Niger–Congo languages
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Niger–Congo | |
---|---|
Niger–Kordofanian | |
(hypothetical) | |
Geographic distribution | Africa |
Linguistic classification | Proposed language family |
Proto-language | Proto-Niger–Congo language |
Subdivisions |
|
ISO 639-2 / 5 | nic |
Glottolog | None |
Map showing the distribution of major Niger–Congo languages. Pink-red is the Bantu subfamily. |
Niger–Congo is a hypothetical language family spoken over the majority of sub-Saharan Africa.[1] It unites the Mande languages, the Atlantic–Congo languages (which share a characteristic noun class 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 Africa's largest in terms of geographical area.[2] It is generally considered to be the world's largest language family in terms of the number of distinct languages,[3][4] just ahead of Austronesian, although this is complicated by the ambiguity about what constitutes a distinct language; the number of named Niger–Congo languages listed by Ethnologue is 1,540.[5]
The proposed family would be the third-largest language family in the world by number of native speakers, comprising around 700 million people as of 2015. Within Niger–Congo, the
While the ultimate
One of the most distinctive characteristics common to Atlantic–Congo languages is the use of a
Origin
The language family most likely originated in or near the area where these languages were spoken prior to Bantu expansion (i.e. West Africa or Central Africa). Its expansion may have been associated with the expansion of Sahel agriculture in the African Neolithic period, following the desiccation of the Sahara in c. 3500 BCE.[7][8]
According to
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 Kordofanian languages, now spoken in the Nuba mountains of Sudan, 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.[13] 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.
There is more agreement regarding the place of origin of
The classification of the relatively divergent family of the Ubangian languages, centred in the Central African Republic, as part of the Niger–Congo language family is disputed. Ubangian was grouped with Niger–Congo by Greenberg (1963), and later authorities concurred,[19] but it was questioned by Dimmendaal (2008).[20]
The
Major branches
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.
The core phylum of the Niger–Congo group are the Atlantic–Congo languages. The non-Atlantic–Congo languages within Niger–Congo are grouped as
Atlantic–Congo
The proposed Savannas group combines Adamawa, Ubangian and Gur. Outside of the Savannas group, Volta–Congo comprises Kru, Kwa (or "West Kwa"), Volta–Niger (also "East Kwa" or "West Benue–Congo") and Benue–Congo (or "East Benue–Congo"). Volta–Niger includes the two largest languages of Nigeria, Yoruba and Igbo. Benue–Congo includes the Southern Bantoid group, which is dominated by the Bantu languages, which account for 350 million people (2015), or half the total Niger–Congo speaking population.
The strict genetic unity of any of these subgroups may themselves be under dispute. For example, Roger Blench (2012) argued that Adamawa, Ubangian, Kwa, Bantoid, and Bantu are not coherent groups.[22]
Although the Kordofanian branch is generally included in the Niger–Congo languages, some researchers do not agree with its inclusion.
The Atlantic–Congo group is characterised by the noun class systems of its languages. Atlantic–Congo largely corresponds to Mukarovsky's "Western Nigritic" phylum.[24]
- Atlantic
The
- Senegambian languages: includes Wolof, spoken in Senegal, and Fula, spoken across the Sahel.
- Bak languages, sometimes grouped with Senegambian
- Mel languages
- Limba language
- Gola language
- Volta–Congo
- North-Volta
- .
- Adamawa-Ubangi:
- Adamawa: close to 100 languages and dialects scattered across the Adamawa Plateau, spoken by an estimated total of 1.6 million as of 1996; the largest is Mumuye, accounting for about a quarter of Adamawa speakers.
- Ubangian: a group of minor languages spoken in the Central African Republic. May be an independent family or grouped with Adamawa as "Adamawa-Ubangi".
- Mooré), with over 12 million speakers. Gur and Adamawa-Ubangi have also been grouped as Savannas languages.
- Senari and Supyire. Senufo has been placed traditionally within Gur but is now usually considered an early offshoot from Atlantic–Congo.
- South-Volta
- (9 million in 2015).
- Volta–Niger (also known as "West Benue–Congo" or "East Kwa"): a large linkage[25] of West African languages, accounting for roughly 110–120 million speakers (late 2010s).
