Niger-Congo languages
The Niger-Congo languages are probably the largest group of the world in terms of different languages. Some of the African languages with the largest number of speakers belong to it.
Joseph H. Greenberg was the first to identify the boundaries of this family, which he called Niger-Kordofanian, in his book Languages of Africa. John Bendor-Samuel introduced the name Niger-Congo for the whole family, which is in current use among linguists. (see Kordofanian languages)
The major languages or subgroups belonging to Niger-Congo are
- Westatlantic: includes Wolof, spoken in Senegal, and Fulfulde, a language spoken across the Sahel.
- Manding: spoken in West Africa; includes Bambara, the language spoken in Mali.
- Kwa: includes Akan, spoken in Ghana and the Gbe languages, spoken in Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria, of which Ewe is best known.
- The Yoruba and Igbo languages, spoken in Nigeria.
- Gur: spoken among others in Côte d'Ivoire, Togo, Burkina Faso and Mali.
- Kru: spoken in West Africa, include Bété, Nyabwa, and Dida.
- Adamawa-Ubangi: includes Sango, spoken in the Central African Republic)
- Bantu: a very large group, includes Swahili (Kiswahili).
Some linguists link the thirty or so Kordofanian languages to the Niger-Congo family, forming a Niger-Kordofanian language family. While a plausible hypothesis, this idea is still generally regarded as not proven.
The Laal, Mpre, and Jalaa languages are often linked with Niger-Congo, but have yet to be conclusively classified.
References
- Joseph H. Greenberg, The Languages of Africa. Indiana Univ. Press (1966).
- Bernd Heine and Derek Nurse, African Languages - An Introduction. Cambridge Univ. press (2000)
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