Southern_Bantoid

Southern Bantoid languages

Southern Bantoid languages

Branch of the Bantoid family of Niger–Congo languages

Southern Bantoid (or South 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 (though the affiliation of some branches is uncertain). 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.[1]

Quick Facts Geographic distribution, Linguistic classification ...

History

The Southern Bantoid branches of Nigeria and Cameroon

Southern Bantoid was first introduced by Williamson in a proposal that divided Bantoid into North and South branches.[2]

The unity of the North Bantoid group was subsequently called into question, and Bantoid itself may be polyphyletic, but the work did establish Southern Bantoid as a valid genetic unit, something that has not happened for (Narrow) Bantu itself.[3]

Internal classification

According to Williamson and Blench, Southern Bantoid is divided into the various Narrow Bantu languages, Jarawan, Tivoid, Beboid, Mamfe (Nyang), Grassfields and Ekoid families.[4] The Bendi languages are of uncertain classification; they have traditionally been classified with Cross River, but they may actually be Southern Bantoid.[5] Blench suggests that Tivoid, Momo (ex-Grassfields) and East Beboid may form a group, perhaps with the uncertain languages Esimbi and Buru–Angwe:[6]

Grollemund (2012)

Classification of Southern Bantoid by Grollemund (2012):[7]

Southern Bantoid

Numerals

Comparison of numerals in individual languages:

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References

  1. [1]
    McWhorter, J. 2001. The Power of Babel (p. 81-82). Freeman-Times-Henry Holt, New York.
  2. [2]
    Williamson, Kay (1989) 'Niger–Congo Overview'. In: The Niger–Congo languages, ed. by John Bendor-Samuel, 3–45. University Press of America.
  3. [3]
    Roger Blench. "Niger-Congo classification : Niger-Congo: an alternative view" (PDF). Rogerblench.info. Retrieved 2017-07-07.
  4. [4]
    Williamson, Kay & Blench, Roger (2000) 'Niger–Congo', in Heine, Bernd and Nurse, Derek (eds) African Languages – An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University press, pp. 11–42.
  5. [5]
    Blench, Roger (2011). "'The membership and internal structure of Bantoid and the border with Bantu" (PDF). Berlin: Humboldt University. p. 17.
  6. [6]
    Blench, Roger (2010). "The Tivoid Languages" (PDF). pp. 12, 15.
  7. [7]
    Grollemund, Rebecca. 2012. Nouvelles approches en classification : Application aux langues bantu du Nord-Ouest. Ph.D Dissertation, Université Lumière Lyon 2, Lyon, 550 pp.
  • ComparaLex, database with Southern Bantoid word lists
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