The Niger-Congo Family
The Niger-Congo linguistic area comprises almost all of the African
continent below the Sahara. About three out of four African natives speak
languages that belong to the Niger-Congo family. Although migrations presumably
separated certain branches of the Niger-Congo family more than 5000 years
ago, languages in each of the branches have similar words for many common
objects and actions. The Kordofanian branch is distantly related to the
rest of the Niger-Congo languages, and is considered one of the first branches
to have separated. The Kordofanian languages number only about 30, all
with few speakers. They are found in a small area of the Nuba Mountains
of Sudan, surrounded by languages of the Nilo-Saharan family and by Arabic.
Languages in this branch share a few similar words with languages of other
Niger-Congo branches and also show some striking resemblances in their
grammatical structures.
Many linguists believe the Mande languages, spoken in many parts of
West Africa, are the oldest offshoots of the parent Niger-Congo language
spoken more than 5000 years ago. Three closely related major languages,
Maninka, Bambara, and Dyula, are spoken from Senegal through much of Mali
and northern Guinea and into northern Côte d'Ivoire. Other important
Mande languages are Mende in Sierra Leone and Kpele (Kpelle) in Liberia.
Small islands of Mande-language speakers are also scattered through areas
farther east, as far as western Nigeria.
The largest branch of the Niger-Congo family is Benue-Congo, consisting
of numerous language groups, most notably the Bantoid group, which contains
the Bantu languages. The Bantu languages have more speakers than all the
rest of the Niger-Congo languages combined. Some of the more important
Bantu languages are Zulu and Xhosa in South Africa; Makua in Mozambique;
Nyanja in Malawi; Shona in Zimbabwe; Bemba in Zambia; Kimbundu and Umbundu
in Angola; Swahili and Sukuma in Tanzania; Gikuyu (Kikuyu) in Kenya; Ganda
(Luganda) in Uganda; Rwanda in Rwanda; Rundi in Burundi; Kongo in the Congo
and Zaire; Fang and Bulu in Cameroon, and Tswana in southern Africa. Some
Bantu authors are now beginning to produce literature in their native languages.
Languages from the other Benue-Congo language groups are spoken primarily
in Nigeria. They include such major languages as Yoruba, Igbo, and Edo,
which linguists previously classified in the Kwa branch of the Niger-Congo
family.
The Kwa languages are found in a strip along the west coast of Africa
from southeastern Nigeria to Liberia. This branch includes such important
languages as Ewe in Togo and Ghana; Asante, Fante, and Twi in Ghana; and
Anyi and Baule in Côte d'Ivoire. North of the Kwa language region,
extending from western Nigeria into much of Côte d'Ivoire and Mali,
are the languages of the Gur branch, including Moré (or Mooré),
Bariba, and Gurma. The closely related Ubangi and Adamawa languages are
spoken across central Africa. The Ubangi branch includes such important
languages as Zande, Banda, and Ngbandi. The Adamawa branch contains many
subgroups, including Waja, Mumuye, and Mbum.
Along the Atlantic coast of Africa, from Liberia to the desert north
of Dakar, Senegal, are several languages of the Atlantic branch. These
include Temne in Sierra Leone, Wolof in the vicinity of Dakar, and Fulani
(also known as Ful or Fula), by far the most widely spoken. The two large
concentrations of Fulani-speaking people are in Guinea and eastern Nigeria
and Cameroon. Between these widely separated areas, Fulani-speaking people
are scattered in numerous camps. In southwestern Côte d'Ivoire and
southern Liberia are the Kru languages, which include Bassa and Klao. The
Ijoid languages, spoken in the Niger delta, have proved difficult to classify,
as have the Dogon languages, spoken in northeast Mali.