Niger-Congo

-Families, and

What were the first language families to break off?

Mande and Kordofanian

What are the most widely spoken languages in Africa?

• Swahili

• Hausa

• Amharic

• Yoruba

• Igbo

• Fula

Where is Swahili Spoken and what phyla?

Niger-Congo, East and central Africa

Where is Hausa spoken? what phyla

West Africa, Afroasiatic

Where is Amharic Spoken? What phyla?

Ethiopia, Afroasiatic

Where is Yoruba spoken? what phyla?

Niger-Congo, Nigeria

Where is Igbo spoken, what phyla

Nigeria, Niger-congo

Where is fula spoken, what phyla

West Africa, Niger-congo

What were the reasons that delayed reconstruction?

• prejudice by Europeans

• Large number of languages — multilingualism and multiple ethnicities

• Inaccessibility of Data

• Paucity of able researchers

  • field workers not trained

  • field workers not sensitive to tone

3 characteristics used to classify niger-congo

1. noun class systems that mark singular/plural alternations with affixes

2. verbal extensions

   1. extensions added to verbs that change their meaning

3. sound meaning correspondence

   1. note: Kordofanian n= corresponds to niger-congo m- in noun class prefixes

why did bennet and Sterk say kordofanian should be the first to break off?

because of few lexical cognates

why did bennet and sterk say mande should be the second earliest family to break off?

because of complete loss of noun class

Carl Meinhof

• carried out a reconstruction of bantu

• helped establish comparative study

• studied bantu langauges comparatively

Diedrich Westermann

• Student of Carl Meinhof

• Worked extensively on African languages, especially languages of the Sudan/West Africa

• Proposed Proto-West Sudanic reconstructions

  • Reconstructed CV forms

• Divided Sudanic into:

  • West Sudanic

  • East Sudanic

• Compared West Sudanic with Proto-Bantu

  • Used similarities in CVCV structure/reconstructions to investigate relationships

• Described languages spoken around the Nile as Nilotic

Typological classification compares what?

• phonology

• morphology

• syntax

• word order

• noun classes

• prefixes/suffixes

• Tone

Genetic Classification compares what?

• regular sound correspondences

• shared inherited vocabulary

• reconstructed ancestral forms

• shared grammatical morphology

Joseph Greenberg

• student of Westermann

• developed classification of African languages into four phyla

• used mass comparison and genetic classification methods

• important things:

  • combined West Sudanic and Bantu → Niger-Congo

  • combined East Sudanic (including Nilotic subgroup) → Nilo-Saharan

What are examples of Niger-Congo languages?

• Wolof

• Fulfulde

• Manding

• Akan

• Yoruba

• Sango

• Swahili

• Zulu

• Kikuyu

What makes Mande distinct?

no noun class system

What are the characteristics of the kordofanian family?

• small languages

• location: Nuba mountains of the republic of Sudan

• Four groups: Heiban, Talodi, Rashad, Katla

• Noun class affixes correspond to those of Niger-Congo

Where is Kordofanian Spoken?

Nuba mountains of the republic of Sudan

What are the major Kordofanian subgroups?

Heiban, Talodi, Rashad, Katla

Other key characteristics of Kordofanian

• noun class affixes correspond to those of niger-congo in a regular way

• small languages

Where is Mande Spoken?

western half of west africa (Mali, Guinea, Senegal, Gambia, ivory coast, burkina faso)

What are examples of Mande languages?

Manding, Koranko (West Mande), Mano and Bisa (Easte Mande), Bambara (Mali), Dyula (ivory coast)

Other key characteristics of Mande

• 10-12 million speakers

• Most speakers (half) are of manding

Where are atlantic languages spoken?

along the atlantic coastline of West Africa

What are the largest atlantic languages?

• Fulfude — West Central Africa

• Wolof — senegal/gambia

• Diola — Senegal

• Serer — Senegal

• Temne — Sierra leone

What are the 3 main subgroups of the Atlantic family

• North

• Bijago

• South

What family is a small family in the Niger Delta in Nigeria

Ijoid

What are some languages in the Ijoid Family

• Defaka

• Nkoro

• Ijo

• Izon

Other key characteristic of Ijoid

• closely related internally but very distinct from other Niger-congo families

Where are Dogon languages mainly spoken?

Mali and Burkina faso

What is a key characteristic of Dogon

• it is a single language with about 15 dialects

• approximately 500,000 speakers

• classified with North Volta congo

What are the 3 families of North Volta Congo

• Kru

• Gur

• Adamawa-Ubangi

Where is Kru spoken?

• Ivory coast

• Liberia

Where is Gur spoken?

• spoken in a belt of the savannah extending through:

  • Mali

  • Ivory coast

  • Togo

  • Benin

  • Burkina faso

  • Nigeria

Where is Adamawa-Ubangi spoken?

• Northwest Nigeria

• Cameroon

• Southern Chad

• Central African Republic

• DRC

• *1.5 million speakers

South Volta Congo includes what languages?

• Kwa

• Benue-Congo

Where are the key characteristics of Kwa

• 20 M speakers

• location: Atlantic coast of west africa — ivory coast — Nigeria

Examples of Kwa languages

• Akan

• Ewe

• Ebrie

Benue Congo is divided into?

• West Benue Congo

• East Benue Congo

West Benue Congo includes? (two largest groups)

• Yoruba

• Igbo

3 major East Benue Congo ?

• Central Nigerian (Berom, Eggon, Jukun)

• Cross river (Efik, Ibibio, Ejagham)

• Bantoid

Bantoid contains what major language group?

Bantu (south bantoid)

Subdivisions of Bantoid

• North bantoid

• South Bantoid

Key characteristics of Bantu

• 400 languages

• Largest and best known

• large number of cognates

• full noun class systems, verbal extensions,3rd person concord with noun class

examples of bantu languages

• Swahili

• Zulu

• Xhosa

• Shona

Where is wolof spoken?

Senegal (Atlantic)

Where is Fulfude Spoken?

West and central Africa (atlantic)

Where is manding spoken?

west africa (mande)

Where is Akan spoken?

Ghana (Kwa ~ south volta congo)

where is Sango spoken?

Central African republic (adamawa-ubangi)

Where is Swahili spoken?

East and central africa (bantu)

Where is zulu spoken?

south africa (bantu)

Where is kikuyu spoken?

Kenya (bantu)