Bantu languages

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Bantu
Narrow Bantu
Ethnicity:Bantu peoples
Geographic
distribution:		Subsaharan Africa, mostly Southern Hemisphere
Linguistic classification:Niger–Congo
  • Atlantic–Congo
    • Benue–Congo
      • Southern Bantoid
        • Bantu
Proto-language:Proto-Bantu
Subdivisions:
  • Zones A–S (geographic)
  • (Jarawan–Mbam)
    Manenguba
  • Sawabantu
    Basaa
  • Bafia
    Beti
  • Makaa–Njem
    Kele–Tsogo languages
  • Teke–Mbede
    Mboshi–Buja languages
  • Bangi–Tetela
    Mbole–Enya languages
  • Lega–Binja
    Boan languages
  • Lebonya
    Nyanga–Buyi languages
  • Northeast Bantu languages
    Tongwe language
  • Mbugwe–Rangi languages
    Kilombero
  • Kongo languages–Yaka languages–Sira languages
    Kimbundu languages
  • Chokwe–Luchazi languages
    Luyana language
  • Mbukushu language
    Pende languages
  • Luban languages
    Lunda languages
  • Rukwa
    Sabi languages–Botatwe languages
  • Nyasa languages
    Rufiji–Ruvuma languages
  • Umbundu'
    Kavango – Southwest Bantu languages
  • Yeyi language<br[Shona languages
  • Southern Bantu languages
    (unclassified): Buya language
ISO 639-2 / 5:bnt
Glottolog:narr1281[1]
{{{mapalt}}}
Map showing the distribution of Bantu vs. other African languages. The Bantu area is in orange.

The Bantu languages (/ˈbæntuː/),[2] technically the Narrow Bantu languages (as opposed to "Wide Bantu", a loosely defined categorization which includes other Bantoid languages), constitute a traditional branch of the Niger–Congo languages. There are about 250 Bantu languages by the criterion of mutual intelligibility,[3] though the distinction between language and dialect is often unclear, and Ethnologue counts 535 languages.[4] Bantu languages are spoken largely east and south of present-day Cameroon, that is, in the regions commonly known as Central Africa, Southeast Africa, and Southern Africa. Parts of the Bantu area include languages from other language families (see map).

  1. ↑ Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 23: bad argument #1 to 'old_ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  2. ↑ "Bantu". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
  3. ↑ Derek Nurse, 2006, "Bantu Languages", in the Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics
  4. ↑ Ethnologue report for Southern Bantoid. The figure of 535 includes the 13 Mbam languages considered Bantu in Guthrie's classification and thus counted by Nurse (2006)
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