- Gbe: spoken in Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria, of which Ewe (7 million speakers in 2017) is the largest and best known.
- "YEAI": a large group of languages centred on Nigeria, accounting for about 100 million speakers (late 2010s)
- "NOI":
- Nupoid: c. 3 million (c. 1990 estimates)
- Oko: a minor dialect continuum spoken in Kogi State
- Idomoid: group of languages of central Nigeria, including Idomawith 1 to 2 million speakers (2010s)
- Ayere-Ahan (moribund or extinct)
- Benue–Congo linkage[25] (East Benue–Congo)
- Bantoid-Cross:
- Cross River
- Northern Bantoid:
- Bendi
- Southern Bantoid: includes the far-flung Bantu languages spread across Sub-Saharan Africa in the Bantu expansion from c. 1000 BCE to 500 CE.
- Tivoid-Beboid: a large range of languages of southwestern Cameroon and southeastern Nigeria: Buru?, Menchum?
- Ekoid-Mbe
- Mamfe
- Grassfields
- Jarawan-Mbam
- Bantu: divided into Guthrie zones A–S, for a total of between 250 and 550 named languages.
- Tivoid-Beboid: a large range of languages of southwestern Cameroon and southeastern Nigeria:
- Central Nigerian (Platoid): Jukunoid, Kainji, Plateau
- other languages unclassified within Benue–Congo: Ukaan, Fali of Baissa, Tita.
- Bantoid-Cross:
Other
The putative Niger–Congo languages outside of the Atlantic–Congo family are centred in the upper Senegal and Niger river basins, south and west of Timbuktu (Mande, Dogon), the Niger Delta (Ijoid), and far to the east in south-central Sudan, around the Nuba Mountains (the Kordofanian families). They account for a total population of about 100 million (2015), mostly Mandé and Ijaw.
- Dogon: languages of the Dogon people of Mali, estimated at 1.6 million as of 2013. May have a noun-class system related to the Atlantic–Congo languages.
- Ijoid: Ijaw, the languages of the Ijaw people (3 million as of 2011), plus the moribund Defaka language.
- Mande: languages of the Mandé peoples, estimated at 70 million as of 2016
- Bangime, spoken in Dogon country but seemingly unrelated to Dogon.
- Siamou, once classified as Kru.
"Kordofanian"
The various Kordofanian languages are spoken in south-central Sudan, around the Nuba Mountains. "Kordofanian" is a geographic grouping, not a genetic one, named for the Kordofan 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.[26]
- Talodi languages
- Heiban languages
- Lafofa languages
- Rashad languages
- Katla languages
The endangered or extinct
-
Overview map
-
Overview map of Benin, Nigeria and Cameroon
-
Table of demographic estimates in the same color code as the maps (est. 400 million speakers as of 2007)
Classification history
Early classifications
Niger–Congo as it is known today was only gradually recognized as a linguistic unit. In early classifications of the
In many cases, wider classifications employed a blend of typological and racial criteria. Thus, Friedrich Müller, in his ambitious classification (1876–88), separated the 'Negro' and Bantu languages. Likewise, the Africanist Karl Richard Lepsius considered Bantu to be of African origin, and many 'Mixed Negro languages' as products of an encounter between Bantu and intruding Asiatic languages.
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 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.
Westermann, Greenberg, and others
Westermann, a pupil of Meinhof, set out to establish the internal classification of the then Sudanic languages. 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.
Bennet and Sterk (1977) presented an internal reclassification based on lexicostatistics that laid the foundation for the regrouping in Bendor-Samuel (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 Niger–Congo, 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.
Glottolog (2013) accepts the core with noun-class systems, the Atlantic–Congo languages, 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.
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 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."[28]
Oxford Handbooks Online (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."[29]
The coherence of Niger–Congo as a language phylum is supported by Grollemund, et al. (2016), using
The Automated Similarity Judgment Program (ASJP) also groups many Niger–Congo branches together.
