| Benue–Congo | |
|---|---|
| East Benue–Congo | |
| Geographic distribution | Africa, from Nigeria eastwards and southwards |
| Linguistic classification | Niger–Congo?
|
| Subdivisions | |
| Glottolog | benu1247 |
 The Benue–Congo languages shown within the Niger–Congo language family. Non-Benue–Congo languages are greyscale. | |
Benue–Congo (sometimes called East Benue–Congo) is a major branch of the Volta-Congo languages which covers most of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Central Nigerian (or Platoid) contains the Plateau, Jukunoid and Kainji families, and Bantoid–Cross combines the Bantoid and Cross River groups.
Bantoid is only a collective term for every subfamily of Bantoid–Cross except Cross River, and this is no longer seen as forming a valid branch, however one of the subfamilies, Southern Bantoid, is still considered valid. It is Southern Bantoid which contains the Bantu languages, which are spoken across most of Sub-Saharan Africa. This makes Benue–Congo one of the largest subdivisions of the Niger–Congo language family, both in number of languages, of which Ethnologue counts 976 (2017), and in speakers, numbering perhaps 350 million. Benue–Congo also includes a few minor isolates in the Nigeria–Cameroon region, but their exact relationship is uncertain.
The neighbouring Volta–Niger branch of Nigeria and Benin is sometimes called "West Benue–Congo", but it does not form a united branch with Benue–Congo. When Benue–Congo was first proposed by Joseph Greenberg (1963), it included Volta–Niger (as West Benue–Congo); the boundary between Volta–Niger and Kwa has been repeatedly debated. Blench (2012) states that if Benue–Congo is taken to be "the noun-class languages east and north of the Niger", it is likely to be a valid group, though no demonstration of this has been made in print. [1]
The branches of the Benue–Congo family are thought to be as follows:
Ukaan is also related to Benue–Congo; Roger Blench suspects it might be either the most divergent (East) Benue–Congo language or the closest relative to Benue–Congo.
Fali of Baissa and Tita are also Benue–Congo but are otherwise unclassified.
Below is a list of major Benue–Congo branches and their primary locations (centres of diversity) within Nigeria based on Blench (2019). [3]
| Branch | Primary locations |
|---|---|
| Cross River | Cross River, Akwa Ibom, and Rivers States; Cameroon |
| Bendi | Obudu and Ogoja LGAs, Cross River State |
| Mambiloid | Sardauna LGA, Taraba State; Cameroon |
| Dakoid | Mayo Belwa LGA, Taraba State and adjacent areas |
| Jukunoid | Taraba, Benue, Nasarawa, Gombe, Adamawa, Bauchi, and Plateau States of Nigeria; Cameroon |
| Yukubenic | Takum LGA, Taraba State; Cameroon |
| Kainji | Kauru and Lere LGAs, Kaduna State; and Bassa LGA, Plateau State; Kano State; Kainji Lake area of Niger and Kebbi States |
| Plateau | Plateau, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Niger and Bauchi States and the FCT |
| Tivoid | Benue State; Obudu LGA, Cross River State and Sardauna LGA, Taraba State; Nasarawa State; Cameroon |
| Beboid | Takum LGA, Taraba State; Cameroon |
| Ekoid | Ikom and Ogoja LGAs, Cross River State; Cameroon |
| Grassfields | Sardauna LGA, Taraba State; Cameroon |
| Jarawan | Bauchi, Plateau, Adamawa, and Taraba States |
Sample basic vocabulary for reconstructed proto-languages of different Benue-Congo branches:
