Suku language

Last updated
Suku
Kisuku
Native to Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ethnicity Suku people
Native speakers
(50,000 cited 1980) [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 sub
Glottolog suku1259
H.32 [2]

Suku is a Bantu language of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

There is some debate about its classification. Nurse & Philippson (2003) [3] accept its traditional classification in the Yaka branch of Bantu.

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The Nzebi languages are a series of Bantu languages spoken in the western Congo and in Gabon. They are coded Zone B.50 in Guthrie's classification. According to Nurse & Philippson (2003), the Nzebi languages form a valid node with West Teke (B.70). The languages are:

The Bafia languages are a clade of Bantu languages coded Zone A.50 in Guthrie's classification. According to Nurse & Philippson (2003), the languages form a valid node. They are:

The Mbete (Mbere) languages are a clade of Bantu languages coded Zone B.60 in Guthrie's classification. According to Nurse & Philippson (2003), the languages form a valid node. They are :

The Tsogo languages are a clade of Bantu languages coded Zone B.30 in Guthrie's classification. According to Nurse & Philippson (2003), the languages form a valid node. They are:

The Kele or Sheke languages are a clade of Bantu languages coded Zone B.20 in Guthrie's classification. According to Nurse & Philippson (2003), apart possibly from Seki (Sheke) (B.21) itself, the languages form a valid node. They are:

The Sira languages are a clade of Bantu languages coded Zone B.40 in Guthrie's classification. According to Nurse & Philippson (2003), together with a couple languages from H10, they form a valid node. They are:

The Yaka languages are a clade of Bantu languages coded Zone H.30 in Guthrie's classification. According to Nurse & Philippson (2003), with a couple additions the languages form a valid node. They are:

The Ngondi–Ngiri languages are a clade of Bantu languages. The Ngondi languages are coded Zone C.10 (Ngondi) in Guthrie's classification. According to Nurse & Philippson (2003), they form a valid node with the Ngiri language(s) of C.30:

The Mboshi languages are a clade of Bantu languages coded Zone C.20 in Guthrie's classification. According to Nurse & Philippson (2003), apart from Kyba (Kuba), the languages form a valid node. They are:

The Soko or Soko–Kele languages are a clade of Bantu languages coded Zone C.50–60 in Guthrie's classification. According to Nurse & Philippson (2003), apart from Mongo (Nkundo), the languages form a valid node. They are:

The Bushoong languages are a clade of Bantu languages coded Zone C.80 in Guthrie's classification. According to Nurse & Philippson (2003), apart from Dengese and the Shuwa "dialect" of Bushoong, the languages form a valid node. They are:

  1. Hendo (Songomeno)
  2. Bushoong
  3. Lele
  4. Wongo

The Tetela languages are a clade of Bantu languages coded Zone C.70 in Guthrie's classification. According to Nurse & Philippson (2003), together with C.81 Dengese and C.89, the Shuwa "dialect" of Bushoong, the languages form a valid node. They are:

The Lega–Binja languages are part of the Bantu languages coded Zone D.20 in Guthrie's classification, specifically D.24–26, which according to Nurse & Philippson (2003) form a valid clade. According to Ethnologue, Bembe, which Nurse & Philippson were not sure belonged in its traditional group of D.50, is the closest language to Lega-Mwenga; Glottolog has it closest to Songoora. The resulting languages are:

Tongwe (Sitongwe) and Bende (Sibende) constitute a clade of Bantu languages coded Zone F.10 in Guthrie's classification. According to Nurse & Philippson (2003), they form a valid node. Indeed, at 90% lexical similarity they may be dialects of a single language.

The Chokwe–Luchazi languages are a clade of Bantu languages coded Zone K.10 in Guthrie's classification. According to Nurse & Philippson (2003), they form a valid node. They are:

The Kimbundu languages are a group of Bantu languages coded Zone H.20 in Guthrie's classification. According to Nurse & Philippson (2003), they probably form a valid node, though this is still uncertain. They are:

The Bati–Angba or Bwa languages are a clade of Bantu languages, about half of Zone C.40 in Guthrie's classification. According to Nurse & Philippson (2003), these languages form a valid node. They are:

Holoholo is a Bantu language of DR Congo and formerly in Tanzania spoken by the Holoholo people on either side of Lake Tanganyika. Classification is uncertain, but it may belong with the Takama group.

References

  1. Suku at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. Nurse, Derek; Philippson, Gérard, eds. (2003). The Bantu languages. London: Routledge. ISBN   9780700711345.