Dimmendaal, 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."[31]
Good (2020) stated: "First proposed by Greenberg (1949), Niger–Congo (NC) has for decades been treated as one of the four major phyla of
Reconstruction
The lexicon of
Niger–Congo and Nilo-Saharan
Over the years, several linguists have suggested a link between Niger–Congo and
Common features
Phonology
Niger–Congo languages have a clear preference for
Consonants
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 fortis and lenis consonants.
Vowels
Many Niger–Congo languages'
[+ATR] | [−ATR] |
---|---|
[i] | [ɪ] |
[e] | [ɛ] |
[ə] | [a] |
[o] | [ɔ] |
[u] | [ʊ] |
The roots are then divided into [+ATR] and [−ATR] categories. This feature is lexically assigned to the roots because there is no determiner within a normal root that causes the [ATR] value.[36]
There are two types of [ATR] vowel harmony controllers in Niger–Congo. The first controller is the root. When a root contains a [+ATR] or [−ATR] vowel, then that value is applied to the rest of the word, which involves crossing morpheme boundaries.[37] For example, suffixes in Wolof assimilate to the [ATR] value of the root to which they attach. The following examples of these suffixes alternate depending on the root.[36]
[+ATR] | [−ATR] | Purpose |
---|---|---|
-le | -lɛ | 'participant' |
-o | -ɔ | 'nominalizing' |
-əl | -al | 'benefactive' |
Furthermore, the directionality of assimilation in [ATR] root-controlled vowel harmony need not be specified. The root features [+ATR] and [−ATR] spread left and/or right as needed, so that no vowel would lack a specification and be ill-formed.[38]
Unlike in the root-controlled harmony system, where the two [ATR] values behave symmetrically, a large number of Niger–Congo languages exhibit a pattern where the [+ATR] value is more active or dominant than the [−ATR] value.[39] This results in the second vowel harmony controller being the [+ATR] value. If there is even one vowel that is [+ATR] in the whole word, then the rest of the vowels harmonize with that feature. However, if there is no vowel that is [+ATR], the vowels appear in their underlying form.[37] 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 [−ATR] vowels in a word to become phonetically [+ATR].[39]
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 [ATR] value of the word, and instead maintain their own [ATR] value. The vowels that follow them, however, will receive the [ATR] value of the root. Opaque vowels maintain their own [ATR] value as well, but they affect the harmony process behind them. All of the vowels following an opaque vowel will harmonize with the [ATR] value of the opaque vowel instead of the [ATR] vowel of the root.[36]
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
[+ATR] | [−ATR] |
---|---|
[i] | [ɪ] |
[e] | [ɛ] |
[a] | |
[o] | [ɔ] |
[u] | [ʊ] |
And seven-vowel languages have one of two inventories:
[+ATR] | [−ATR] |
---|---|
[i] | [ɪ] |
[ɛ] | |
[a] | |
[ɔ] | |
[u] | [ʊ] |
[+ATR] | [−ATR] |
---|---|
[i] | |
[e] | [ɛ] |
[a] | |
[o] | [ɔ] |
[u] |
Note that in the nine-vowel language, the missing vowel is, in fact, [ə], [a]'s counterpart, as would be expected.[42]
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.[43][44][45] On the other hand, Stewart, in recent comparative work, reconstructs a seven-vowel system for his proto-Potou-Akanic-Bantu.[46]
Nasality
Several scholars have documented a contrast between oral and
Niger–Congo languages commonly show fewer nasalized than oral vowels.
Tone
The large majority of present-day Niger–Congo languages are
Tones | Languages |
---|---|
H, L | Lingala
|
H, M, L | |
T, H, M, L | |
T, H, M, L, B | Dan-Santa (Mande)
|
PA/S | Kimwani
|
none | Swahili |
Abbreviations used: T top, H high, M mid, L low, B bottom, PA/S pitch-accent or stress Adapted from Williamson 1989:27 |
Morphosyntax
Noun classification
Niger–Congo languages are known for their system of
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, watu wazuri wataenda is 'good (zuri) people (tu) will go (ta-enda)'.
Verbal extensions
The same Atlantic–Congo languages which have noun classes also have a set of
Word order
A
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, auxiliaries. 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).
