family is disputed. Ubangian was grouped with Niger–Congo by Greenberg (1963), and later authorities concurred, but it was questioned by Dimmendaal (2008). 3889: 426:. These estimates of the place of origin of the Benue–Congo language family do not fix a date for the start of that expansion, other than that it must have been sufficiently prior to the 1481:

features still found in Bantu. The Bantuist Meinhof made a major distinction between Bantu and a 'Semi-Bantu' group which according to him was originally of the unrelated Sudanic stock.

1443:, one of the principal criteria used to distinguish different groupings was the languages' use of prefixes to classify nouns, or the lack thereof. A major advance came with the work of 1554:

was possible to be applied and which were reliably reconstructed, with other African languages. Niger–Congo does not exist without Bantu. We need to say clearly that if we establish a

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invalidates two common assumptions about nasals: that all languages have at least one primary nasal consonant, and that if a language has only one primary nasal consonant it is /n/.

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The roots are then divided into and categories. This feature is lexically assigned to the roots because there is no determiner within a normal root that causes the value.

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alone account for 350 million people (2015), or half the total Niger–Congo speaking population. The most widely spoken Niger–Congo languages by number of native speakers are

6224: 1458:(1856), that the Atlantic languages used prefixes just like many Southern African languages. Subsequent work of Bleek, and some decades later the comparative work of 641:

have been demonstrated to be Atlantic–Congo languages. It otherwise accepts the family but not its inclusion within a broader Niger–Congo. Glottolog also considers

6089: 820:: about 70 languages spoken in the Sahel and Savanna regions of West Africa, accounting for some 20 million speakers (2010). The largest language of this group is 1540:(1989). Kordofanian was presented as one of several primary branches rather than being coordinate to the family as a whole, prompting re-introduction of the term 3590:

le Saout (1973) for an early overview, Stewart (1976) for a diachronic, Volta–Congo wide analysis, Capo (1981) for a synchronic analysis of nasality in Gbe (see

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The proposed family would be the third-largest in the world by number of native speakers, with around 700 million people as of 2015. Within Niger–Congo, the

4191: 4053: 1684:' (now classified as Niger–Congo) were united. Gregersen (1972) proposed that Niger–Congo and Nilo-Saharan be united into a larger phylum, which he termed 3747: 1406: 1477:

considered Bantu to be of African origin, and many 'Mixed Negro languages' as products of an encounter between Bantu and intruding Asiatic languages.

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The Bill Question: Contributions to the Study of Linguistics and Languages in Honor of Bill J. Darden on the Occasion of His Sixty-sixth Birthday

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The core phylum of the Niger–Congo group are the Atlantic–Congo languages. The non-Atlantic–Congo languages within Niger–Congo are grouped as

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methods. The East/West Volta–Congo division, West/East Benue–Congo division, and North/South Bantoid division are not supported, whereas a

3072: 2988: 3594:), and Bole-Richard (1984, 1985) as cited in Williamson (1989) for similar reports on several Mande, Gur, Kru, Kwa, and Ubangi languages. 1612:

Good (2020) stated: "First proposed by Greenberg (1949), Niger–Congo (NC) has for decades been treated as one of the four major phyla of

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of Proto–Niger–Congo in 2018. The most extensive reconstructions of lower-order Niger–Congo branches include several reconstructions of

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Bennet and Sterk (1977) presented an internal reclassification based on lexicostatistics that laid the foundation for the regrouping in

7325: 4686: 2683: 2775:(the published results from a major project of the Institute of African and Asian Studies: the Language Survey of the Nuba Mountains.) 1555: 615:

Although the Kordofanian branch is generally included in the Niger–Congo languages, some researchers do not agree with its inclusion.

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assimilate to the value of the root to which they attach. The following examples of these suffixes alternate depending on the root.

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Stewart, John M. (2002). "The potential of Proto-Potou-Akanic-Bantu as a pilot Proto-Niger-Congo, and the reconstructions updated".

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Stewart, John M. (2002). "The potential of Proto-Potou-Akanic-Bantu as a pilot Proto-Niger-Congo, and the reconstructions updated".

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as well as time at which it started to expand is known with great specificity. Blench (2004), relying particularly on prior work by

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and Bantu languages, without so far considering the hundreds of other languages which presumably descend from that same ancestor.

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group consisting of Ekoid, Bendi, Dakoid, Jukunoid, Tivoid, Mambiloid, Beboid, Mamfe, Tikar, Grassfields, and Bantu is supported.

5086: 5005: 4941: 4184: 4040: 7294: 5618: 5369: 4860: 1629: 1533:. Greenberg's work on African languages, though initially greeted with scepticism, became the prevailing view among scholars. 385: 68: 3704:

Blench, Roger (January 1995). "Is Niger-Congo simply a branch of Nilo-Saharan?". In Nicolaï, Robert; Rottland, Franz (eds.).

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As noted by Williamson (1989:24). The assumptions are from Ferguson's (1963) 'Assumptions about nasals' in Greenberg (ed.)

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Niger–Congo as it is known today was only gradually recognized as a linguistic unit. In early classifications of the

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Actes du Cinquième Colloque de Linguistique Nilo-Saharienne: 24 - 29 août 1992, Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis

3363: 2056: 1589: 1087: 1051: 578: 303:) is widely accepted, the internal cladistic structure is not well established. Other primary branches may include 6667: 6494: 6485: 5859: 5835: 5810: 5783: 5766: 4674: 1033: 896: 562: 558: 527: 7268: 6295: 6052: 4776: 4731: 4701: 4200: 1701: 1681: 1677: 1473:, in his ambitious classification (1876–88), separated the 'Negro' and Bantu languages. Likewise, the Africanist 6688: 6276: 5531: 5363: 4418: 4234: 3031: 1651: 1024: 6955: 6099: 5906: 5543: 4425: 2100:. Languages which have more tonal levels tend to use tone more for lexical and less for grammatical contrasts. 1444: 803: 438: 167: 6345: 6269: 257: 3900:

Olson, Kenneth S. (2006). "On Niger-Congo Classification". In Darden, Bill J.; Aronson, Howard Isaac (eds.).

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hypothesis of genealogical relationship between the referential NC languages that has not been proven (p.139)

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Note that in the nine-vowel language, the missing vowel is, in fact, , 's counterpart, as would be expected.

7304: 6935: 6913: 6755: 6544: 6388: 5104: 5029: 4432: 4382: 4109: 1517: 1285:, estimated at 1.6 million as of 2013. May have a noun-class system related to the Atlantic–Congo languages. 1133: 530:. It comprises more than 80% of the Niger–Congo speaking population, or close to 600 million people (2015). 7068: 6118: 5966: 5761: 5756: 5537: 5490: 5120: 5037: 4696: 4680: 4488: 4389: 4252: 4228: 4149: 1669: 1663: 384:

this language family, which is a key tool used in localising a language's place of origin. No definitive "

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The language family most likely originated in or near the area where these languages were spoken prior to

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Williamson, Kay (2000). "Towards reconstructing Proto-Niger-Congo". In Wolff, H. E.; Gensler, O. (eds.).

2067:, a language with a ten-vowel system employing ATR vowel harmony, has seven nasalized vowels. Similarly, 1635: 941:": a large group of languages centred on Nigeria, accounting for about 100 million speakers (late 2010s) 7245: 7124: 6926: 6807: 6645: 6535: 6164: 6062: 5751: 5554: 5344: 5333: 5295: 4902: 4876: 4781: 4771: 4370: 4221: 3179: 2458: 1639: 1547: 1489: 1424:

Table of demographic estimates in the same color code as the maps (est. 400 million speakers as of 2007)

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systems of its languages. Atlantic–Congo largely corresponds to Mukarovsky's "Western Nigritic" phylum.

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word order. Also noteworthy in these languages is the prevalence of internally headed and correlative

7299: 6139: 6024: 5896: 5704: 5677: 5660: 5628: 5526: 5240: 5165: 5092: 4871: 4848: 4820: 4751: 4662: 4443: 2648: 2377: 2184: 1788: 1474: 566: 517: 365: 1704:. However, fifteen years later his views had changed, with Blench (2011) proposing instead that the 6800: 6592: 5916: 5820: 5720: 5709: 5671: 5650: 5548: 5507: 5282: 5264: 5258: 5233: 5226: 5219: 5132: 5115: 4854: 4520: 4507: 4401: 4351: 4208: 3878:. Documents on Social Sciences and Humanities. Tervuren, Belgium: Royal Museum for Central Africa. 1588:

The coherence of Niger–Congo as a language phylum is supported by Grollemund, et al. (2016), using

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to allow for the diversification of the languages within this language family that includes Bantu.

376: 360:(i.e. West Africa or Central Africa). Its expansion may have been associated with the expansion of 339: 289: 208: 761: 585:, which account for 350 million people (2015), or half the total Niger–Congo speaking population. 300: 6740: 6510: 6421: 6251: 5830: 5825: 5815: 5798: 5793: 5788: 5772: 5741: 5736: 5689: 5683: 5634: 5579: 5502: 5386: 5350: 5311: 5253: 5060: 5055: 4766: 4525: 4494: 4460: 4448: 4407: 4282: 3823:

Dimmendaal, Gerrit (2008). "Language Ecology and Linguistic Diversity on the African Continent".

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The putative Niger–Congo languages outside of the Atlantic–Congo family are centred in the upper

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The strict genetic unity of any of these subgroups may themselves be under dispute. For example,

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Can Sino-Tibetan and Austroasiatic help us understand the evolution of Niger-Congo noun classes?

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In many cases, wider classifications employed a blend of typological and racial criteria. Thus,

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The Niger-Congo Languages: A Classification and Description of Africa's Largest Language Family

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One of the most distinctive characteristics common to Atlantic–Congo languages is the use of a

7133: 7040: 6709: 6524: 6378: 6352: 6332: 6260: 5932: 5921: 5901: 5841: 5746: 5726: 5665: 5645: 5356: 5317: 5288: 5276: 5213: 5159: 5137: 5110: 5050: 5023: 4842: 4803: 4793: 4761: 4634: 4560: 4542: 4536: 4438: 4356: 4270: 4239: 4087: 4070: 4017: 4007: 3988: 3932: 3924: 3905: 3879: 3711: 3673: 3648: 3524: 3498: 3418: 3306: 3248: 3202: 3159: 3151: 3130: 3122: 3088: 3004: 2888: 2867: 2590: 2563: 2516: 2508: 2263: 2226: 2168: 2092: 1754: 1729: 1689: 1673: 1613: 1606: 1593: 1505: 1196: 1162: 821: 782: 653:

to be independent language phyla that have not been demonstrated to be related to each other.

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of genealogical relationship between the referential NC languages that has not been proven."

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Tivoid-Beboid: a large range of languages of southwestern Cameroon and southeastern Nigeria:

7201: 7147: 7140: 7098: 7047: 6863: 6723: 6716: 6652: 6624: 6585: 6517: 6457: 6451: 6395: 6326: 6313: 6149: 6009: 5999: 5994: 5989: 5948: 5942: 5937: 5911: 5804: 5699: 5623: 5561: 5513: 5448: 5441: 5434: 5427: 5420: 5409: 5393: 5328: 5323: 5306: 5247: 5141: 5073: 4984: 4951: 4929: 4919: 4815: 4787: 4736: 4657: 4641: 4627: 4609: 4602: 4588: 4548: 4530: 4514: 4500: 4322: 4305: 3971: 3844: 3832: 3803: 3782: 3573: 3545: 3474: 3447: 3393: 3192: 3080: 2996: 2680: 2656: 2373: 2285: 2234: 2192: 2154: 2142: 2130: 2126: 1772: 1511: 1365: 1360: 1355: 1350: 1316: 1310: 1263: 1192: 1137: 1109: 1057: 857: 832: 634: 630: 626: 501: 380: 320: 285: 265: 245: 98: 3084: 3000: 2050:

in Niger–Congo. In his reconstruction of proto-Volta–Congo, Steward (1976) postulates that

734: 403: 17: 7184: 7177: 7171: 7092: 6945: 6941: 6897: 6883: 6770: 6695: 6638: 6631: 6617: 6558: 6470: 6437: 6430: 6144: 6019: 6004: 5973: 5694: 5655: 5520: 5466: 5338: 5200: 4966: 4961: 4826: 4741: 4622: 4615: 4595: 4577: 4482: 4465: 4264: 4153: 4137: 4126: 4119: 4113: 4083: 4066: 3618:"Niger-Congo languages – Widespread characteristics of Niger-Congo languages | Britannica" 2853:

Williamson, Kay; Blench, Roger (2000). "Niger-Congo". In Bernd Heine; Derek Nurse (eds.).

