Bonjo, also known as Mbonzo or Impfondo, is a
Bantu language
The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu language, Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀), or Ntu languages are a language family of about 600 languages of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern, East Africa, Eastern and Southeast Africa, South ...
spoken by around 3,000 people in northern
Republic of Congo
The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...
, particularly the
Likouala Department near the town of
Impfondo. Speakers are gradually shifting to
Lingala
Lingala (or Ngala, Lingala: ) is a Bantu languages, Bantu language spoken in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the northern half of the Republic of the Congo, in their capitals, Kinshasa and Brazzaville, and to a lesser de ...
.
The classification of Bonjo has shifted over time.
Ethnologue
''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensive catalogue of languages. It w ...
formerly classified it as a southern
Gbaya language
The Gbaya languages, also known as Gbaya–Manza–Ngbaka, are a family of perhaps a dozen languages spoken mainly in the western Central African Republic and across the border in Cameroon, with one language (Ngbaka) in the Democratic Republic o ...
, but as of the twenty-sixth edition has reclassified it as a
Bantoid and member of the
Ngondi–Ngiri family. Some sources continue to list it as a southern Gbaya language.
Bonjo is closely related to the
Bomitaba language, spoken in the same region.
References
Ngondi-Ngiri languages
{{Bantu-lang-stub