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,[50] creating a SOVX word order. Also noteworthy in these languages is the prevalence of internally headed and correlative relative clauses, in both of which the head occurs inside the relative clause rather than the main clause.
References
- ISBN 9780191007378.
The term [Niger–Congo], 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 hypothesis of genealogical relationship between the referential NC languages that has not been proven (p.139)
- ^ a b Irene Thompson, "Niger-Congo Language Family", "aboutworldlanguages", March 2015
- ISBN 9780521666299.
- ISBN 9783110184181.
- ^ Simons, Gary F. and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). 2018. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Twenty-first edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International.
- ^ "Niger-Congo Languages", "The Language Gulper", March 2015
- .
- ^ Igor Kopytoff, The African Frontier: The Reproduction of Traditional African Societies (1989), 9–10 (cited after Igbo Language Roots and (Pre)-History Archived 2019-07-17 at the Wayback Machine, A Mighty Tree, 2011).
- ^ a b Blench, Roger, The Benue-Congo languages: a proposed internal classification.[unreliable source?] "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. The Niger–Congo Languages. Lanham: University Press of America.
- ^ Westermann, D. 1922a. Die Sprache der Guang. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer.
- ^ Greenberg, J.H. 1964. Historical inferences from linguistic research in sub-Saharan Africa. Boston University Papers in African History, 1:1–15.
- ^ Blench, Roger. "Unpublished Working Draft" (PDF). www.rogerblench.info.
- ^ Herman Bell. 1995. The Nuba Mountains: Who Spoke What in 1976?. (The published results from a major project of the Institute of African and Asian Studies: the Language Survey of the Nuba Mountains.)
- ^ Williamson, K. 1971. The Benue–Congo languages and Ijo. Current Trends in Linguistics, 7. ed. T. Sebeok 245–306. The Hague: Mouton.
- ^ Williamson, K. 1988. Linguistic evidence for the prehistory of the Niger Delta. The early history of the Niger Delta, edited by E.J. Alagoa, F.N. Anozie and N. Nzewunwa. Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlag.
- ^ Williamson, K. 1989. Benue–Congo Overview. In The Niger–Congo Languages. J. Bendor-Samuel ed. Lanham: University Press of America.
- ^ De Wolf, P. 1971. The noun class system of Proto-Benue–Congo. The Hague: Mouton.
- ^ Blench, R.M. 1989. A proposed new classification of Benue–Congo languages. Afrikanische Arbeitspapiere, Köln, 17:115–147.
- ^ a b Williamson, Kay; Blench, Roger (2000). "Niger-Congo". In Bernd Heine; Derek Nurse (eds.). African Languages: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press. pp. 11–12.
- ^ Gerrit Dimmendaal (2008) "Language Ecology and Linguistic Diversity on the African Continent", Language and Linguistics Compass 2/5:841.
- ^ Martin H. Steinberg, Disorders of Hemoglobin: Genetics, Pathophysiology, and Clinical Management, Cambridge University Press, 2001, p. 717.
- ^ "Niger-Congo: an alternative view" (PDF). Rogerblench.info. Retrieved 2012-12-29. "Roger Blench: Niger-Congo reconstruction". Rogerblench.info. Retrieved 2012-12-29.
- ^ "Glottolog 3.4 -". glottolog.org.
- ^ Hans G. Mukarovsky, A Study of Western Nigritic, 2 vols. (1976–1977). Blench (2004): "Almost simultaneously [with Greenberg (1963)], 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."
- ^ a b c Blench, Roger. 2012. Niger-Congo: an alternative view.
- ISBN 978-0-19-993534-5. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
- ^ Pozdniakov, Konstantin (September 18–21, 2012). "From Atlantic to Niger-Congo: three, two, one ..." (PDF). Towards Proto-Niger-Congo: Comparison and Reconstruction International Congress: 2.
- ^ Babaev, Kirill (2013). "Joseph Greenberg and the Current State of Niger-Congo". Journal of the Association for the Study of Language in Prehistory (18): 19.
- ISBN 978-0-19-993534-5– via www.oxfordhandbooks.com.