2687: 2483: 2428: 2424: 2420: 2248: 2188: 2180: 2176: 2164: 2138: 2068: 1705: 1560: 1463: 1370: 1322: 1306: 1300: 1288: 1274: 1251: 1243: 1239: 1172: 1152: 1143: 1113: 1095: 1091: 1082: 948: 853: 791: 787: 765: 676:

Atlantic group accounts for about 35 million speakers as of 2016, mostly accounted for by

650: 646: 642: 609: 582: 570: 497: 493: 489: 481: 477: 449: 445: 427: 407: 357: 351: 316: 308: 304: 233: 229: 195: 187: 173: 117: 92: 86: 80: 55: 3955:

Towards Volta-Congo reconstruction: a comparative study of some languages of Black-Africa

1525:

as a branch co-ordinate with Niger–Congo as a whole; consequently, he renamed the family

904:

of West African languages, accounting for roughly 110–120 million speakers (late 2010s).

2652: 7260: 7253: 7215: 7207: 7033: 6989: 6921: 6838: 6782: 6734: 6681: 6675: 6598: 6463: 6411: 6406: 6401: 6338: 6319: 6154: 6014: 5983: 5954: 5585: 5471: 5454: 5404: 5399: 5270: 5207: 4977: 4971: 4891: 4886: 4832: 4809: 4554: 4376: 4333: 4316: 4310: 4288: 4276: 3111:. Towards Proto-Niger-Congo: comparison and reconstruction (2nd International Congress) 2440: 2330: 2271: 2230: 2196: 2172: 2146: 2134: 2122: 2072: 2064: 1839: 1709: 1643: 1385: 1339: 1292: 1255: 1206: 1202: 1166: 1129: 1125: 1069: 1016: 964: 721: 692: 681: 485: 411: 312: 269: 261: 2293:

Abbreviations used: T top, H high, M mid, L low, B bottom, PA/S pitch-accent or stress

7319: 7276: 7222: 7087: 6999: 6994: 6985: 6980: 6976: 6971: 6930: 6876: 6870: 6856: 6849: 6794: 6788: 6777: 6764: 6702: 6444: 6383: 6372: 6363: 6308: 6302: 6283: 6038: 5978: 5960: 5476: 5460: 5414: 5171: 4991: 4956: 4946: 4924: 4881: 4746: 4327: 4259: 4002:

Williamson, Kay; Blench, Roger. "Niger-Congo". In Heine, Bernd; Nurse, Derek (eds.).

3836: 3591: 3451: 3053: 2801:, edited by E. J. Alagoa, F. N. Anozie and N. Nzewunwa. Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlag. 2462: 2267: 2222: 2218: 2208: 2200: 2150: 1784: 1750: 1733: 1455: 1381: 1377: 1227: 1210: 973: 907: 881: 871: 837: 816: 769: 748: 726: 716: 710: 700: 677: 638: 601: 574: 554: 550: 546: 414:

and P. De Wolf, argued that Benue–Congo probably originated at the confluence of the

406:, the largest subfamily of the group. Within Benue–Congo, the place of origin of the 277: 273: 241: 237: 111: 4047: 2661: 2636: 1692:, morphological resemblances, and lexical similarities. A more recent proponent was 7003: 6967: 6963: 6843: 6813: 6729: 6289: 4935: 3239: 2338: 2238: 2204: 1693: 1504:, a pupil of Meinhof, set out to establish the internal classification of the then 1459: 1278: 1262:

families). They account for a total population of about 100 million (2015), mostly

1147: 1063: 1003: 958: 927: 673: 589: 372: 253: 249: 4159: 4093: 3465:

Doneux, Jean L. (1975). "Hypothèses pour la comparative des langues atlantiques".

2797:

Williamson, K. 1988. "Linguistic evidence for the prehistory of the Niger Delta".

2586:

Sociolinguistics: An International Handbook of the Science of Language and Society

824:, with over 12 million speakers. Gur and Adamawa-Ubangi have also been grouped as 4130: 6829: 2446: 2047: 1713: 1668:

Over the years, several linguists have suggested a link between Niger–Congo and

1647: 1522: 1296: 1267: 1247: 1231: 841: 757: 419: 415: 3773:

Casali, Roderic F. (1995). "On the Reduction of Vowel Systems in Volta-Congo".

3536:

Casali, Roderic F. (1995). "On the Reduction of Vowel Systems in Volta-Congo".

3107:

Rebecca Grollemund, Simon Branford, Jean-Marie Hombert & Mark Pagel. 2016.

3039:

Towards Proto-Niger-Congo: Comparison and Reconstruction International Congress

1638:(or Proto-Atlantic–Congo) has not been comprehensively reconstructed, although 4582: 3786: 3549: 3398: 3381: 2836:

Blench, R. M. 1989. "A proposed new classification of Benue–Congo languages".

2471: 2432: 2313: 2051: 1721: 1617: 1007: 753: 657: 327: 221: 203: 3936: 3928: 3760:

Capo, Hounkpati B.C. (1981). "Nasality in Gbe: A Synchronic Interpretation".

3643:

Haspelmath, Martin; Dryer, Matthew S.; Gil, David and Comrie, Bernard (eds.)

2870:(2008) "Language Ecology and Linguistic Diversity on the African Continent", 2372:

The same Atlantic–Congo languages which have noun classes also have a set of

172:

Map showing the distribution of major Niger–Congo languages. Pink-red is the

4169: 4021: 3314:(PhD dissertation). Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. p. ii. 3183: 2622: 2454: 2397: 1758: 1717: 1688:. His evidence was mainly based on the uncertainty in the classification of 1567: 617: 388:" lexicon or grammar has been developed for the language family as a whole. 154: 140: 136: 3478: 3197: 2885:

Disorders of Hemoglobin: Genetics, Pathophysiology, and Clinical Management

1342:. "Kordofanian" is a geographic grouping, not a genetic one, named for the 4035: 3985:

African Voices: An Introduction to the Languages and Linguistics of Africa

3975: 3807: 3794:

Der-Houssikian, Haig (1972). "The Evidence for a Niger-Congo Hypothesis".

3577: 3495:

Proceedings of the 2nd World Congress of African Linguistics, Leipzig 1997

146: 4059: 3223:

Historical linguistics and genealogical language classification in Africa

2938: 2466: 2097: 2071:

has seven oral vowels and only five nasal ones. However, the language of

1343: 1235: 944: 790:, spoken by an estimated total of 1.6 million as of 1996; the largest is 215:

has almost as many member languages, although this is complicated by the

4164: 4076: 2415:

word order is quite widespread among today's Niger–Congo languages, but

6202: 3815: 2677:

The African Frontier: The Reproduction of Traditional African Societies

2275: 1012: 923: 696: 461: 457: 452:, leading to the assimilation and extinction of many of the indigenous 423: 347: 216: 3417:. Current Studies in Linguistics. Vol. 25. Cambridge: MIT Press. 3185:

The numeral system of Proto-Niger-Congo: A step-by-step reconstruction

2063:

Niger–Congo languages commonly show fewer nasalized than oral vowels.

7238: 6159: 6057: 3325:

Clements, G. N. (1981). "Akan vowel harmony: A non-linear analysis".

990: 969: 48: 2738:

Historical inferences from linguistic research in sub-Saharan Africa

330:

system, which is essentially a gender system with multiple genders.

3705: 3191:. Niger-Congo Comparative Studies. Berlin: Language Science Press. 2637:"The demographic response to Holocene climate change in the Sahara" 6824: 3058:

Journal of the Association for the Study of Language in Prehistory

1488: 954: 919: 911: 885: 849: 704: 684:

speakers. Atlantic is not considered to constitute a valid group.

453: 396: 361: 4106: 1736:

of Niger–Congo, and the lexical similarities being due to loans.

3284:(2–3). Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics. Archived from 2431:. As a result, there has been quite some debate as to the basic 1753:

of the type CV (Consonant Vowel). The typical word structure of

1282: 936: 915: 845: 6206: 6178:

Families with question marks (?) are disputed or controversial.

4173: 4146: 3438:

Casali, Roderic F. (2008). "ATR Harmony in African Languages".

2708:"The Benue-Congo languages: a proposed internal classification" 1720:

number system, triggered the development or elaboration of the

1672:, probably starting with Westermann's comparative work on the " 3121:

Dimmendaal, Gerrit J.; Crevels, Mily; Muysken, Pieter (2020).

2538: 2536: 1708:

system of Central Sudanic, commonly reflected in a tripartite

889: 565:(or "East Benue–Congo"). Volta–Niger includes the two largest 2046:

Several scholars have documented a contrast between oral and

448:, beginning around 1000 BC, swept across much of Central and 433:

The classification of the relatively divergent family of the

2083:

The large majority of present-day Niger–Congo languages are

1497:

laid much of the basis for the understanding of Niger–Congo.

284:. The most widely spoken by the total number of speakers is 4142: 2814:. J. Bendor-Samuel ed. Lanham: University Press of America. 1319:, spoken in Dogon country but seemingly unrelated to Dogon. 930:(7 million speakers in 2017) is the largest and best known. 806:. May be an independent family or grouped with Adamawa as " 786:: close to 100 languages and dialects scattered across the 364:

agriculture in the African Neolithic period, following the

288:, which is used as a lingua franca in parts of eastern and 2075:

has a nasal equivalent for each of its seven oral vowels.

1254:), and far to the east in south-central Sudan, around the 900:(also known as "West Benue–Congo" or "East Kwa"): a large 3945: 3919:

le Saout, J. (1973). "Languages sans consonnes nasales".

2784:

Williamson, K. 1971. "The Benue–Congo languages and Ijo"

2613:, Twenty-first edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. 888:, with about 22 million speakers as of 2014, followed by 402:

There is more agreement regarding the place of origin of

3071:

Storch, Anne; Dimmendaal, Gerrit J. (11 February 2016).

2105:

Contrastive levels of tone in some Niger–Congo languages

4077:

Swadesh lists of African proto-language reconstructions

3473:. Tervuren: Musée Royal de l'Afrique Centrale: 41–129. 3054:"Joseph Greenberg and the Current State of Niger-Congo" 1951:

And seven-vowel languages have one of two inventories:

1603:(ASJP) also groups many Niger–Congo branches together. 549:. Outside of the Savannas group, Volta–Congo comprises 3668:

Bendor-Samuel, John; Hartell, Rhonda L., eds. (1989).

2740:. Boston University Papers in African History, 1:1–15. 1700:

phylum, with special affinity between Niger–Congo and

219:; the number of named Niger–Congo languages listed by 3647:; pp 346–385. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. 3123:"Patterns of dispersal and diversification in Africa" 2449:

in most Niger–Congo languages are characteristically

1571:(2013) accepts the core with noun-class systems, the 1180:, for a total of between 250 and 550 named languages. 794:, accounting for about a quarter of Adamawa speakers. 3362:(1). Summer Institute of Linguistics. Archived from 3233: 3231: 2609:

Simons, Gary F. and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). 2018.

