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
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
and west-central
Cameroon
Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
(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.
History
Southern Bantoid was first introduced by Williamson in a proposal that divided
Bantoid
Bantoid is a major branch of the Benue–Congo language family. It consists of the Northern Bantoid languages and the Southern Bantoid languages, a division which also includes the Bantu languages that constitute the overwhelming majority and to ...
into North and South branches.
The unity of the North Bantoid group was subsequently called into question, and Bantoid itself may be
polyphyletic
A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of conver ...
, but the work did establish Southern Bantoid as a valid genetic unit, something that has not happened for (Narrow) Bantu itself.
Internal classification
According to Williamson and Blench, Southern Bantoid is divided into the various
Narrow Bantu languages,
Jarawan,
Tivoid,
Beboid
The Beboid languages are any of several groups of languages spoken principally in southwest Cameroon, although two languages (Bukwen and Mashi) are spoken over the border in Nigeria. They are probably not most closely related to each other. The E ...
,
Mamfe
Mamfe or Mamfé is a city in and the capital of Manyu, a division of the Southwest Region in Cameroon. It is from the border of Nigeria, on the Manyu River. It has a population of 36,500 (2017 estimate).
It is known as a centre for traditiona ...
(Nyang),
Grassfields and
Ekoid families. The
Bendi languages
The Bendi languages are a small group of languages spoken in Cross River State, southeastern Nigeria. Bokyi language, Bokyi is one of the Bendi languages having some speakers in Cameroon. Once counted among the Cross River languages, they may be ...
are of uncertain classification; they have traditionally been classified with
Cross River, but they may actually be Southern Bantoid. Blench suggests that Tivoid, Momo (ex-Grassfields) and East Beboid may form a group, perhaps with the uncertain languages
Esimbi and
Buru–Angwe:
*?
Bendi
* Tivoid–Beboid:
Tivoid, ''
Esimbi'',
East Beboid, ? ''
Buru–Angwe'', ? ''
Menchum''
*
West Beboid (geographic)
*
Furu
*
Mamfe
Mamfe or Mamfé is a city in and the capital of Manyu, a division of the Southwest Region in Cameroon. It is from the border of Nigeria, on the Manyu River. It has a population of 36,500 (2017 estimate).
It is known as a centre for traditiona ...
* Ekoid–Mbe:
Ekoid, ''
Mbe''
*
Grassfields:
Ring,
Eastern Grassfields (Mbam–Nkam),
Momo
Momo may refer to:
Geography
* Momo (department), a division of Northwest Province in Cameroon
* Momo, Gabon, a town in the Woleu-Ntem province of Gabon
* Momo, Piedmont, a town in the province of Novara, in northern Italy
* Joffrey Tower, in ...
, ? ''
Ndemli'',
Southwest Grassfields (Western Momo), ? ''
Ambele''
*
Narrow Bantu,
Jarawan–
Mbam
Grollemund (2012)
Classification of Southern Bantoid by Grollemund (2012):
[Grollemund, Rebecca. 2012. ]
Nouvelles approches en classification : Application aux langues bantu du Nord-Ouest
'. Ph.D Dissertation, Université Lumière Lyon 2, Lyon, 550 pp.
Numerals
Comparison of numerals in individual languages:
References
External links
ComparaLex database with Southern Bantoid word lists
{{Niger-Congo branches