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.

Njebi languageBranch Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger–Congo
Teke languages subclassOf Niger–Congo languages
Nzebi ethnic group languageBranch Niger–Congo languages
subject surface form: Nzebi
Teke belongsTo Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger–Congo language family
Mbede isPartOf Niger–Congo languages
Ndzebi linguisticBranch Niger–Congo languages
Ndzebi languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger–Congo
Roger Blench hasWorkedOn Niger–Congo languages
Mano people languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Munukutuba languageBranch Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger-Congo languages
Rotse languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Luyana languageBranch Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger-Congo languages
Aniocha South languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger-Congo languages
Gio people languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Motswana ethnicMacroFamily Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger-Congo languages
Bantoid partOf Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger-Congo language family
Lumbu languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Lumbu languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
subject surface form: Lumbu language
Sangu (Bantu language) partOfLanguageFamily Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger–Congo
Yipunu languageBranch Niger–Congo languages
Ipunu languagePhylum Niger–Congo languages
Pounou linguisticBranch Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger-Congo languages
mye classificationReference Niger–Congo languages
subject surface form: Myene
this entity surface form: Niger-Congo language family
mye higherFamily Niger–Congo languages
subject surface form: Myene
this entity surface form: Niger-Congo
Omyènè languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Omyènè languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
subject surface form: Myene
Luvenda linguisticBranch Niger–Congo languages
Venda people languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Kerewe language subfamily Niger–Congo languages
Voltaic languages partOf Niger–Congo languages
Southern Gur languages partOf Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger–Congo language family
Southern Gur languages subclassOf Niger–Congo languages
Dagbani language languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger–Congo
Dagaare language languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Frafra language partOf Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger–Congo language family
Frafra language languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger–Congo
Kusaal language isPartOf Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger–Congo language family
Mampruli language languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Kabye language languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger–Congo
Sisaala language languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger–Congo
Lobi language languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Lobi language macrofamily Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger–Congo
Kasem language languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger-Congo language family
Nawdm language languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Tampulma language languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Gonja language languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Amedzofe dialect languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Aja language partOfLanguageFamily Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger-Congo language family
Aja language languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger-Congo
Gen language family Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger-Congo