2312:

Niger–Congo languages are known for their system of

217:

ambiguity about what constitutes a distinct language

7287: 7231: 7194: 7164: 7123: 7078: 7023: 7016: 6954: 6912: 6905: 6896: 6822: 6754: 6666: 6607: 6575: 6534: 6502: 6493: 6484: 6420: 6362: 6259: 6250: 6241: 6132: 6109: 6037: 5881: 5603: 5571: 5489: 5378: 5184: 5151: 5004: 4912: 4656: 4570: 4347: 4298: 4207: 3032:"From Atlantic to Niger-Congo: three, two, one ..." 1521:) in 1963, he amended his classification by adding 1015:: group of languages of central Nigeria, including 153: 135: 74: 64: 54: 42: 32: 4094:Phonologies and orthographies of African languages 3300: 3298: 3268: 3266: 3264: 3247:. Cascadilla Proceedings Project. pp. 70–71. 3152:"Niger-Congo, With A Special Focus On Benue Congo" 2987:Dimmendaal, Gerrit J.; Storch, Anne (2016-02-11). 2702: 2700: 2511:. In Vossen, Rainer; Gerrit J. Dimmendaal (eds.). 2509:"Niger-Congo, with a special focus on Benue-Congo" 1749:Niger–Congo languages have a clear preference for 1728:, with tripartite number marking surviving in the 1495:Die Sudansprachen: Eine sprachvergleichende Studie 3342: 3340: 2848: 2846: 2490:the relative clause rather than the main clause. 1201:other languages unclassified within Benue–Congo: 840:(about 3 million speakers as of 2010), spoken in 656:The Atlantic–Congo group is characterised by the 3869:Nurse, Derek; Rose, Sarah; Hewson, John (2016). 3413:Archangeli, Diana; Pulleyblank, Douglas (1994). 3127:Language Dispersal, Diversification, and Contact 3030:Pozdniakov, Konstantin (September 18–21, 2012). 3710:. Nilo-Saharan. Vol. 10. pp. 83–130. 3689:"South Central Niger-Congo: A reclassification" 3349:"Nawuri ATR Harmony in Typological Perspective" 2810:Williamson, K. 1989. "Benue–Congo Overview" in 3521:Towards Volta-Congo Reconstruction : Rede 2788:, 7. ed. T. Sebeok 245–306. The Hague: Mouton. 1338:are spoken in south-central Sudan, around the 6218: 4185: 3856:Gregersen, Edgar A. (1972). "Kongo-Saharan". 3639: 3637: 2969: 2967: 2965: 2857:. Cambridge University Press. pp. 11–12. 2515:. Oxford University Press. pp. 139–160. 1388:languages are often assigned to Niger–Congo. 561:(also "East Kwa" or "West Benue–Congo"), and 8: 6188:Families with more than 30 languages are in 4165:Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 3964:Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 3566:Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 4056:, Derek Nurse, Sarah Rose & John Hewson 4048:An Evaluation of Niger–Congo Classification 3687:Bennett, Patrick R.; Sterk, Jan P. (1977). 2773:The Nuba Mountains: Who Spoke What in 1976? 1412:Overview map of Benin, Nigeria and Cameroon 802:: a group of minor languages spoken in the 27:Large language family of Sub-Saharan Africa 7020: 6909: 6902: 6499: 6490: 6256: 6247: 6225: 6211: 6203: 6045: 5611: 5495: 5192: 5010: 4667: 4362: 4213: 4192: 4178: 4170: 3607:, pp 50–60 as cited in Williamson art.cit. 2918:"Roger Blench: Niger-Congo reconstruction" 2825:The noun class system of Proto-Benue–Congo 2562:. Cambridge University Press. p. 11. 1299:(3 million as of 2011), plus the moribund 3397: 3196: 2660: 2556:Heine, Bernd; Nurse, Derek (2000-08-03). 2376:and other verbal extensions, such as the 1664:Nilo-Saharan languages § Blench 2006 947:: 50 million speakers (2010s), including 344:Sub-Saharan Africa § Genetic history 3904:. Slavica Publishers. pp. 153–190. 3282:Occasional Papers in Applied Linguistics 3158:. Oxford University Press. p. 139. 3156:The Oxford Handbook of African Languages 3129:. Oxford University Press. p. 201. 2635:Manning, Katie; Timpson, Adrian (2014). 2513:The Oxford Handbook of African Languages 2102: 1993: 1953: 1910: 1844: 1793: 1680:' (now classified as Nilo-Saharan) and ' 1094:spread across Sub-Saharan Africa in the 366:desiccation of the Sahara in c. 3500 BCE 3497:. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe. pp. 49–70. 3109:Genetic unity of the Niger-Congo family 2989:"Niger-Congo: A brief state of the art" 2499: 2392:'to love each other'; also applicative 1390: 4060:Preliminary Niger–Congo classification 3645:The World Atlas of Language Structures 2714:. Lanham: University Press of America. 1006:: a minor dialect continuum spoken in 395:, now spoken in the Nuba mountains of 340:Linguistic homeland § Niger–Congo 29: 3923:. Série H, Linguistique (in French). 3523:. Leiden: Universitaire Pers Leiden. 3077:Oxford Handbook Topics in Linguistics 2681:Igbo Language Roots and (Pre)-History 2419:is found in branches as divergent as 1601:Automated Similarity Judgment Program 1559:Niger–Congo languages are equal, but 73: 7: 3097:– via www.oxfordhandbooks.com. 3085:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935345.013.3 3001:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935345.013.3 2887:, Cambridge University Press, 2001, 2799:The early history of the Niger Delta 1313:, estimated at 70 million as of 2016 1019:with 1 to 2 million speakers (2010s) 713:, sometimes grouped with Senegambian 621:3.4 (2019) does not accept that the 526:, which do not form one branch, and 3241:Harmony in an Eleven Vowel Language 2625:, "The Language Gulper", March 2015 2589:. Walter de Gruyter. p. 2036. 2546:, "aboutworldlanguages", March 2015 2486:, in both of which the head occurs 1563:are "more equal" than the others." 299:of the core of Niger–Congo (called 4107:Linguistique et Langues Africaines 4004:African Languages: An Introduction 2902:"Niger-Congo: an alternative view" 2855:African Languages: An Introduction 2611:Ethnologue: Languages of the World 2559:African Languages: An Introduction 25: 4160:Journal of West African languages 4143:Nordic Journal of African Studies 3921:Annales de l'Université d'Abidjan 3734:. CALL 41. Leiden. Archived from 3356:Journal of West African Languages 1485:Westermann, Greenberg, and others 848:, with a geographical outlier in 581:group, which is dominated by the 4034: 3837:10.1111/j.1749-818X.2008.00085.x 3825:Language and Linguistics Compass 3755:. Nuba Hills Conference. Leiden. 3452:10.1111/j.1749-818X.2008.00064.x 3440:Language and Linguistics Compass 2975:Niger-Congo: an alternative view 2872:Language and Linguistics Compass 1417: 1405: 1393: 1234:river basins, south and west of 166: 4054:Tense and Aspect in Niger–Congo 3872:Tense and Aspect in Niger-Congo 3749:Should Kordofanian be split up? 3672:. University Press of America. 2662:10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.07.003 2295:Adapted from Williamson 1989:27 637:) or the difficult-to-classify 211:in terms of geographical area. 3775:African Languages and Cultures 3762:Studies in African Linguistics 3693:Studies in African Linguistics 3538:African Languages and Cultures 3386:Studies in African Linguistics 3382:"ATR vowel harmony in Akposso" 3308:Harmony, Dominance and Control 2091:branch some others are found. 202:(which share a characteristic 1: 7099:Samogo (partial: Duun–Sembla) 2786:Current Trends in Linguistics 2544:"Niger-Congo Language Family" 2325:while the Swahili people are 1906:Ghana Togo Mountain languages 1099: 994: 7336:Niger-Congo-speaking peoples 3957:(Speech). Leiden University. 3858:Journal of African Languages 3327:Harvard Studies in Phonology 1783:Many Niger–Congo languages' 1658:Niger–Congo and Nilo-Saharan 1187:Central Nigerian (Platoid): 522:Atlantic–Congo combines the 190:spoken over the majority of 7055:Soso–Jalonke (Susu–Yalunka) 3987:. Oxford University Press. 3946:"RefLex: Reference Lexicon" 3851:. Indiana University Press. 3796:Cahiers d'Études Africaines 3347:Casali, Roderic F. (2002). 3150:Good, Jeff (Mar 19, 2020). 2957:A Study of Western Nigritic 2838:Afrikanische Arbeitspapiere 2752:"Unpublished Working Draft" 2329:Likewise, in Ubangian, the 577:. Benue–Congo includes the 18:Niger–Congo language family 7352: 7331:Proposed language families 2727:. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer. 2679:(1989), 9–10 (cited after 2641:Quaternary Science Reviews 2057:complementary distribution 1661: 1630:Proto-Niger–Congo language 1627: 1590:computational phylogenetic 1376:The endangered or extinct 511: 337: 69:Proto-Niger–Congo language 6173: 6048: 5614: 5498: 5195: 5013: 4670: 4365: 4216: 4201:Primary language families 3953:Stewart, John M. (1976). 3787:10.1080/09544169508717790 3550:10.1080/09544169508717790 3519:Stewart, John M. (1976). 3399:10.32473/sal.v28i2.107372 2812:The Niger–Congo Languages 2712:The Niger–Congo Languages 2291: 1325:, once classified as Kru. 1090:: includes the far-flung 612:are not coherent groups. 165: 56:Linguistic classification 37: 5018:Arnhem/Macro-Gunwinyguan 3944:Segerer, G; Flavier, S. 3380:Anderson, C. G. (1999). 3275:"Vowel Harmony in Wolof" 3238:Morton, Deborah (2012). 