| Branch | Language | eye | ear | nose | tooth | tongue | mouth | blood | bone | tree | water | eat | name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benue-Congo | Proto-Benue-Congo [4] | *-lito | *-tuŋi | *-zua | *-nini, *-nino; *-sana; *-gaŋgo | *-lemi; *-lake | *-zi; *-luŋ | *-kupe | *-titi; *-kwon | *-izi; *-ni | *-zina | ||
| Kainji | Proto-Northern Jos [5] | **iji (lì-/à-) | *toŋ (ù-/tì-) | *nyimu (bì-/ì-) | *ʔini (lì-/à-) | *lelem (lì-/à-) | *nua (ù-/tì-) | *nyì(aw) (mà-) | *ti (with reduplication) (ù-/tì-) | *nyi (mà-) | *lia | *ji(a) (lì-/sì-) | |
| Plateau | Proto-Jukunoid [6] | *giP (ri-/a-) | *tóŋ (ku-/a-) | *wíǹ (ri-/a-) | *baŋ (ku-/a-); *gyín (ri-/a-) | *déma (ri-/a-) | *ndut (u-/i-) | *yíŋ (ma-) | *kup (ku-/a-) | *kun (ku-/i-) | *mbyed | *dyi | *gyin (ri-/a-) |
| Plateau | Proto-Kagoro [7] | *-gi | *-two | *nii[ŋ] | *-dyam | *-nu[ŋ] | *-suok | *-kup | *-kwan | *-sii | |||
| Plateau | Proto-Jaba [7] | *gu-su | *gu-to[ŋ] | *-gi[ŋ] | *ga-lem | *ga-nyu | *ba-zi | *gu-kup | |||||
| Plateau | Proto-Beromic [7] | *-gis | *-toŋ | *-ɣiŋ | *-lyam | *-nu | *nì-ji | *-kup | *-kon | *-sii | |||
| Plateau | Proto-Ninzic [7] | *ki-sị́ | *ku-tóŋ | *ki-Nyin / *-Nyir | *ì-rem | *-nuŋ / *-n[y]uŋ | *ma-ɣì | *kù-kụp | *ù-kon | *a-ma-sit | |||
| Cross | Proto-Upper Cross [8] | *dyèná | *-ttóŋ(ì) | *dyòná | *-ttân | *-dák | *-mà | *-dè; *-yìŋ | *-kúpà | *-tté | *-nì | *dyá | *-dínà |
| Cross | Proto-Lower Cross [9] | *ɛ́-ɲɛ̀n / *a- | *ú-tɔ́ŋ / *a- | *í-búkó | *é-dɛ̀t / *a- | *ɛ́-lɛ́mɛ̀ / *a- | *í-núà | *-ɟìːp | *ɔ́-kpɔ́ | *é-tíé | *ˊ-mɔ́ːŋ | *líá | *ɛ́-ɟɛ́n |
| Cross | Proto-Ogoni [10] | *adɛ́ɛ̃ | *ɔ̀tɔ́̃ | *m̀ bĩɔ́̃ | *àdáNa | *àdídɛ́Nɛ́ | *m̀ miNi, *m̀ muNu | *ákpogó | *èté | m̀ mṹṹ | *dè | *àbée | |
| Grassfields | Proto-Grassfields [11] | *Ít` | *túŋ-li | *L(u)Í` | *sòŋ´ | *lím` | *cùl` | *lém`; *cÌ´ | *gÚp; *kúi(n)´ | *tí´ | *LÍb; *kÌ´; *mò´ | *lÍa | *lÍn`; *kúm |
| Grassfields | Proto-Ring [12] | *túɛ̀ | *túndé | *dúì, *tɔ́ŋ | *túŋɔ̀, *góìk | *dɔ́mì, *dídè | *dúɔ̀ | *dúŋá, *káŋù | *gúpɛ́ | *kák`, *tíɛ́ | *múɔ̀ | *dúɛ̀ | *dítɔ́, *gíd' |
| Bantu | Proto-Bantu [13] | *i=jíco | *kʊ=tʊ́i | *i=jʊ́lʊ | *i=jíno; *i=gego | *lʊ=lɪ́mi | *ka=nʊa; *mʊ=lomo | *ma=gilá; *=gil-a; *ma=gadí; *=gadí; *mʊ=lopa; *ma=ɲínga | *i=kúpa | *mʊ=tɪ́ | *ma=jíjɪ; *i=diba (HH?) | *=lɪ́ -a | *i=jína |
| Bantu | Swahili | jicho | sikio | pua | jino | ulimi | kinywa | damu (Ar.) | mfupa | mti | maji | la | jina |
Niger–Congo is a hypothetical language family spoken over the majority of sub-Saharan Africa. It unites the Mande languages, the Atlantic–Congo languages, 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. It is generally considered to be the world's largest language family in terms of the number of distinct languages, 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.
The Kwa languages, often specified as New Kwa, are a proposed but as-yet-undemonstrated family of languages spoken in the south-eastern part of Ivory Coast, across southern Ghana, and in central Togo. The Kwa family belongs to the Niger-Congo phylum. The name was introduced in 1895 by Gottlob Krause and derives from the word for 'people' (Kwa) in many of these languages, as illustrated by Akan names. This branch consists of around 50 different languages spoken by about 25 million people. Some of the largest Kwa languages are Ewe, Akan and Baule.
