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.

Fuuta Tooro Pulaar partOf Niger–Congo languages
Fuuta Tooro Pulaar languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger–Congo
Nupe languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Ahoada languageRegion Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger–Congo languages area
Esan languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Etsako languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Owan usesLanguageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Kongo people languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Punu people languageBranch Niger–Congo languages
Pichi influencedBy Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger-Congo languages
Igboid languages partOf Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger-Congo languages
Northwest Bantu partOf Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger–Congo language family
Northwest Bantu languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Umuahia languageFamilyOfMajorEthnicGroup Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger-Congo languages
Luba-Kasai languageBranch Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger–Congo
Luba languages subclassOf Niger–Congo languages
Luba languages linguisticClassification Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger–Congo
Zone L (Guthrie classification) subFamilyOf Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger-Congo languages
Jula subclassOf Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger–Congo language
Kpelle languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger–Congo
Vai languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
subject surface form: Vai language
this entity surface form: Niger–Congo
Loma macroFamily Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger–Congo
Jahanka languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger–Congo
Kono linguisticClassification Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger–Congo language family
Central Tano subclassOf Niger–Congo languages
Central Tano partOf Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger–Congo language family
Asante Twi languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Fante language subdivisionOf Niger–Congo languages
Fante language hasLanguageFamily Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger–Congo
Luba-Kasai people languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Ipetu Ijesa hasPrimaryLanguageFamily Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger-Congo languages
Akuapem Twi languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Ikeji Arakeji languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Central Bube languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Ejagham people languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Yala hasLanguageFamily Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger-Congo languages
Ijebu Ijesa languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Isoko people languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Ciluba languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger-Congo
Kikuyu people languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Volta–Niger languages subfamilyOf Niger–Congo languages
Annang people languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Sena of Caia languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Sena of Tete subfamily Niger–Congo languages
Gbagyi languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Sena–Nyanja languages subclassOf Niger–Congo languages
Sena–Nyanja languages languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
this entity surface form: Niger–Congo
Eket people languageFamily Niger–Congo languages
Idoma languageFamily Niger–Congo languages