| Benue–Congo | |
|---|---|
| East Benue–Congo | |
| Geographic distribution | Africa, from Nigeria eastwards and southwards |
| Linguistic classification | Niger–Congo?
|
| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | benu1247 |
 The Benue–Congo languages shown within the Niger–Congo language family. Non-Benue–Congo languages are greyscale. | |
Benue–Congo (sometimes calledEast Benue–Congo) is a major branch of theVolta-Congo languages which covers most ofSub-Saharan Africa.
Central Nigerian (or Platoid) contains thePlateau,Jukunoid andKainji families, and Bantoid–Cross combines theBantoid andCross River groups.
Bantoid is only a collective term for every subfamily of Bantoid–Cross except Cross River, and this is no longer seen as forming a valid branch, however one of the subfamilies, Southern Bantoid, is still considered valid. It is Southern Bantoid which contains the Bantu languages, which are spoken across most of Sub-Saharan Africa. This makes Benue–Congo one of the largest subdivisions of the Niger–Congo language family, both in number of languages, of whichEthnologue counts 976 (2017), and in speakers, numbering perhaps 350 million. Benue–Congo also includes a few minorisolates in the Nigeria–Cameroon region, but their exact relationship is uncertain.
The neighbouringVolta–Niger branch ofNigeria andBenin is sometimes called "West Benue–Congo", but it does not form a united branch with Benue–Congo. When Benue–Congo was first proposed byJoseph Greenberg (1963), it included Volta–Niger (as West Benue–Congo); the boundary between Volta–Niger andKwa has been repeatedly debated. Blench (2012) states that if Benue–Congo is taken to be "the noun-class languages east and north of the Niger", it is likely to be a valid group, though no demonstration of this has been made in print.[1]
The branches of the Benue–Congo family are thought to be as follows:
Ukaan is also related to Benue–Congo; Roger Blench suspects it might be either the most divergent (East) Benue–Congo language or the closest relative to Benue–Congo.
Fali andTita are also Benue–Congo but are otherwise unclassified.
Below is a list of major Benue–Congo branches and their primary locations (centres of diversity) within Nigeria based on Blench (2019).[3]
| Branch | Primary locations |
|---|---|
| Cross River | Cross River,Akwa Ibom, andRivers States;Cameroon |
| Bendi | Obudu andOgoja LGAs,Cross River State |
| Mambiloid | Sardauna LGA,Taraba State;Cameroon |
| Dakoid | Mayo Belwa LGA,Taraba State and adjacent areas |
| Jukunoid | Taraba,Benue,Nasarawa,Gombe,Adamawa,Bauchi, andPlateau States of Nigeria;Cameroon |
| Yukubenic | Takum LGA,Taraba State;Cameroon |
| Kainji | Kauru andLere LGAs,Kaduna State; andBassa LGA,Plateau State;Kano State;Kainji Lake area ofNiger andKebbi States |
| Plateau | Plateau,Kaduna,Nasarawa,Niger andBauchi States and theFCT |
| Tivoid | Benue State;Obudu LGA,Cross River State andSardauna LGA,Taraba State;Nasarawa State;Cameroon |
| Beboid | Takum LGA,Taraba State;Cameroon |