Volta–Congo is a major branch of the Atlantic–Congo family. It includes all the Niger-Congo languages and subfamilies except the families of the erstwhile Atlantic and Kordofanian branches, Mande, Dogon, and Ijo. It thus only differs from Atlantic–Congo in that it excludes the Atlantic languages and, in some conceptions, Kru and Senufo.
Southern Bantoid is a branch of the Bantoid language family. It consists of the Bantu languages along with several small branches and isolates of eastern Nigeria and west-central Cameroon. Since the Bantu languages are spoken across most of Sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Bantoid comprises 643 languages as counted by Ethnologue, though many of these are mutually intelligible.
The Atlantic–Congo languages are the largest demonstrated family of languages in Africa. They have characteristic noun class systems and form the core of the Niger–Congo family hypothesis. They comprise all of Niger–Congo apart from Mande, Dogon, Ijoid, Siamou, Kru, the Katla and Rashad languages, and perhaps some or all of the Ubangian languages. Hans Günther Mukarovsky's "Western Nigritic" corresponded roughly to modern Atlantic–Congo.
Bantoid is a major branch of the Benue–Congo language family. It consists of the Northern Bantoid languages and the Southern Bantoid languages, a division which also includes the Bantu languages that constitute the overwhelming majority and after which Bantoid is named.
The forty or so Plateau languages are a tentative group of Benue–Congo languages spoken by 15 million people on the Jos Plateau, Southern Kaduna, Nasarawa State and in adjacent areas in central Nigeria.
There are over 525 native languages spoken in Nigeria. The official language and most widely spoken lingua franca is English, which was the language of Colonial Nigeria. Nigerian Pidgin – an English-based creole – is spoken by over 60 million people.
The Ekoid languages are a dialect cluster of Southern Bantoid languages spoken principally in southeastern Nigeria and in adjacent regions of Cameroon. They have long been associated with the Bantu languages, without their status being precisely defined. Crabb (1969) remains the major monograph on these languages, although regrettably, Part II, which was to contain grammatical analyses, was never published. Crabb also reviews the literature on Ekoid up to the date of publication.
The Volta–Niger family of languages, also known as West Benue–Congo or East Kwa, is one of the branches of the Niger–Congo language family, with perhaps 70 million speakers. Among these are the most important languages of southern Nigeria, Benin, Togo, and southeast Ghana: Yoruba, Igbo, Bini, and Gbe.
The Kainji languages are a group of about 60 related languages spoken in west-central Nigeria. They form part of the Central Nigerian (Platoid) branch of Benue–Congo.
The Grassfields languages are a branch of the Southern Bantoid languages spoken in the Western High Plateau of Cameroon and some parts of Taraba state, Nigeria. Better known Grassfields languages include the Eastern Grassfields languages, Bamun, Yamba, Bali, and Bafut and the Ring languages, Kom, Nso, and Oku. Almost all of these languages are closely related, sharing approximately half of their vocabulary.
The twelve Mambiloid languages are languages spoken by the Mambila and related peoples mostly in eastern Nigeria and in Cameroon. In Nigeria the largest group is Mambila. In Cameroon the largest group is Vute.
The Jukunoid languages are a branch of the Benue-Congo languages spoken by the Jukun and related peoples of Nigeria and Cameroon. They are distributed mostly throughout Taraba State, Nigeria and surrounding regions.
The Dakoid languages are a branch of the Northern Bantoid languages spoken in Taraba and Adamawa states of eastern Nigeria.
Not to be confused with Jarawa, a language spoken primarily in India.
The Bendi languages are a small group of languages spoken in Cross River State, southeastern Nigeria. Bokyi is one of the Bendi languages having some speakers in Cameroon. Once counted among the Cross River languages, they may be a branch of Southern Bantoid, with observed similarities especially with the Ekoid languages.
The East Kainji languages are spoken in a compact area of the Jos Plateau in Nigeria, near Jos. There are more than 20 of them, most of which are poorly studied.
Daka is one of two languages spoken by the Chamba people in Nigeria, the other being Chamba Leko.
Proto-Niger–Congo is the hypothetical reconstructed proto-language of the proposed Niger–Congo language family.
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