1726:Atlantic–Congo languages 1573:Atlantic–Congo languages 1445:Sigismund Wilhelm Koelle 804:Central African Republic 514:Atlantic–Congo languages 439:Central African Republic 200:Atlantic–Congo languages 60:Proposed language family 6185:have no living members. 3849:The Languages of Africa 3592:Gbe languages: nasality 3554:(Re: proto-Volta-Conga) 3052:Babaev, Kirill (2013). 2993:Oxford Handbooks Online 2736:Greenberg, J. H. 1964. 2623:"Niger-Congo Languages" 1583:Oxford Handbooks Online 1518:The Languages of Africa 1295:, the languages of the 6165:Unclassified languages 6119:list of sign languages 5087:Northeastern Tasmanian 3746:Blench, Roger (2011). 3725:Blench, Roger (2011). 3605:Universals of Language 3479:10.3406/aflin.1975.892 3305:Bakovic, Eric (2000). 3273:Unseth, Carla (2009). 3221:Tom Gueldemann (2018) 3198:10.5281/zenodo.1311704 3180:Pozdniakov, Konstantin 2723:Westermann, D. 1922a. 2583:Ammon, Ulrich (2006). 1498: 1466:as a linguistic unit. 1462:, solidly established 1430:Classification history 7326:Niger–Congo languages 6140:Constructed languages 4043:at Wikimedia Commons 4041:Niger-Congo languages 3976:10.1515/jall.2002.012 3808:10.3406/cea.1972.2768 3578:10.1515/jall.2002.012 3291:on September 3, 2013. 2973:Blench, Roger. 2012. 2883:Martin H. Steinberg, 2725:Die Sprache der Guang 2264:Mandinka (Senegambia) 1640:Konstantin Pozdniakov 1492: 1435:Early classifications 1336:Kordofanian languages 1027:(moribund or extinct) 689:Senegambian languages 512:Further information: 464:) populations there. 393:Kordofanian languages 338:Further information: 4687:Binanderean–Goilalan 3845:Greenberg, Joseph H. 3483:(Re: proto-Atlantic) 3467:Africana Linguistica 2955:Hans G. Mukarovsky, 2827:. The Hague: Mouton. 2759:www.rogerblench.info 2350:watu wazuri wataenda 1789:advanced tongue root 1556:genetic relationship 1475:Karl Richard Lepsius 951:(c. 40 million 2017) 892:(9 million in 2015). 703:, spoken across the 567:languages of Nigeria 518:Languages of Nigeria 6452:Ngbaka (Mundu–Baka) 5969:(Maku-Auari/Jukude) 5872:Tequiraca–Canichana 5715:Harákmbut–Katukinan 4478:Northwest Caucasian 4472:Northeast Caucasian 4396:Chukotko-Kamchatkan 2840:, Köln, 17:115–147. 2771:Herman Bell. 1995. 2653:2014QSRv..101...28M 2507:Good, Jeff (2020). 2474:are prepositional. 2413:subject-verb-object 2321:language is called 2314:noun classification 2308:Noun classification 2107: 1676:" family in which ' 1450:Polyglotta Africana 1441:languages of Africa 1309:: languages of the 1277:: languages of the 1040:(East Benue–Congo) 836:: languages of the 752:: languages of the 592:(2012) argued that 377:Diedrich Westermann 295:While the ultimate 290:southeastern Africa 7062:Southwestern Mande 5591:Tarascan/Purépecha 5080:Northern Tasmanian 4838:South Bougainville 4799:North Bougainville 4152:2020-07-11 at the 4136:2021-01-27 at the 4125:2011-01-04 at the 4112:2021-01-13 at the 4082:2021-08-08 at the 4065:2021-05-09 at the 4006:. pp. 11–42. 3983:Webb, Vic (2001). 3622:www.britannica.com 3415:Grounded Phonology 3369:on March 30, 2014. 2920:. Rogerblench.info 2907:. Rogerblench.info 2823:De Wolf, P. 1971. 2686:2019-07-17 at the 2396:'to love for' and 2318:grammatical gender 2103: 1787:is based on the ( 1642:reconstructed the 1552:comparative method 1499: 1493:Westermann's 1911 1447:, who in his 1854 961:(24 million 2010s) 826:Savannas languages 524:Atlantic languages 435:Ubangian languages 192:sub-Saharan Africa 186:is a hypothetical 7313: 7312: 7295:Proto-Niger–Congo 7119: 7118: 7115: 7114: 7012: 7011: 6892: 6891: 6750: 6749: 6662: 6661: 6566:Upper Cross River 6552:Lower Cross River 6480: 6479: 6320:Mbum (Kebi–Benue) 6200: 6199: 6150:Language isolates 6128: 6127: 6033: 6032: 5599: 5598: 5485: 5484: 5180: 5179: 5127:Western Tasmanian 5045:Eastern Tasmanian 5000: 4999: 4722:East Geelvink Bay 4652: 4651: 4343: 4342: 4120:Journal Mandenkan 4088:Guillaume Segerer 4071:Guillaume Segerer 4039:Media related to 3911:978-0-89357-330-0 3885:978-9-4922-4429-1 3509:(Re: proto-Ijoid) 3254:978-1-57473-453-9 3208:978-3-96110-098-9 3165:978-0-19-960989-5 3136:978-0-19-872381-3 3094:978-0-19-993534-5 3010:978-0-19-993534-5 2939:"Glottolog 3.4 -" 2868:Gerrit Dimmendaal 2374:verb applicatives 2368:Verbal extensions 2300: 2299: 2296: 2106: 2093:Proto–Niger–Congo 2032: 2031: 1992: 1991: 1949: 1948: 1889: 1888: 1832: 1831: 1755:Proto–Niger–Congo 1636:Proto–Niger–Congo 1614:African languages 1531:Niger–Kordofanian 1527:Congo-Kordofanian 1506:Sudanic languages 1178:Guthrie zones A–S 976:(24 million 2011) 557:(or "West Kwa"), 437:, centred in the 386:Proto-Niger–Congo 181: 180: 129: 108: 16:(Redirected from 7343: 7269:Serengeti-Dorobo 7081:(Samogo–Soninke) 7026:(Manding–Kpelle) 7021: 6910: 6903: 6609:Southern Bantoid 6577:Northern Bantoid 6500: 6491: 6257: 6248: 6227: 6220: 6213: 6204: 6046: 6000:Huaorani/Waorani 5884:(extant in 2000) 5848:Esmeralda–Yaruro 5619:Andoque–Urequena 5612: 5496: 5302:Plateau Penutian 5193: 5168:(Northern Daly?) 5011: 4897:Northwest Papuan 4861:Trans–New Guinea 4727:East New Britain 4702:Central Solomons 4668: 4413:Great Andamanese 4363: 4214: 4194: 4187: 4180: 4171: 4038: 4025: 3998: 3979: 3958: 3949: 3940: 3915: 3896: 3894: 3888:. Archived from 3877: 3865: 3852: 3840: 3819: 3790: 3769: 3756: 3754: 3742: 3740: 3733: 3721: 3700: 3683: 3655: 3641: 3632: 3631: 3629: 3628: 3614: 3608: 3601: 3595: 3588: 3582: 3581: 3561: 3555: 3553: 3534: 3516: 3510: 3508: 3490: 3484: 3482: 3462: 3456: 3455: 3435: 3429: 3428: 3410: 3404: 3403: 3401: 3377: 3371: 3370: 3368: 3353: 3344: 3335: 3334: 3322: 3316: 3315: 3313: 3302: 3293: 3292: 3290: 3279: 3270: 3259: 3258: 3246: 3235: 3226: 3219: 3213: 3212: 3200: 3190: 3176: 3170: 3169: 3147: 3141: 3140: 3118: 3112: 3105: 3099: 3098: 3068: 3062: 3061: 3049: 3043: 3042: 3036: 3027: 3021: 3020: 3018: 3017: 2984: 2978: 2971: 2960: 2953: 2947: 2946: 2935: 2929: 2928: 2926: 2925: 2915: 2913: 2912: 2906: 2898: 2892: 2881: 2875: 2865: 2859: 2858: 2850: 2841: 2834: 2828: 2821: 2815: 2808: 2802: 2795: 2789: 2782: 2776: 2769: 2763: 2762: 2756: 2747: 2741: 2734: 2728: 2721: 2715: 2704: 2695: 2673: 2667: 2666: 2664: 2632: 2626: 2620: 2614: 2607: 2601: 2600: 2580: 2574: 2573: 2553: 2547: 2542:Irene Thompson, 2540: 2531: 2530: 2504: 2484:relative clauses 2435:of Niger–Congo. 2292: 2108: 2104: 2052:nasal consonants 1994: 1954: 1911: 1845: 1794: 1773:fortis and lenis 1512:Joseph Greenberg 1471:Friedrich Müller 1421: 1409: 1397: 1366:Rashad languages 1361:Lafofa languages 1356:Heiban languages 1351:Talodi languages 1104: 1101: 1088:Southern Bantoid 1052:Northern Bantoid 999: 996: 993:: c. 3 million ( 986: 985: 940: 939: 579:Southern Bantoid 488:(sometimes with 381:Joseph Greenberg 209:Africa's largest 194:. It unites the 170: 149: 127: 102: 30: 21: 7351: 7350: 7346: 7345: 7344: 7342: 7341: 7340: 7316: 7315: 7314: 7309: 7288:Proto-languages 7283: 7227: 7190: 7160: 7111: 7080: 7074: 7025: 7008: 6950: 6888: 6827: 6818: 6746: 6658: 6603: 6571: 6530: 6476: 6416: 6358: 6237: 6231: 6201: 6196: 6195: 6169: 6155:Mixed languages 6124: 6105: 6040: 6029: 5883: 5877: 5732:Katembri–Taruma 5606: 5595: 5567: 5481: 5374: 5187: 5176: 5147: 4996: 4908: 4867:Turama–Kikorian 4777:Lower Mamberamo 4732:East Strickland 4660: 4648: 4566: 4354: 4349: 4339: 4294: 4203: 4198: 4154:Wayback Machine 4138:Wayback Machine 4127:Wayback Machine 4114:Wayback Machine 4084:Wayback Machine 4067:Wayback Machine 4050:, Kenneth Olson 4032: 4014: 4001: 3995: 3982: 3961: 3952: 3943: 3918: 3912: 3899: 3892: 3886: 3875: 3868: 3855: 3843: 3822: 3793: 3772: 3759: 3752: 3745: 3738: 3731: 3724: 3718: 3703: 3686: 3680: 3667: 3664: 3662:Further reading 3659: 3658: 3642: 3635: 3626: 3624: 3616: 3615: 3611: 3602: 3598: 3589: 3585: 3563: 3562: 3558: 3535: 3531: 3518: 3517: 3513: 3505: 3492: 3491: 3487: 3464: 3463: 3459: 3437: 3436: 3432: 3425: 3412: 3411: 3407: 3379: 3378: 3374: 3366: 3351: 3346: 3345: 3338: 3324: 3323: 3319: 3311: 3304: 3303: 3296: 3288: 3277: 3272: 3271: 3262: 3255: 3244: 3237: 3236: 3229: 3220: 3216: 3209: 3188: 3178: 3177: 3173: 3166: 3149: 3148: 3144: 3137: 3120: 3119: 3115: 3106: 3102: 3095: 3070: 3069: 3065: 3051: 3050: 3046: 3034: 3029: 3028: 3024: 3015: 3013: 3011: 2986: 2985: 2981: 2972: 2963: 2954: 2950: 2937: 2936: 2932: 2923: 2921: 2916: 2910: 2908: 2904: 2900: 2899: 2895: 2882: 2878: 2866: 2862: 2852: 2851: 2844: 2835: 2831: 2822: 2818: 2809: 2805: 2796: 2792: 2783: 2779: 2770: 2766: 2754: 2750:Blench, Roger. 