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.

Boki language languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Jita language languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Kwaya language languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Buli languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Moore language languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Birifor language languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Hanga language languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Oti–Volta languages languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Zondoma Mossi languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Gourma languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Gulmancema languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Kisanzu languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
subject surface form: Isanzu language
Hwana language languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Bainuk languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Grebo language languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Klao language languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Tepo language languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Sapo language languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Esan people languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
subject surface form: Esan language
Lower Cross River peoples languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Okobo languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Mbo languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Fang-Ntumu dialect languageFamily Niger–Congo languages