| Ekoid | Ikom andOgoja LGAs,Cross River State;Cameroon |
| Grassfields | Sardauna LGA,Taraba State;Cameroon |
| Jarawan | Bauchi,Plateau,Adamawa, andTaraba States |
Sample basic vocabulary for reconstructedproto-languages of different Benue-Congo branches:
| Branch | Language | eye | ear | nose | tooth | tongue | mouth | blood | bone | tree | water | eat | name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benue-Congo | Proto-Benue-Congo[4] | *-lito | *-tuŋi | *-zua | *-nini, *-nino; *-sana; *-gaŋgo | *-lemi; *-lake | *-zi; *-luŋ | *-kupe | *-titi; *-kwon | *-izi; *-ni | *-zina | ||
| Kainji | Proto-Northern Jos[5] | **iji (lì-/à-) | *toŋ (ù-/tì-) | *nyimu (bì-/ì-) | *ʔini (lì-/à-) | *lelem (lì-/à-) | *nua (ù-/tì-) | *nyì(aw) (mà-) | *ti (with reduplication) (ù-/tì-) | *nyi (mà-) | *lia | *ji(a) (lì-/sì-) | |
| Plateau | Proto-Jukunoid[6] | *giP (ri-/a-) | *tóŋ (ku-/a-) | *wíǹ (ri-/a-) | *baŋ (ku-/a-); *gyín (ri-/a-) | *déma (ri-/a-) | *ndut (u-/i-) | *yíŋ (ma-) | *kup (ku-/a-) | *kun (ku-/i-) | *mbyed | *dyi | *gyin (ri-/a-) |
| Plateau | Proto-Kagoro[7] | *-gi | *-two | *nii[ŋ] | *-dyam | *-nu[ŋ] | *-suok | *-kup | *-kwan | *-sii | |||
| Plateau | Proto-Jaba[7] | *gu-su | *gu-to[ŋ] | *-gi[ŋ] | *ga-lem | *ga-nyu | *ba-zi | *gu-kup | |||||
| Plateau | Proto-Beromic[7] | *-gis | *-toŋ | *-ɣiŋ | *-lyam | *-nu | *nì-ji | *-kup | *-kon | *-sii | |||
| Plateau | Proto-Ninzic[7] | *ki-sị́ | *ku-tóŋ | *ki-Nyin / *-Nyir | *ì-rem | *-nuŋ / *-n[y]uŋ | *ma-ɣì | *kù-kụp | *ù-kon | *a-ma-sit | |||
| Cross | Proto-Upper Cross[8] | *dyèná | *-ttóŋ(ì) | *dyòná | *-ttân | *-dák | *-mà | *-dè; *-yìŋ | *-kúpà | *-tté | *-nì | *dyá | *-dínà |
| Cross | Proto-Lower Cross[9] | *ɛ́-ɲɛ̀n / *a- | *ú-tɔ́ŋ / *a- | *í-búkó | *é-dɛ̀t / *a- | *ɛ́-lɛ́mɛ̀ / *a- | *í-núà | *-ɟìːp | *ɔ́-kpɔ́ | *é-tíé | *ˊ-mɔ́ːŋ | *líá | *ɛ́-ɟɛ́n |
| Cross | Proto-Ogoni[10] | *adɛ́ɛ̃ | *ɔ̀tɔ́̃ | *m̀ bĩɔ́̃ | *àdáNa | *àdídɛ́Nɛ́ | *m̀ miNi, *m̀ muNu | *ákpogó | *èté | m̀ mṹṹ | *dè | *àbée | |
| Grassfields | Proto-Grassfields[11] | *Ít` | *túŋ-li | *L(u)Í` | *sòŋ´ | *lím` | *cùl` | *lém`; *cÌ´ | *gÚp; *kúi(n)´ | *tí´ | *LÍb; *kÌ´; *mò´ | *lÍa | *lÍn`; *kúm |
| Grassfields | Proto-Ring[12] | *túɛ̀ | *túndé | *dúì, *tɔ́ŋ | *túŋɔ̀, *góìk | *dɔ́mì, *dídè | *dúɔ̀ | *dúŋá, *káŋù | *gúpɛ́ | *kák`, *tíɛ́ | *múɔ̀ | *dúɛ̀ | *dítɔ́, *gíd' |
| Bantu | Proto-Bantu[13] | *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 |
| Bantu | Swahili | jicho | sikio | pua | jino | ulimi | kinywa | damu (Ar.) | mfupa | mti | maji | la | jina |
Based upon archaeological and lexicostatistical evidence—linking pottery-related terminology in proto-Benue-Congo with an estimated date for the introduction of pottery into theGrassfields region, and comparison of lexical items within related languages viaLevenshtein (edit) distance, respectively—it has been suggested that Benue-Congo may be one of the world's oldest extant distinct linguistic subfamilies.[14]
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