2749: 2748: 2744: 2735: 2731: 2722: 2718: 2706:Blench, Roger, 2705: 2698: 2688:Wayback Machine 2675:Igor Kopytoff, 2674: 2670: 2634: 2633: 2629: 2621: 2617: 2608: 2604: 2597: 2582: 2581: 2577: 2570: 2555: 2554: 2550: 2541: 2534: 2523: 2506: 2505: 2501: 2496: 2409: 2370: 2310: 2305: 2294: 2251:(Benue–Congo), 2081: 2044: 1874:'nominalizing' 1781: 1768: 1747: 1742: 1740:Common features 1706:noun-classifier 1702:Central Sudanic 1682:Western Sudanic 1678:Eastern Sudanic 1666: 1660: 1634:The lexicon of 1632: 1626: 1561:Bantu languages 1487: 1437: 1432: 1425: 1422: 1413: 1410: 1401: 1398: 1371:Katla languages 1332: 1301:Defaka language 1224: 1176:: divided into 1103: 1000 BCE 1102: 1096:Bantu expansion 1092:Bantu languages 1043:Bantoid-Cross: 997: 983: 982: 935: 934: 788:Adamawa Plateau 583:Bantu languages 520: 510: 470: 450:Southern Africa 446:Bantu expansion 428:Bantu expansion 408:Bantu languages 358:Bantu expansion 354: 352:Bantu expansion 336: 230:Bantu languages 196:Mande languages 188:language family 177: 145: 44: 28: 23: 22: 15: 12: 11: 5: 7349: 7347: 7339: 7338: 7333: 7328: 7318: 7317: 7311: 7310: 7308: 7307: 7305:Proto-Yoruboid 7302: 7297: 7291: 7289: 7285: 7284: 7282: 7281: 7273: 7264: 7258: 7250: 7242: 7235: 7233: 7229: 7228: 7226: 7225: 7220: 7212: 7204: 7198: 7196: 7192: 7191: 7189: 7188: 7181: 7174: 7168: 7166: 7162: 7161: 7159: 7158: 7151: 7144: 7137: 7129: 7127: 7121: 7120: 7117: 7116: 7113: 7112: 7110: 7109: 7102: 7095: 7090: 7084: 7082: 7076: 7075: 7073: 7072: 7065: 7058: 7051: 7044: 7037: 7029: 7027: 7018: 7014: 7013: 7010: 7009: 7007: 7006: 6997: 6992: 6983: 6974: 6960: 6958: 6952: 6951: 6949: 6948: 6939: 6936:Samo (Burkina) 6933: 6924: 6918: 6916: 6907: 6900: 6894: 6893: 6890: 6889: 6887: 6886: 6881: 6873: 6868: 6860: 6853: 6846: 6841: 6835: 6833: 6820: 6819: 6817: 6816: 6811: 6804: 6797: 6792: 6785: 6780: 6775: 6774: 6773: 6760: 6758: 6752: 6751: 6748: 6747: 6745: 6744: 6737: 6732: 6727: 6720: 6713: 6706: 6699: 6692: 6685: 6678: 6672: 6670: 6664: 6663: 6660: 6659: 6657: 6656: 6649: 6642: 6635: 6628: 6621: 6613: 6611: 6605: 6604: 6602: 6601: 6596: 6589: 6581: 6579: 6573: 6572: 6570: 6569: 6562: 6555: 6548: 6540: 6538: 6532: 6531: 6529: 6528: 6521: 6514: 6506: 6504: 6497: 6488: 6482: 6481: 6478: 6477: 6475: 6474: 6467: 6460: 6455: 6448: 6441: 6434: 6426: 6424: 6418: 6417: 6415: 6414: 6409: 6404: 6399: 6392: 6389:Samo (Burkina) 6386: 6381: 6376: 6368: 6366: 6360: 6359: 6357: 6356: 6353:Yendang (Maya) 6349: 6342: 6335: 6333:Nyingwom (Kam) 6330: 6323: 6316: 6311: 6306: 6299: 6292: 6287: 6280: 6273: 6265: 6263: 6254: 6245: 6243:Atlantic–Congo 6239: 6238: 6232: 6230: 6229: 6222: 6215: 6207: 6198: 6197: 6194: 6193: 6186: 6179: 6175: 6174: 6171: 6170: 6168: 6167: 6162: 6157: 6152: 6147: 6142: 6136: 6134: 6130: 6129: 6126: 6125: 6123: 6122: 6113: 6111: 6107: 6106: 6104: 6103: 6097: 6092: 6087: 6082: 6080:Indo-Pakistani 6077: 6072: 6065: 6060: 6055: 6049: 6043: 6035: 6034: 6031: 6030: 6028: 6027: 6022: 6017: 6012: 6007: 6002: 5997: 5992: 5987: 5981: 5976: 5971: 5963: 5958: 5951: 5946: 5940: 5935: 5930: 5925: 5919: 5914: 5909: 5904: 5899: 5894: 5887: 5885: 5879: 5878: 5876: 5875: 5869: 5863: 5857: 5851: 5845: 5839: 5833: 5828: 5823: 5818: 5813: 5808: 5801: 5796: 5791: 5786: 5781: 5779:Piaroa–Saliban 5776: 5769: 5764: 5759: 5754: 5749: 5744: 5739: 5734: 5729: 5724: 5717: 5712: 5707: 5702: 5697: 5692: 5687: 5680: 5675: 5668: 5663: 5658: 5653: 5648: 5643: 5638: 5631: 5626: 5621: 5615: 5609: 5601: 5600: 5597: 5596: 5594: 5593: 5588: 5583: 5575: 5573: 5569: 5568: 5566: 5565: 5558: 5551: 5546: 5544:Tequistlatecan 5541: 5534: 5529: 5524: 5517: 5510: 5505: 5499: 5493: 5487: 5486: 5483: 5482: 5480: 5479: 5474: 5469: 5464: 5457: 5452: 5445: 5438: 5431: 5424: 5417: 5412: 5407: 5402: 5397: 5390: 5382: 5380: 5376: 5375: 5373: 5372: 5367: 5360: 5353: 5348: 5341: 5336: 5331: 5326: 5321: 5314: 5309: 5304: 5299: 5292: 5285: 5280: 5273: 5268: 5261: 5256: 5251: 5244: 5237: 5230: 5223: 5216: 5211: 5204: 5196: 5190: 5182: 5181: 5178: 5177: 5175: 5174: 5169: 5163: 5155: 5153: 5149: 5148: 5146: 5145: 5135: 5130: 5123: 5118: 5113: 5108: 5102: 5095: 5090: 5083: 5076: 5071: 5067:Marrku–Wurrugu 5063: 5058: 5053: 5048: 5041: 5034: 5026: 5021: 5014: 5008: 5002: 5001: 4998: 4997: 4995: 4994: 4989: 4981: 4975: 4969: 4964: 4959: 4954: 4949: 4944: 4939: 4933: 4927: 4922: 4916: 4914: 4910: 4909: 4907: 4906: 4900: 4894: 4889: 4884: 4879: 4874: 4869: 4864: 4857: 4852: 4845: 4840: 4835: 4830: 4823: 4818: 4813: 4806: 4801: 4796: 4791: 4784: 4779: 4774: 4769: 4764: 4759: 4754: 4749: 4744: 4739: 4734: 4729: 4724: 4719: 4714: 4709: 4704: 4699: 4694: 4689: 4684: 4677: 4671: 4665: 4654: 4653: 4650: 4649: 4647: 4646: 4638: 4631: 4625: 4620: 4612: 4607: 4599: 4592: 4585: 4580: 4574: 4572: 4568: 4567: 4565: 4564: 4558: 4552: 4546: 4540: 4534: 4528: 4523: 4518: 4511: 4504: 4497: 4492: 4485: 4480: 4475: 4468: 4463: 4458: 4451: 4446: 4441: 4436: 4429: 4426:Hurro-Urartian 4422: 4415: 4410: 4405: 4398: 4393: 4386: 4379: 4374: 4366: 4360: 4345: 4344: 4341: 4340: 4338: 4337: 4331: 4325: 4320: 4313: 4308: 4302: 4300: 4296: 4295: 4293: 4292: 4286: 4280: 4274: 4268: 4262: 4257: 4249: 4242: 4237: 4232: 4225: 4217: 4211: 4205: 4204: 4199: 4197: 4196: 4189: 4182: 4174: 4168: 4167: 4162: 4157: 4140: 4117: 4103: 4102: 4098: 4097: 4091: 4074: 4057: 4051: 4031: 4030:External links 4028: 4027: 4026: 4012: 3999: 3993: 3980: 3959: 3950: 3941: 3916: 3910: 3897: 3895:on 2023-05-22. 3884: 3866: 3853: 3841: 3831:(5): 840–858. 3820: 3802:(46): 316–22. 3791: 3781:(2): 109–121. 3770: 3757: 3743: 3741:on 2019-04-23. 3722: 3716: 3701: 3684: 3678: 3663: 3660: 3657: 3656: 3633: 3609: 3596: 3583: 3572:(2): 197–224. 3556: 3544:(2): 109–121. 3529: 3511: 3503: 3485: 3457: 3446:(3): 496–549. 3430: 3423: 3405: 3392:(2): 185–214. 3372: 3336: 3317: 3294: 3260: 3253: 3227: 3214: 3207: 3171: 3164: 3142: 3135: 3113: 3100: 3093: 3063: 3044: 3022: 3009: 2979: 2961: 2948: 2930: 2893: 2876: 2860: 2842: 2829: 2816: 2803: 2790: 2777: 2764: 2742: 2729: 2716: 2696: 2668: 2627: 2615: 2602: 2595: 2575: 2568: 2548: 2532: 2521: 2498: 2497: 2495: 2492: 2463:demonstratives 2408: 2405: 2403:'to please'). 2369: 2366: 2331:Zande language 2309: 2306: 2304: 2301: 2298: 2297: 2289: 2288: 2283: 2279: 2278: 2261: 2257: 2256: 2246: 2242: 2241: 2216: 2212: 2211: 2162: 2158: 2157: 2120: 2116: 2115: 2112: 2080: 2077: 2043: 2040: 2030: 2029: 2027: 2024: 2023: 2021: 2018: 2017: 2015: 2012: 2011: 2009: 2006: 2005: 2003: 2000: 1999: 1997: 1990: 1989: 1987: 1984: 1983: 1981: 1978: 1977: 1975: 1972: 1971: 1969: 1966: 1965: 1963: 1960: 1959: 1957: 1947: 1946: 1944: 1941: 1940: 1938: 1935: 1934: 1932: 1929: 1928: 1926: 1923: 1922: 1920: 1917: 1916: 1914: 1887: 1886: 1885:'benefactive' 1883: 1880: 1876: 1875: 1872: 1869: 1865: 1864: 1863:'participant' 1861: 1858: 1854: 1853: 1850: 1848: 1830: 1829: 1827: 1824: 1823: 1821: 1818: 1817: 1815: 1812: 1811: 1809: 1806: 1805: 1803: 1800: 1799: 1797: 1780: 1777: 1767: 1764: 1751:open syllables 1746: 1743: 1741: 1738: 1724:system of the 1659: 1656: 1644:numeral system 1628:Main article: 1625: 1624:Reconstruction 1622: 1486: 1483: 1436: 1433: 1431: 1428: 1427: 1426: 1423: 1416: 1414: 1411: 1404: 1402: 1399: 1392: 1374: 1373: 1368: 1363: 1358: 1353: 1340:Nuba Mountains 1331: 1328: 1327: 1326: 1320: 1314: 1304: 1286: 1256:Nuba Mountains 1223: 1220: 1219: 1218: 1217: 1216: 1215: 1214: 1207:Fali of Baissa 1199: 1185: 1184: 1183: 1182: 1181: 1169: 1160: 1155: 1150: 1141: 1085: 1080: 1079: 1078: 1073: 1067: 1061: 1049: 1030: 1029: 1028: 1022: 1021: 1020: 1010: 1001: 979: 978: 977: 967: 962: 952: 931: 893: 875:: a divergent 863: 862: 861: 829: 813: 812: 811: 808:Adamawa-Ubangi 795: 776:Adamawa-Ubangi 773: 739: 738: 730: 729: 724: 722:Limba language 719: 714: 708: 670: 669: 535:Savannas group 509: 508:Atlantic–Congo 506: 469: 468:Major branches 466: 412:Kay Williamson 335: 332: 301:Atlantic–Congo 179: 178: 171: 163: 162: 157: 151: 150: 143: 133: 132: 131: 130: 128:(noun classes) 124:Atlantic–Congo 121: 115: 109: 96: 90: 84: 76: 72: 71: 66: 65:Proto-language 62: 61: 58: 52: 51: 46: 40: 39: 38:(hypothetical) 35: 34: 26: 24: 14: 13: 10: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 7348: 7337: 7334: 7332: 7329: 7327: 7324: 7323: 7321: 7306: 7303: 7301: 7298: 7296: 7293: 7292: 7290: 7286: 7279: 7278: 7274: 7271: 7270: 7265: 7262: 7259: 7256: 7255: 7251: 7248: 7247: 7243: 7240: 7237: 7236: 7234: 7230: 7224: 7221: 7218: 7217: 7213: 7210: 7209: 7205: 7203: 7200: 7199: 7197: 7193: 7187: 7186: 7182: 7180: 7179: 7175: 7173: 7170: 7169: 7167: 7163: 7157: 7156: 7155:Talodi–Heiban 7152: 7150: 7149: 7145: 7143: 7142: 7138: 7136: 7135: 7131: 7130: 7128: 7126: 7122: 7108: 7107: 7103: 7101: 7100: 7096: 7094: 7091: 7089: 7086: 7085: 7083: 7077: 7071: 7070: 7066: 7064: 7063: 7059: 7057: 7056: 7052: 7050: 7049: 7045: 7043: 7042: 7038: 7036: 7035: 7031: 7030: 7028: 7022: 7019: 7015: 7005: 7001: 6998: 6996: 6993: 6991: 6987: 6984: 6982: 6978: 6975: 6973: 6969: 6965: 6962: 6961: 6959: 6957: 6953: 