- ^ Rebecca Grollemund, Simon Branford, Jean-Marie Hombert & Mark Pagel. 2016. Genetic unity of the Niger-Congo family. Towards Proto-Niger-Congo: comparison and reconstruction (2nd International Congress)
- ISBN 978-0-19-872381-3.
- ISBN 978-0-19-960989-5.
- ISBN 978-3-96110-098-9.
- ^ Tom Gueldemann (2018) Historical linguistics and genealogical language classification in Africa, p. 146.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-57473-453-9.
- ^ a b c Unseth, Carla (2009). "Vowel Harmony in Wolof" (PDF). Occasional Papers in Applied Linguistics (2–3). Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 3, 2013.
- ^ a b Bakovic, Eric (2000). Harmony, Dominance and Control (PDF) (PhD dissertation). Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. p. ii.
- ^ Clements, G. N. (1981). "Akan vowel harmony: A non-linear analysis". Harvard Studies in Phonology. 2: 108–177.
- ^ a b Casali, Roderic F. (2002). "Nawuri ATR Harmony in Typological Perspective" (PDF). Journal of West African Languages. 29 (1). Summer Institute of Linguistics. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 30, 2014.
- .
- ISBN 0-262-01137-9.
- .
- . (Re: proto-Atlantic)
- ISBN 3-89645-124-3. (Re: proto-Ijoid)
- . (Re: proto-Volta-Conga)
- .
- ^ 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 Gbe languages: nasality), and Bole-Richard (1984, 1985) as cited in Williamson (1989) for similar reports on several Mande, Gur, Kru, Kwa, and Ubangi languages.
- ^ As noted by Williamson (1989:24). The assumptions are from Ferguson's (1963) 'Assumptions about nasals' in Greenberg (ed.) Universals of Language, pp 50–60 as cited in Williamson art.cit.
- ^ "Niger-Congo languages – Widespread characteristics of Niger-Congo languages | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
- ^ ISBN 0-19-925591-1
Further reading
- Bendor-Samuel, John; Hartell, Rhonda L., eds. (1989). The Niger-Congo Languages: A Classification and Description of Africa's Largest Language Family. University Press of America. ISBN 9780819173751.
- Bennett, Patrick R.; Sterk, Jan P. (1977). "South Central Niger-Congo: A reclassification". Studies in African Linguistics. 8 (3): 241–273.
- Blench, Roger (January 1995). "Is Niger-Congo simply a branch of Nilo-Saharan?". In Nicolaï, Robert; Rottland, Franz (eds.). Actes du Cinquième Colloque de Linguistique Nilo-Saharienne: 24 - 29 août 1992, Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis. Nilo-Saharan. Vol. 10. pp. 83–130. ISBN 3-927620-72-6.
- Blench, Roger (2011). Can Sino-Tibetan and Austroasiatic help us understand the evolution of Niger-Congo noun classes? (PDF). CALL 41. Leiden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-04-23.
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- Stewart, John M. (1976). Towards Volta-Congo reconstruction: a comparative study of some languages of Black-Africa (Speech). Leiden University.
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External links
Media related to Niger-Congo languages at Wikimedia Commons
- An Evaluation of Niger–Congo Classification, Kenneth Olson
- Tense and Aspect in Niger–Congo, Derek Nurse, Sarah Rose & John Hewson
- Preliminary Niger–Congo classification Archived 2021-05-09 at the Wayback Machine (Guillaume Segerer 2005, LLACAN)
- Swadesh lists of African proto-language reconstructions Archived 2021-08-08 at the Wayback Machine (Guillaume Segerer 2005, LLACAN)
- Phonologies and orthographies of African languages (LLACAN)
- Journals
- Linguistique et Langues Africaines Archived 2021-01-13 at the Wayback Machine (LLA)
- Journal Mandenkan Archived 2011-01-04 at the Wayback Machine (introduction) Archived 2021-01-27 at the Wayback Machine
- Nordic Journal of African Studies (archives Archived 2020-07-11 at the Wayback Machine)
- Journal of West African languages
- Journal of African Languages and Linguistics
Niger–Congo branches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Atlantic–Congo |
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Mande |
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Kordofanian | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Others | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Unclassified |
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Proto-languages |
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Other |