| Mba | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Linguistic classification | Ubangian
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | mbai1246 |
The fourMba languages form a small family ofUbangian languages scattered across the northernDemocratic Republic of the Congo. The languages are,
The most populous isMba itself, with about 40,000 speakers.Ma is the most divergent. The four Mba languages are not particularly closely related to each other and display considerable lexical diversity.[1]
The Mba languages have received significant influences fromBantu to the south, and fromZande languages to the north.[2] For example, some Mba languages such asNdunga have borrowed many noun prefixes from nearbyBantu languages (Pasch 1986, 1987, 1988).
Mba internal classification according to Pasch (1986):[1]