Atlantic–Congo languages

The Atlantic–Congo languages are the largest demonstrated family of languages in Africa. They have characteristic noun class systems and form the core of the Niger–Congo family hypothesis. They comprise all of Niger–Congo apart from Mande, Dogon, Ijoid, Siamou, Kru, the Katla and Rashad languages (previously classified as Kordofanian), and perhaps some or all of the Ubangian languages. Hans Günther Mukarovsky's "Western Nigritic" corresponded roughly to modern Atlantic–Congo.[1]

Atlantic–Congo
Geographic
distribution		Africa
Linguistic classificationNiger–Congo?
  • Atlantic–Congo
Subdivisions
ISO 639-5alv
Glottologatla1278
The Atlantic–Congo languages shown within the Niger–Congo language family. Non-Atlantic–Congo languages are greyscale.

In the infobox, the languages which appear to be the most divergent are placed at the top.[2] The Atlantic branch is defined in the narrow sense, while the former Atlantic branches Mel and the isolates Sua, Gola and Limba, are split out as primary branches; they are mentioned next to each other because there is no published evidence to move them; Volta–Congo is intact apart from Senufo and Kru.

In addition, Güldemann (2018) lists Nalu and Rio Nunez as unclassified languages within Niger-Congo.[3]

There are a few poorly attested languages, such as Bayot and Bung, which may prove to be additional branches.

Comparative vocabulary

Sample basic vocabulary for reconstructed proto-languages of different Atlantic-Congo branches:

BranchLanguageeyeearnosetoothtonguemouthbloodbonetreewatereatname
"Western Nigritic"
(roughly Atlantic–Congo)		Proto-"Western Nigritic"[4]*-nín-, *-nínu*-thúi, *-thú-*-míl-, *-míla*-nín- (*-níghin-)*-líma (*-líami); *-lélum- (*-lúm-)*-níana; *-níuna (*-núa)*-ghìá; *-kàl-*-khwúpà*-tí*-lingi*di-*-ghínà
Benue-CongoProto-Benue-Congo[5]*-lito*-tuŋi*-zua*-nini, *-nino; *-sana; *-gaŋgo*-lemi; *-lake*-zi; *-luŋ*-kupe*-titi; *-kwon*-izi; *-ni*-zina
BantuProto-Bantu[6]*i=jíco*kʊ=tʊ́i*i=jʊ́lʊ*i=jíno; *i=gego*lʊ=lɪ́mi*ka=nʊa; *mʊ=lomo*ma=gilá; *=gil-a; *ma=gadí; *=gadí; *mʊ=lopa; *ma=ɲínga*i=kúpa*mʊ=tɪ́*ma=jíjɪ; *i=diba (HH?)*=lɪ́ -a*i=jína
YoruboidProto-Yoruboid language[7]*é-jú*é-tí*ímṵ́*éŋḭ́Yor. ahá̰*ɛ́lṵ ?*ɛ̀-gyɛ̀*égbṵ́gbṵ́Yor. igi*ó-mḭ*jɛṵ*órú- ?
GbeProto-Gbe[8]*-tó*aɖú*-ɖɛ́*-ɖũ; *-ɖũkpá*-ʁʷũ*-χʷú*-tĩ́*-tsĩ*ɖu*yĩ́kɔ́
GurProto-Central Gur[9]*me (Oti-Volta, Gurunsi)*ye (Gurunsi, Kurumfe)*ñam, *ñim (Oti-Volta, Kurumfe)*ʔob, *ʔo*tɪ (Oti-Volta, Gurunsi)*ni, *ne; *nã (Oti-Volta, Gurunsi)*di*yɪɗ, *yɪd (Oti-Volta, Gurunsi)
GbayaProto-Gbaya[10]*gbà.l̥í/l̥í*zɛ̀rà*zɔ̰̀p*ɲín*léɓé ~ lémbè*nú*tɔ̀k*gbà̰là̰*l̥ì*tè*ɲɔŋ/l̥i*l̥ín ~ l̥íŋ

References
  1. Mukarovsky, Hans. 1976–1977. A study of Western Nigritic (2 vols). Wien: Institut für Ägyptologie und Afrikanistik, Universität Wien.
  2. Blench, Roger. Niger-Congo: an alternative view.
  3. Güldemann, Tom (2018). "Historical linguistics and genealogical language classification in Africa". In Güldemann, Tom (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of Africa. The World of Linguistics series. Vol. 11. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 58–444. doi:10.1515/9783110421668-002. ISBN 978-3-11-042606-9. S2CID 133888593.
  4. Mukarovsky, Hans. 1976. A study of Western Nigritic, vol. 1. Wien: Institut für Ägyptologie und Afrikanistik, Universität Wien.
  5. de wolf, Paul. 1971. The Noun-Class System of Proto-Benue-Congo. Janua Linguarum. Series Practica 167. The Hague: Mouton.
  6. Schadeberg, Thilo C. 2003. Historical linguistics. In Derek Nurse and Gérard Philippson (eds.), The Bantu languages. (Routledge language family series 4. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-700-71134-5
  7. Aubry, N., H. Friedman & K. Pozdniakov. 2004. Proto-Yoruba-Igala Swadesh list Archived 2021-01-05 at the Wayback Machine. Manuscript. Paris: Langage, Langues et Cultures d’Afrique (LLACAN), Centre National de la Récherche Sciéntifique (CNRS).
  8. Capo, Hounkpati B.C. 1991. A Comparative Phonology of Gbe. Publications in African Languages and Linguistics, 14. Berlin/New York: Foris Publications & Garome, Bénin: Labo Gbe (Int).
  9. Manessy, Gabriel. 1979. Contribution à la Classification Généalogique des Langues Voltaïques. (Langues et Civilisations à Tradition Orale, 37.) Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.
  10. Moñino, Yves. 1988. Lexique comparatif des langues oubanguiennes. Paris: Geuthner.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.