North Nyanza languages

North Nyanza
Ganda-Soga
Geographic distribution	Buganda, Busoga, Pallisa District, Kibuku District Budaka District
Linguistic classification	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Bantu Northeast Bantu Great Lakes Bantu West Nyanza North Nyanza
Proto-language	Proto-North Nyanza [1] [2]
Subdivisions	Luganda Singa South Kyoga
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	nort3220

The North Nyanza languages are a group of closely related Bantu languages spoken in Central and eastern Uganda.

History

The Proto-North Nyanza homeland was in the northwestern shores of Lake Victoria (Modern Buganda) in the year 500AD. ^{[3] [4]} By 1100AD, the descendants of these people were speaking two different languages that had developed out of proto-North Nyanza: early (or pre-) Luganda and proto-South Kyoga. Early Luganda was spoken by those who remained in the original North-Nyanza homeland (the coasts of Buganda) and to the south, west, and north of it. Proto-South Kyoga was developed by those who migrated east across the Nile. By 1500AD, Proto-South Kyoga split into early Lusoga and proto-East Kyoga. Early Lusoga spread across the region between the Nile and Mpologoma Rivers and Lake Victoria and Lake Kyoga. Proto-East Kyoga broke up into Gwere and Syan (Rushana) in the early 19th century ^[5]

Classification

North Nyanza is divided into two branches, Luganda and South Kyoga, according to Rhiannon Stephens (Singa remains unclassified): ^[6]

• North Nyanza
  • Ganda
  • Singa
  • South Kyoga
    • Soga
    • East Kyoga
      • Gwere
      • Syan/Rushana (extinct?)

References

1. A Green Place, a Good Place: Agrarian Change, Gender, and Social Identity in the Great Lakes Region to the 15th Century. Boydell & Brewer, Limited. 1998. p. 46. ISBN   978-0-85255-681-8.
2. Wrigley, Christopher (16 May 2002). Kingship and State: The Buganda Dynasty. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   9780521894357.
3. Stephens, Rhiannon (2 September 2013). A History of African Motherhood: The Case of Uganda, 700-1900. Cambridge University Press. p. 24. ISBN   9781107030800.
4. A Green Place, a Good Place: Agrarian Change, Gender, and Social Identity in the Great Lakes Region to the 15th Century. Boydell & Brewer, Limited. 1998. p. 46. ISBN   978-0-85255-681-8.
5. A History of Motherhood, Food Procurement and Pollitics in East-Central Uganda to the Nineteenth Century. p. 30-58, 239-255.
6. Stephens, Rhiannon (2 September 2013). A History of African Motherhood: The Case of Uganda, 700-1900. Cambridge University Press. p. 24. ISBN   9781107030800.