Niger–Congo languages

E8177

The Niger–Congo languages form one of the world’s largest language families, encompassing hundreds of related languages spoken across much of sub-Saharan Africa, including major groups like Bantu.

All labels observed (18)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (80)

Predicate Object
instanceOf language family
macrofamily
approximateNumberOfSpeakers over 700 million
continent Africa
estimatedNumberOfLanguages over 1500
glottologCode nige1235
hasAlternativeName Niger–Kordofanian languages
hasWritingSystem Arabic script
Latin alphabet
surface form: Latin script
includesLanguage Akan
Bambara
Chichewa
Ewe
Fula
Igbo
Kikuyu
Kinyarwanda
Kirundi
Lingala
Luganda
Sesotho
Setswana
Shona
Swahili language
surface form: Swahili

Wolof
Xhosa
Yoruba
Zulu
isOneOfLargestLanguageFamilies true
majorSubgroup Adamawa–Ubangi languages
Niger–Congo languages self-linksurface differs
surface form: Atlantic–Congo languages

Bantu languages
Benue–Congo languages
Gur languages
Kordofanian languages
Kwa languages
Mande languages
morphologyFeature noun class system
primaryRegion Sub-Saharan Africa
surface form: sub-Saharan Africa
spokenIn Angola
Benin
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Cape Verde Islands
surface form: Cape Verde

Central African Republic
Chad
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Equatorial Guinea
Ethiopia
Gabon
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Côte d'Ivoire
surface form: Ivory Coast

Kenya
Liberia
Malawi
Mali
Mozambique
Namibia
Niger
Nigeria
Republic of the Congo
Rwanda
Senegal
Sierra Leone
South Africa
South Sudan
Sudan
São Tomé and Príncipe
Tanzania
The Gambia
Togo
Uganda
Zambia
Zimbabwe
typology mostly SVO word order
mostly tonal languages

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (823)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Ndau dialect languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Mahi languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Weme languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Sideme languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Anyin people languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Anyin Bia languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Anyin Agni languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Asabu dialect languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Nzipri dialect languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Didiévi dialect languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Wiawso Sehwi languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
ShiRonga languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
subject surface form: Ronga language
GiRonga languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Momo languages languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Mbam–Nkam languages languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Bamun language group languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Moghamo language languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Kom language (Cameroon) languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Nsoʼ language languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Bafut language languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Babanki language languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Loma people languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Jola people languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Kpelle people languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Wasa people languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Lolobi dialect languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Akyem Twi languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Sehwi people languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Abé people languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Foodo people languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Santanɛ dialect languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Likpe dialect languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Bantu zone A languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Bozo languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Lelemi people languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Baoulé people languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Avikam people languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Mende people languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Songye languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Kete languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Kuba languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Shikomori languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Mbundu languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Serer people languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Gurma people languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
subject surface form: Gurma language
Aja languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Banyankole people languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Zande languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Banda-Linda languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Banda-Yangere languageFamily Niger–Congo languages