6947: 6943: 6940: 6937: 6934: 6932: 6928: 6925: 6923: 6920: 6919: 6917: 6915: 6911: 6908: 6904: 6901: 6899: 6895: 6885: 6882: 6879: 6878: 6874: 6872: 6869: 6866: 6865: 6861: 6859: 6858: 6854: 6852: 6851: 6847: 6845: 6842: 6840: 6837: 6836: 6834: 6831: 6826: 6821: 6815: 6812: 6810: 6809: 6805: 6803: 6802: 6798: 6796: 6793: 6791: 6790: 6786: 6784: 6781: 6779: 6776: 6772: 6769: 6768: 6767: 6766: 6762: 6761: 6759: 6757: 6756:West Atlantic 6753: 6743: 6742: 6738: 6736: 6733: 6731: 6728: 6726: 6725: 6721: 6719: 6718: 6714: 6712: 6711: 6707: 6705: 6704: 6700: 6698: 6697: 6693: 6691: 6690: 6686: 6684: 6683: 6679: 6677: 6674: 6673: 6671: 6669: 6665: 6655: 6654: 6650: 6648: 6647: 6643: 6641: 6640: 6636: 6634: 6633: 6629: 6627: 6626: 6622: 6620: 6619: 6615: 6614: 6612: 6610: 6606: 6600: 6597: 6595: 6594: 6590: 6588: 6587: 6583: 6582: 6580: 6578: 6574: 6568: 6567: 6563: 6561: 6560: 6556: 6554: 6553: 6549: 6547: 6546: 6545:Central Delta 6542: 6541: 6539: 6537: 6533: 6527: 6526: 6522: 6520: 6519: 6515: 6513: 6512: 6508: 6507: 6505: 6501: 6498: 6496: 6492: 6489: 6487: 6483: 6473: 6472: 6468: 6466: 6465: 6461: 6459: 6456: 6454: 6453: 6449: 6447: 6446: 6442: 6440: 6439: 6435: 6433: 6432: 6428: 6427: 6425: 6423: 6419: 6413: 6410: 6408: 6405: 6403: 6400: 6398: 6397: 6393: 6390: 6387: 6385: 6382: 6380: 6377: 6375: 6374: 6370: 6369: 6367: 6365: 6361: 6355: 6354: 6350: 6348: 6347: 6343: 6341: 6340: 6336: 6334: 6331: 6329: 6328: 6324: 6322: 6321: 6317: 6315: 6312: 6310: 6307: 6305: 6304: 6300: 6298: 6297: 6293: 6291: 6288: 6286: 6285: 6281: 6279: 6278: 6274: 6272: 6271: 6267: 6266: 6264: 6262: 6258: 6255: 6253: 6249: 6246: 6244: 6240: 6235: 6228: 6223: 6221: 6216: 6214: 6209: 6208: 6205: 6191: 6187: 6184: 6180: 6177: 6176: 6172: 6166: 6163: 6161: 6158: 6156: 6153: 6151: 6148: 6146: 6143: 6141: 6138: 6137: 6135: 6131: 6121: 6120: 6115: 6114: 6112: 6108: 6101: 6098: 6096: 6093: 6091: 6090:Original Thai 6088: 6086: 6083: 6081: 6078: 6076: 6073: 6071: 6070: 6066: 6064: 6061: 6059: 6056: 6054: 6051: 6050: 6047: 6044: 6042: 6036: 6026: 6023: 6021: 6018: 6016: 6013: 6011: 6008: 6006: 6003: 6001: 5998: 5996: 5993: 5991: 5988: 5985: 5982: 5980: 5977: 5975: 5972: 5970: 5968: 5964: 5962: 5959: 5957: 5956: 5952: 5950: 5947: 5944: 5941: 5939: 5936: 5934: 5931: 5929: 5926: 5923: 5920: 5918: 5915: 5913: 5910: 5908: 5905: 5903: 5900: 5898: 5895: 5892: 5889: 5888: 5886: 5880: 5873: 5870: 5867: 5864: 5861: 5858: 5855: 5854:Hibito–Cholón 5852: 5849: 5846: 5843: 5840: 5837: 5834: 5832: 5829: 5827: 5824: 5822: 5819: 5817: 5814: 5812: 5809: 5807: 5806: 5802: 5800: 5797: 5795: 5792: 5790: 5787: 5785: 5782: 5780: 5777: 5775: 5774: 5770: 5768: 5765: 5763: 5760: 5758: 5755: 5753: 5750: 5748: 5745: 5743: 5740: 5738: 5735: 5733: 5730: 5728: 5725: 5723: 5722: 5718: 5716: 5713: 5711: 5708: 5706: 5703: 5701: 5698: 5696: 5693: 5691: 5688: 5686: 5685: 5681: 5679: 5676: 5674: 5673: 5669: 5667: 5664: 5662: 5659: 5657: 5654: 5652: 5649: 5647: 5644: 5642: 5639: 5637: 5636: 5632: 5630: 5627: 5625: 5622: 5620: 5617: 5616: 5613: 5610: 5608: 5602: 5592: 5589: 5587: 5584: 5582: 5581: 5577: 5576: 5574: 5570: 5564: 5563: 5559: 5557: 5556: 5552: 5550: 5547: 5545: 5542: 5540: 5539: 5535: 5533: 5530: 5528: 5525: 5523: 5522: 5518: 5516: 5515: 5511: 5509: 5506: 5504: 5501: 5500: 5497: 5494: 5492: 5488: 5478: 5475: 5473: 5470: 5468: 5465: 5463: 5462: 5458: 5456: 5453: 5451: 5450: 5446: 5444: 5443: 5439: 5437: 5436: 5432: 5430: 5429: 5425: 5423: 5422: 5418: 5416: 5413: 5411: 5408: 5406: 5403: 5401: 5398: 5396: 5395: 5391: 5389: 5388: 5384: 5383: 5381: 5377: 5371: 5370:Yuman–Cochimí 5368: 5366: 5365: 5361: 5359: 5358: 5354: 5352: 5349: 5347: 5346: 5342: 5340: 5337: 5335: 5332: 5330: 5327: 5325: 5322: 5320: 5319: 5315: 5313: 5310: 5308: 5305: 5303: 5300: 5298: 5297: 5293: 5291: 5290: 5286: 5284: 5281: 5279: 5278: 5274: 5272: 5269: 5267: 5266: 5262: 5260: 5257: 5255: 5252: 5250: 5249: 5245: 5243: 5242: 5238: 5236: 5235: 5231: 5229: 5228: 5224: 5222: 5221: 5217: 5215: 5212: 5210: 5209: 5205: 5203: 5202: 5198: 5197: 5194: 5191: 5189: 5183: 5173: 5170: 5167: 5164: 5162: 5161: 5157: 5156: 5154: 5150: 5143: 5139: 5136: 5134: 5131: 5129: 5128: 5124: 5122: 5119: 5117: 5114: 5112: 5109: 5106: 5105:Southern Daly 5103: 5101: 5100: 5096: 5094: 5091: 5089: 5088: 5084: 5082: 5081: 5077: 5075: 5072: 5069: 5068: 5064: 5062: 5059: 5057: 5054: 5052: 5049: 5047: 5046: 5042: 5040: 5039: 5035: 5032: 5031: 5030:Darwin Region 5027: 5025: 5022: 5019: 5016: 5015: 5012: 5009: 5007: 5003: 4993: 4990: 4988: 4986: 4982: 4979: 4976: 4973: 4970: 4968: 4965: 4963: 4960: 4958: 4955: 4953: 4950: 4948: 4945: 4943: 4940: 4937: 4934: 4931: 4928: 4926: 4923: 4921: 4918: 4917: 4915: 4911: 4904: 4901: 4898: 4895: 4893: 4890: 4888: 4885: 4883: 4880: 4878: 4875: 4873: 4870: 4868: 4865: 4863: 4862: 4858: 4856: 4853: 4851: 4850: 4846: 4844: 4841: 4839: 4836: 4834: 4831: 4829: 4828: 4824: 4822: 4819: 4817: 4814: 4812: 4811: 4807: 4805: 4802: 4800: 4797: 4795: 4792: 4790: 4789: 4785: 4783: 4780: 4778: 4775: 4773: 4770: 4768: 4765: 4763: 4760: 4758: 4755: 4753: 4750: 4748: 4745: 4743: 4740: 4738: 4735: 4733: 4730: 4728: 4725: 4723: 4720: 4718: 4715: 4713: 4712:Demta–Sentani 4710: 4708: 4705: 4703: 4700: 4698: 4695: 4693: 4690: 4688: 4685: 4683: 4682: 4678: 4676: 4673: 4672: 4669: 4666: 4664: 4659: 4655: 4645: 4643: 4639: 4637: 4636: 4632: 4629: 4626: 4624: 4621: 4619: 4617: 4613: 4611: 4608: 4606: 4604: 4600: 4598: 4597: 4593: 4591: 4590: 4586: 4584: 4581: 4579: 4576: 4575: 4573: 4569: 4562: 4559: 4556: 4553: 4550: 4547: 4544: 4541: 4538: 4535: 4532: 4529: 4527: 4524: 4522: 4519: 4517: 4516: 4512: 4510: 4509: 4505: 4503: 4502: 4498: 4496: 4493: 4491: 4490: 4486: 4484: 4481: 4479: 4476: 4474: 4473: 4469: 4467: 4464: 4462: 4459: 4457: 4456: 4452: 4450: 4447: 4445: 4442: 4440: 4437: 4435: 4434: 4433:Indo-European 4430: 4428: 4427: 4423: 4421: 4420: 4416: 4414: 4411: 4409: 4406: 4404: 4403: 4399: 4397: 4394: 4392: 4391: 4387: 4385: 4384: 4383:Austroasiatic 4380: 4378: 4375: 4373: 4372: 4368: 4367: 4364: 4361: 4358: 4353: 4346: 4335: 4332: 4329: 4326: 4324: 4321: 4319: 4318: 4314: 4312: 4309: 4307: 4304: 4303: 4301: 4297: 4290: 4287: 4284: 4281: 4278: 4275: 4272: 4269: 4266: 4263: 4261: 4258: 4255: 4254: 4250: 4248: 4247: 4243: 4241: 4238: 4236: 4233: 4231: 4230: 4226: 4224: 4223: 4219: 4218: 4215: 4212: 4210: 4206: 4202: 4195: 4190: 4188: 4183: 4181: 4176: 4175: 4172: 4166: 4163: 4161: 4158: 4155: 4151: 4148: 4144: 4141: 4139: 4135: 4132: 4131:introduction) 4128: 4124: 4121: 4118: 4115: 4111: 4108: 4105: 4104: 4100: 4099: 4095: 4092: 4090:2005, LLACAN) 4089: 4085: 4081: 4078: 4075: 4073:2005, LLACAN) 4072: 4068: 4064: 4061: 4058: 4055: 4052: 4049: 4046: 4045: 4044: 4042: 4037: 4029: 4023: 4019: 4015: 4013:9780521661782 4009: 4005: 4000: 3996: 3994:9780195716818 3990: 3986: 3981: 3977: 3973: 3969: 3965: 3960: 3956: 3951: 3947: 3942: 3938: 3934: 3930: 3926: 3922: 3917: 3913: 3907: 3903: 3898: 3891: 3887: 3881: 3874: 3873: 3867: 3863: 3859: 3854: 3850: 3846: 3842: 3838: 3834: 3830: 3826: 3821: 3817: 3813: 3809: 3805: 3801: 3797: 3792: 3788: 3784: 3780: 3776: 3771: 3767: 3763: 3758: 3751: 3750: 3744: 3737: 3730: 3729: 3723: 3719: 3717:3-927620-72-6 3713: 3709: 3708: 3702: 3699:(3): 241–273. 3698: 3694: 3690: 3685: 3681: 3679:9780819173751 3675: 3671: 3666: 3665: 3661: 3654: 3653:0-19-925591-1 3650: 3646: 3640: 3638: 3634: 3623: 3619: 3613: 3610: 3606: 3600: 3597: 3593: 3587: 3584: 3579: 3575: 3571: 3567: 3560: 3557: 3551: 3547: 3543: 3539: 3532: 3530:90-6021-307-6 3526: 3522: 3515: 3512: 3506: 3504:3-89645-124-3 3500: 3496: 3489: 3486: 3480: 3476: 3472: 3468: 3461: 3458: 3453: 3449: 3445: 3441: 3434: 3431: 3426: 3424:0-262-01137-9 3420: 3416: 3409: 3406: 3400: 3395: 3391: 3387: 3383: 3376: 3373: 3365: 3361: 3357: 3350: 3343: 3341: 3337: 3332: 3328: 3321: 3318: 3310: 3309: 3301: 3299: 3295: 3287: 3283: 3276: 3269: 3267: 3265: 3261: 3256: 3250: 3243: 3242: 3234: 3232: 3228: 3224: 3218: 3215: 3210: 3204: 3199: 3194: 3187: 3186: 3181: 3175: 3172: 3167: 3161: 3157: 3153: 3146: 3143: 3138: 3132: 3128: 3124: 3117: 3114: 3110: 3104: 3101: 3096: 3090: 3086: 3082: 3078: 3074: 3073:"Niger-Congo" 3067: 3064: 3059: 3055: 3048: 3045: 3040: 3033: 3026: 3023: 3012: 3006: 3002: 2998: 2994: 2990: 2983: 2980: 2976: 2970: 2968: 2966: 2962: 2958: 2952: 2949: 2944: 2943:glottolog.org 2940: 2934: 2931: 2919: 2903: 2897: 2894: 2890: 2886: 2880: 2877: 2873: 2869: 2864: 2861: 2856: 2849: 2847: 2843: 2839: 2833: 2830: 2826: 2820: 2817: 2813: 2807: 2804: 2800: 2794: 2791: 2787: 2781: 2778: 2774: 2768: 2765: 2760: 2753: 2746: 2743: 2739: 2733: 2730: 2726: 2720: 2717: 2713: 2709: 2703: 2701: 2697: 2693: 2692:A Mighty Tree 2689: 2685: 2682: 2678: 2672: 2669: 2663: 2658: 2654: 2650: 2646: 2642: 2638: 2631: 2628: 2624: 2619: 2616: 2612: 2606: 2603: 2598: 2596:9783110184181 2592: 2588: 2587: 2579: 2576: 2571: 2569:9780521666299 2565: 2561: 2560: 2552: 2549: 2545: 2539: 2537: 2533: 2529: 2524: 2522:9780191007378 2518: 2514: 2510: 2503: 2500: 2493: 2491: 2489: 2485: 2481: 2475: 2473: 2468: 2464: 2460: 2456: 2452: 2448: 2444: 2442: 2436: 2434: 2430: 2426: 2422: 2418: 2414: 2406: 2404: 2402: 2399: 2395: 2391: 2387: 2383: 2379: 2375: 2367: 2365: 2363: 2359: 2355: 2351: 2345: 2344: 2340: 2336: 2332: 2328: 2324: 2319: 2315: 2307: 2302: 2290: 2287: 2284: 2281: 2280: 2277: 2273: 2269: 2265: 2262: 2259: 2258: 2254: 2250: 2247: 2245:T, H, M, L, B 2244: 2243: 2240: 2236: 2232: 2228: 2224: 2220: 2217: 2214: 2213: 2210: 2206: 2202: 2198: 2194: 2190: 2186: 2182: 2178: 2174: 2170: 2166: 2163: 2160: 2159: 2156: 2152: 2148: 2144: 2140: 2136: 2132: 2128: 2124: 2121: 2118: 2117: 2113: 2110: 2109: 2101: 2099: 2094: 2090: 2086: 2078: 2076: 2074: 2070: 2066: 2061: 2058: 2053: 2049: 2041: 2039: 2035: 2028: 2026: 2025: 2022: 2020: 2019: 2016: 2014: 2013: 2010: 2008: 2007: 2004: 2002: 2001: 1998: 1996: 1995: 1988: 1986: 1985: 1982: 1980: 1979: 1976: 1974: 1973: 1970: 1968: 1967: 1964: 1962: 1961: 1958: 1956: 1955: 1952: 1945: 1943: 1942: 1939: 1937: 1936: 1933: 1931: 1930: 1927: 1925: 1924: 1921: 1919: 1918: 1915: 1913: 1912: 1909: 1907: 1901: 1897: 1893: 1884: 1881: 1878: 1877: 1873: 1870: 1867: 1866: 1862: 1859: 1856: 1855: 1851: 1849: 1847: 1846: 1843: 1841: 1835: 1828: 1826: 1825: 1822: 1820: 1819: 1816: 1814: 1813: 1810: 1808: 1807: 1804: 1802: 1801: 1798: 1796: 1795: 1792: 1790: 1786: 1785:vowel harmony 1778: 1776: 1774: 1765: 1763: 1760: 1756: 1752: 1744: 1739: 1737: 1735: 1734:Gur languages 1731: 1727: 1723: 1719: 1715: 1711: 1707: 1703: 1699: 1698:Niger–Saharan 1695: 1691: 1687: 1686:Kongo-Saharan 1683: 1679: 1675: 1671: 1665: 1657: 1655: 1653: 1649: 1645: 1641: 1637: 1631: 1623: 1621: 1619: 1615: 1610: 1608: 1604: 1602: 1597: 1595: 1591: 1586: 1584: 1580: 1576: 1574: 1570: 1569: 1564: 1562: 1557: 1553: 1549: 1545: 1543: 1539: 1538:Bendor-Samuel 1534: 1532: 1528: 1524: 1520: 1519: 1513: 1509: 1507: 1503: 1496: 1491: 1484: 1482: 1478: 1476: 1472: 1467: 1465: 1461: 1457: 1452: 1451: 1446: 1442: 1434: 1429: 1420: 1415: 1408: 1403: 1396: 1391: 1389: 1387: 1383: 1379: 1372: 1369: 1367: 1364: 1362: 1359: 1357: 1354: 1352: 1349: 1348: 1347: 1345: 1341: 1337: 1330:"Kordofanian" 1329: 1324: 1321: 1318: 1315: 1312: 1311:Mandé peoples 1308: 1305: 1302: 1298: 1294: 1290: 1287: 1284: 1280: 1276: 1273: 1272: 1271: 1269: 1265: 1261: 1257: 1253: 1249: 1245: 1241: 1237: 1233: 1229: 1221: 1212: 1208: 1204: 1200: 1198: 1194: 1190: 1186: 1179: 1175: 1174: 1170: 1168: 1164: 1161: 1159: 1156: 1154: 1151: 1149: 1145: 1142: 1139: 1135: 1131: 1127: 1123: 1119: 1115: 1111: 1107: 1106: 1097: 1093: 1089: 1086: 1084: 1081: 1077: 1074: 1071: 1068: 1065: 1062: 1059: 1056: 1055: 1053: 1050: 1048: 1045: 1044: 1042: 1041: 1039: 1036: 1035: 1031: 1026: 1023: 1018: 1014: 1011: 1009: 1005: 1002: 992: 989: 988: 980: 975: 971: 968: 966: 963: 960: 956: 953: 950: 946: 943: 942: 938: 932: 929: 925: 921: 917: 913: 909: 906: 905: 903: 899: 898: 894: 891: 887: 883: 878: 874: 873: 869: 868: 867: 864: 859: 855: 851: 847: 843: 839: 838:Senufo people 835: 834: 830: 827: 823: 819: 818: 814: 809: 805: 801: 800: 796: 793: 789: 785: 784: 780: 779: 777: 774: 771: 767: 763: 759: 755: 751: 750: 746: 745: 744: 741: 740: 737: 736: 732: 731: 728: 727:Gola language 725: 723: 720: 718: 717:Mel languages 715: 712: 711:Bak languages 709: 706: 702: 698: 694: 690: 687: 686: 685: 683: 679: 675: 668: 667: 663: 662: 661: 659: 654: 652: 648: 644: 640: 639:Laal language 636: 632: 628: 624: 620: 619: 613: 611: 607: 603: 599: 595: 591: 586: 584: 580: 576: 572: 568: 564: 560: 556: 552: 548: 544: 540: 536: 533:The proposed 531: 529: 525: 519: 515: 507: 505: 503: 499: 495: 491: 487: 483: 479: 474: 467: 465: 463: 459: 455: 451: 447: 442: 440: 436: 431: 429: 425: 421: 417: 413: 409: 405: 400: 398: 394: 389: 387: 382: 378: 374: 371:According to 369: 367: 363: 359: 353: 349: 345: 341: 333: 331: 329: 324: 322: 318: 314: 310: 306: 302: 298: 297:genetic unity 293: 291: 287: 283: 279: 275: 271: 267: 263: 259: 255: 251: 247: 243: 239: 235: 231: 226: 224: 223: 218: 214: 210: 205: 201: 197: 193: 189: 185: 175: 169: 164: 161: 158: 156: 152: 148: 144: 142: 138: 134: 125: 122: 119: 116: 113: 110: 106: 100: 97: 94: 91: 88: 85: 82: 79: 78: 77: 70: 67: 63: 59: 57: 53: 50: 47: 41: 36: 31: 19: 7275: 7267: 7252: 7246:Dima-Bottego 7244: 7232:Unclassified 7214: 7206: 7183: 7176: 7153: 7146: 7139: 7132: 7106:Soninke–Bozo 7104: 7097: 7067: 7060: 7053: 7046: 7039: 7032: 7024:Central West 6875: 6862: 6855: 6848: 6806: 6799: 6787: 6763: 6739: 6722: 6715: 6708: 6701: 6694: 6687: 6680: 6651: 6644: 6637: 6630: 6623: 6616: 6591: 6584: 6564: 6557: 6550: 6543: 6523: 6516: 6509: 6469: 6464:Sere (Ndogo) 6462: 6450: 6443: 6436: 6429: 6394: 6371: 6351: 6344: 6337: 6325: 6318: 6301: 6294: 6282: 6275: 6268: 6233: 6189: 6182: 6181:Families in 6116: 6067: 5965: 5953: 5803: 5771: 5762:Pano-Tacanan 5719: 5682: 5670: 5641:Arutani–Sape 5633: 5578: 5560: 5553: 5538:Oto-Manguean 5536: 5519: 5512: 5459: 5447: 5440: 5433: 5426: 5419: 5392: 5385: 5362: 5355: 5343: 5316: 5294: 5287: 5275: 5263: 5246: 5239: 5232: 5225: 5218: 5206: 5199: 5158: 5125: 5121:Western Daly 5099:Pama–Nyungan 5097: 5085: 5078: 5065: 5043: 5038:Eastern Daly 5036: 5028: 4983: 4859: 4847: 4825: 4808: 4786: 4757:Kaure–Kosare 4717:Doso–Turumsa 4707:Chimbu–Wahgi 4697:Bulaka River 4681:Austronesian 4679: 4640: 4633: 4614: 4601: 4594: 4587: 4513: 4506: 4499: 4489:Sino-Tibetan 4487: 4470: 4453: 4431: 4424: 4417: 4400: 4390:Austronesian 4388: 4381: 4369: 4315: 4253:Nilo-Saharan 4251: 4245: 4244: 4229:Austronesian 4227: 4220: 4033: 4003: 3984: 3967: 3963: 3954: 3920: 3901: 3890:the original 3871: 3861: 3857: 3848: 3828: 3824: 3799: 3795: 3778: 3774: 3765: 3761: 3748: 3736:the original 3727: 3706: 3696: 3692: 3669: 3644: 3625:. Retrieved 3621: 3612: 3604: 3599: 3586: 3569: 3565: 3559: 3541: 3537: 3520: 3514: 3494: 3488: 3470: 3466: 3460: 3443: 3439: 3433: 3414: 3408: 3389: 3385: 3375: 3364:the original 3359: 3355: 3330: 3326: 3320: 3307: 3286:the original 3281: 3240: 3222: 3217: 3184: 3174: 3155: 3145: 3126: 3116: 3103: 3076: 3066: 3057: 3047: 3038: 3025: 3014:. Retrieved 2992: 2982: 2956: 2951: 2942: 2933: 2922:. Retrieved 2909:. Retrieved 2896: 2884: 2879: 2871: 2863: 2854: 2837: 2832: 2824: 2819: 2811: 2806: 2798: 2793: 2785: 2780: 2772: 2767: 2758: 2745: 2737: 2732: 2724: 2719: 2711: 2691: 2676: 2671: 2644: 2640: 2630: 2618: 2610: 2605: 2585: 2578: 2558: 2551: 2526: 2512: 2502: 2487: 2479: 2476: 2451:noun-initial 2450: 2447:Noun phrases 2445: 2437: 2410: 2400: 2393: 2389: 2385: 2381: 2371: 2361: 2357: 2353: 2349: 2346: 2342: 2339:Zande people 2334: 2326: 2322: 2311: 2303:Morphosyntax 2082: 2062: 2048:nasal vowels 2045: 2036: 2033: 1950: 1902: 1898: 1894: 1890: 1836: 1833: 1782: 1775:consonants. 1769: 1759:phonological 1748: 1697: 1694:Roger Blench 1685: 1670:Nilo-Saharan 1667: 1633: 1611: 1605: 1598: 1587: 1582: 1581: 1577: 1566: 1565: 1546: 1541: 1535: 1530: 1526: 1516: 1510: 1500: 1494: 1479: 1468: 1448: 1438: 1400:Overview map 1375: 1334:The various 1333: 1279:Dogon people 1225: 1171: 1032: 972:: including 957:: including 910:: spoken in 895: 884:, spoken in 870: 865: 831: 815: 797: 781: 747: 742: 733: 695:, spoken in 674:polyphyletic 671: 664: 655: 616: 614: 590:Roger Blench 587: 532: 521: 475: 471: 443: 432: 420:Niger Rivers 401: 390: 373:Roger Blench 370: 355: 325: 294: 227: 220: 213:Austronesian 183: 182: 159: 75:Subdivisions 45:distribution 7300:Proto-Bantu 7125:Kordofanian 7093:Jowulu (Jɔ) 6830:Ivory Coast 6808:Senegambian 6668:Volta–Niger 6646:Grassfields 6536:Cross River 6495:Benue–Congo 6486:Volta–Congo 6373:Central Gur 6234:Niger–Congo 6075:Germanosign 5979:Mura-Pirahã 5860:Lule–Vilela 5836:Bora-Witoto 5811:Uru–Chipaya 5784:Ticuna–Yuri 5767:Peba–Yaguan 5752:Nambikwaran 5555:Uto-Aztecan 5491:Mesoamerica 5345:Uto-Aztecan 5334:Tsimshianic 5296:Palaihnihan 5166:Malak-Malak 4903:Papuan Gulf 4877:West Papuan 4782:Lower Sepik 4772:Lakes Plain 4675:Arai–Samaia 4663:the Pacific 4371:Afroasiatic 4246:Niger–Congo 4222:Afroasiatic 3864:(1): 46–56. 2472:adpositions 2441:auxiliaries 2388:'to love', 2341:are called 1714:singulative 1648:Proto-Bantu 1542:Niger–Congo 1523:Kordofanian 1297:Ijaw people 1260:Kordofanian 1248:Niger Delta 1158:Grassfields 1122:West Beboid 1118:East Beboid 1105:to 500 CE. 1047:Cross River 1034:Benue–Congo 998: 1990 926:, of which 897:Volta–Niger 866:South-Volta 852:; includes 842:Ivory Coast 760:; includes 758:West Africa 743:North-Volta 735:Volta–Congo 691:: includes 623:Kordofanian 563:Benue–Congo 559:Volta–Niger 528:Volta–Congo 422:in central 404:Benue–Congo 184:Niger–Congo 105:Kordofanian 33:Niger–Congo 7320:Categories 6689:Ayere–Ahan 6339:Samba–Duru 6309:Kwah (Baa) 6277:Bikwin–Jen 6069:Francosign 5917:Chiquitano 5897:Alacalufan 5705:Guaicuruan 5678:Chapacuran 5661:Cahuapanan 5629:Araucanian 5532:Mixe–Zoque 5527:Misumalpan 5241:Comecrudan 5093:Nyulnyulan 4872:Upper Yuat 4849:Torricelli 4821:Senu River 4752:Foja Range 4658:New Guinea 4583:Burushaski 4444:Kartvelian 4419:Hmong–Mien 4235:Khoe–Kwadi 3768:(1): 1–43. 3627:2022-05-13 3333:: 108–177. 3016:2020-03-26 2924:2012-12-29 2911:2012-12-29 2494:References 2455:adjectives 2433:word order 2407:Word order 2378:reciprocal 2362:(ta-enda)' 2337:while the 2333:is called 2327:Waswahili. 2323:Kiswahili, 2215:T, H, M, L 2114:Languages 1766:Consonants 1722:noun-class 1662:See also: 1652:Potou-Tano 1618:hypothesis 1607:Dimmendaal 1548:Pozdniakov 1502:Westermann 1025:Ayere-Ahan 1008:Kogi State 1000:estimates) 754:Kru people 658:noun class 625:branches ( 328:noun-class 225:is 1,540. 222:Ethnologue 204:noun class 176:subfamily. 43:Geographic 7079:Northwest 6906:Southeast 6801:Rio Nunez 6593:Mambiloid 6346:Tula–Waja 6270:Bena–Mboi 6100:Tanzanian 6041:languages 5938:Hodï/Joti 5882:Isolates 5821:Yanomaman 5757:Otomákoan 5721:Jirajaran 5710:Guajiboan 5672:Catacaoan 5651:Barbacoan 5580:Cuitlatec 5549:Totonacan 5508:Jicaquean 5387:Chimariko 5283:Muskogean 5265:Kalapuyan 5259:Iroquoian 5234:Chumashan 5227:Chinookan 5220:Chimakuan 5138:Yangmanic 5133:Worrorran 5116:Wagaydyic 5006:Australia 4855:Trans-Fly 4521:Yeniseian 4508:Tyrsenian 4402:Dravidian 3937:772580339 3929:1011-6737 3225:, p. 146. 3060:(18): 19. 2647:: 28–35. 2467:genitives 2398:causative 2384:(Swahili 2352:is 'good 2253:Dan-Santa 1745:Phonology 1718:plurative 1568:Glottolog 1076:Mambiloid 618:Glottolog 537:combines 379:in 1922. 258:Ga-Dangme 155:Glottolog 137:ISO 639-2 7272:" ? 7195:Isolates 7069:Vai–Kono 6956:Southern 6823:Others ( 6741:Yoruboid 6511:Jukunoid 6422:Ubangian 6252:Savannas 6236:branches 6133:See also 6110:Isolates 6085:Japanese 6025:Yuracaré 5907:Candoshi 5866:Macro-Jê 5831:Zaparoan 5826:Zamucoan 5816:Witotoan 5799:Tucanoan 5794:Tiniguan 5789:Timotean 5773:Quechuan 5742:Matacoan 5737:Mascoian 5727:Jivaroan 5690:Chibchan 5684:Charruan 5635:Arawakan 5572:Isolates 5503:Chibchan 5379:Isolates 5351:Wakashan 5312:Salishan 5254:Eskaleut 5160:Giimbiyu 5152:Isolates 5061:Jarrakan 5056:Iwaidjan 4913:Isolates 4767:Kutubuan 4635:Sumerian 4571:Isolates 4526:Yukaghir 4495:Tungusic 4461:Mongolic 4449:Koreanic 4408:Eskaleut 4299:Isolates 4283:Ubangian 4150:Archived 4147:archives 4134:Archived 4123:Archived 4110:Archived 4101:Journals 4096:(LLACAN) 4080:Archived 4063:Archived 4022:42810789 3847:(1963). 3182:(2018). 2874:2/5:841. 2694:, 2011). 2684:Archived 2459:numerals 2360:will go 2335:Pazande, 2255:(Mande) 2227:Munzombo 2169:Nafaanra 2098:downstep 2089:Atlantic 2042:Nasality 1852:Purpose 1529:, later 1344:Kordofan 1236:Timbuktu 1189:Jukunoid 945:Yoruboid 799:Ubangian 666:Atlantic 598:Ubangian 543:Ubangian 7280: ? 7263: ? 7257: ? 7249: ? 7241: ? 7219: ? 7211: ? 7202:Bangime 7041:Manding 6938: ? 6914:Eastern 6880: ? 6867: ? 6864:Mangree 6710:Idomoid 6525:Plateau 6503:Platoid 6458:Ngbandi 6391: ? 6379:Kulango 6314:Longuda 6261:Adamawa 6183:italics 6160:Pidgins 6145:Creoles 6095:Swedish 6063:Chinese 6010:Urarina 5995:Puinave 5949:Itonama 5943:Irantxe 5912:Chimane 5842:Chimuan 5747:Nadahup 5666:Cariban 5646:Aymaran 5607:America 5449:Waikuri 5442:Tonkawa 5435:Timucua 5428:Takelma 5421:Siuslaw 5410:Kutenai 5394:Esselen 5357:Wintuan 5318:Shastan 5289:Na-Dene 5277:Maiduan 5214:Caddoan 5188:America 5142:Wagiman 5140:(incl. 5111:Tangkic 5051:Garawan 5024:Bunuban 4985:Tambora 4952:Maybrat 4920:Abinomn 4843:Teberan 4804:Pauwasi 4794:Mairasi 4762:Kiwaian 4642:Tambora 4628:Shompen 4610:Kusunda 4603:Kenaboi 4589:Elamite 4561:Siangic 4543:Kho-Bwa 4537:Hrusish 4455:Kra–Dai 4439:Japonic 4348:Eurasia 4323:Sandawe 4306:Bangime 4271:Songhay 3816:4391154 2649:Bibcode 2453:, with 2401:pendeza 2390:pendana 2380:suffix 2356:people 2343:Azande. 2286:Swahili 2276:Kimwani 2235:Mambila 2193:Yukuben 2161:H, M, L 2155:Lingala 2143:Dagbani 2131:Maninka 2127:Bambara 1730:Plateau 1710:general 1690:Songhay 1674:Sudanic 1594:Bantoid 1460:Meinhof 1317:Bangime 1246:), the 1228:Senegal 1197:Plateau 1163:Jarawan 1138:Menchum 1038:linkage 1013:Idomoid 924:Nigeria 902:linkage 877:linkage 858:Supyire 783:Adamawa 697:Senegal 606:Bantoid 594:Adamawa 539:Adamawa 462:Khoisan 458:Bushmen 424:Nigeria 348:Congoid 334:Origin 286:Swahili 266:Sesotho 246:Lingala 7239:Degere 7172:Defaka 7165:Others 7148:Rashad 7141:Lafofa 7048:Mokole 6946:Tyenga 6942:Shanga 6884:Siamou 6771:Bijago 6724:Nupoid 6717:Igboid 6653:Tivoid 6625:Beboid 6586:Dakoid 6518:Kainji 6407:Tusian 6396:Senufo 6384:Miyobe 6327:Mumuye 6058:BANZSL 6020:Yamana 6005:Trumai 5974:Movima 5928:Fulniô 5891:Aikanã 5805:Tupian 5700:Chonan 5624:Arauan 5562:Xincan 5514:Lencan 5467:Yokuts 5364:Yukian 5329:Tanoan 5324:Siouan 5307:Pomoan 5248:Coosan 5074:Mirndi 4967:Porome 4962:Pawaia 4816:Senagi 4788:Madang 4737:Eleman 4692:Border 4623:Nihali 4616:Minoan 4596:Hattic 4578:Basque 4549:Mijiic 4531:Digaro 4515:Uralic 4501:Turkic 4352:Europe 4209:Africa 4020: 4010: 3991: 3948:. 2.2. 3935: 3927: 3908: 3882: 3814: 3714: 3676: 3651: 3527: 3501: 3421: 3251: 3205: 3162: 3133: 3091: 3007: 2889:p. 717 2593: 2566: 2519: 2488:inside 2394:pendea 2354:(zuri) 2249:Ashuku 2189:Dangme 2181:Yoruba 2165:Yakuba 2069:Yoruba 1779:Vowels 1323:Siamou 1193:Kainji 1114:Esimbi 1110:Tivoid 1058:Dakoid 991:Nupoid 970:Igboid 949:Yoruba 854:Senari 833:Senufo 822:Mooré) 792:Mumuye 768:, and 766:Nyabwa 699:, and 649:, and 635:Heiban 631:Talodi 627:Lafofa 608:, and 573:, and 571:Yoruba 502:Rashad 500:, and 490:Defaka 350:, and 321:Rashad 319:, and 280:, and 234:Yoruba 198:, the 118:Siamou 99:Lafofa 49:Africa 7261:Rimba 7254:Omaio 7216:Komta 7208:Jalaa 7185:Ijoid 7178:Dogon 7134:Katla 6990:Yaure 6922:Bissa 6898:Mande 6839:Dompo 6825:Ghana 6783:Limba 6735:Ukaan 6696:Edoid 6682:Akpes 6676:Akoko 6639:Ekoid 6632:Bendi 6618:Bantu 6599:Tikar 6559:Ogoni 6471:Zande 6438:Gbaya 6431:Banda 6412:Viemo 6402:Tiefo 6015:Warao 5984:Nukak 5955:Kunza 5933:Guató 5922:Cofán 5902:Camsá 5695:Choco 5656:Boran 5605:South 5586:Huave 5521:Mayan 5472:Yuchi 5455:Washo 5405:Karuk 5400:Haida 5339:Utian 5271:Keres 5208:Alsea 5201:Algic 5186:North 4978:Taiap 4972:Sulka 4827:Sepik 4742:Engan 4483:Ongan 4466:Nivkh 4334:Shabo 4317:Jalaa 4311:Hadza 4265:Mande 4116:(LLA) 3970:(2). 3893:(PDF) 3876:(PDF) 3812:JSTOR 3753:(PDF) 3739:(PDF) 3732:(PDF) 3367:(PDF) 3352:(PDF) 3312:(PDF) 3289:(PDF) 3278:(PDF) 3245:(PDF) 3189:(pdf) 3035:(PDF) 2905:(PDF) 2755:(PDF) 2429:Dogon 2425:Ijoid 2421:Mande 2386:penda 2272:Wolof 2231:Igede 2185:Jukun 2177:Banda 2173:Kasem 2147:Gbaya 2139:Dogon 2135:Temne 2123:Dyula 2111:Tones 2085:tonal 2073:Zialo 2065:Kasem 1840:Wolof 1464:Bantu 1456:Bleek 1386:Jalaa 1307:Mande 1289:Ijoid 1275:Dogon 1264:Mandé 1258:(the 1252:Ijoid 1244:Dogon 1240:Mande 1232:Niger 1222:Other 1203:Ukaan 1173:Bantu 1153:Mamfe 1144:Ekoid 1098:from 1083:Bendi 1070:Tikar 1017:Idoma 965:Akoko 955:Edoid 920:Benin 912:Ghana 886:Ghana 850:Ghana 705:Sahel 693:Wolof 682:Wolof 651:Dogon 647:Mande 643:Ijoid 610:Bantu 498:Katla 494:Ijoid 482:Mande 478:Dogon 454:Pygmy 416:Benue 397:Sudan 362:Sahel 317:Katla 309:Mande 305:Dogon 282:Mooré 270:Xhosa 262:Shona 174:Bantu 93:Ijoid 87:Mande 81:Dogon 7277:Wawu 7223:Laal 7088:Bobo 7034:Jogo 7017:West 6995:Mano 6986:Guro 6981:Beng 6977:Gban 6972:Tura 6931:Boko 6927:Busa 6877:Mpra 6871:Mbre 6828:and 6795:Nalu 6778:Gola 6296:Fali 6190:bold 6117:See 6053:Arab 6039:Sign 5990:Páez 5967:Maku 5961:Leco 5477:Zuni 5461:Yana 5415:Seri 5172:Tiwi 4992:Wiru 4957:Mpur 4947:Kuot 4930:Anêm 4925:Abun 4892:Yuat 4887:Yawa 4833:Skou 4810:Ramu 4661:and 4555:Miju 4377:Ainu 4357:Asia 4355:and 4328:Laal 4289:Kadu 4277:Ijaw 4240:Kx'a 4018:OCLC 4008:ISBN 3989:ISBN 3933:OCLC 3925:ISSN 3906:ISBN 3880:ISBN 3712:ISBN 3674:ISBN 3649:ISBN 3525:ISBN 3499:ISBN 3419:ISBN 3249:ISBN 3203:ISBN 3160:ISBN 3131:ISBN 3089:ISBN 3041:: 2. 3005:ISBN 2591:ISBN 2564:ISBN 2517:ISBN 2480:SOVX 2465:and 2427:and 2358:(tu) 2282:none 2268:Fula 2260:PA/S 2223:Wobe 2219:Gban 2209:Igbo 2201:Anyi 2197:Akan 2151:Efik 2119:H, L 2079:Tone 1732:and 1599:The 1384:and 1382:Mpre 1378:Laal 1293:Ijaw 1283:Mali 1268:Ijaw 1266:and 1230:and 1211:Tita 1167:Mbam 1134:Buru 1130:Furu 1126:Momo 974:Igbo 937:YEAI 922:and 916:Togo 882:Akan 856:and 846:Mali 844:and 770:Dida 762:Bété 701:Fula 680:and 678:Fula 672:The 633:and 575:Igbo 545:and 516:and 456:and 444:The 418:and 278:Akan 274:Zulu 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Index