Benue–Congo (sometimes called East Benue–Congo) is a major branch of the Volta-Congo languages which covers most of Sub-Saharan Africa.
| Benue–Congo | |
|---|---|
| East Benue–Congo | |
| Geographic distribution | Africa, from Nigeria eastwards and southwards |
| Linguistic classification | Niger–Congo?
|
| Subdivisions |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | benu1247 |
 The Benue–Congo languages shown within the Niger–Congo language family. Non-Benue–Congo languages are greyscale. | |
Subdivisions
Central Nigerian (or Platoid) contains the Plateau, Jukunoid and Kainji families, and Bantoid–Cross combines the Bantoid and Cross 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 which Ethnologue counts 976 (2017), and in speakers, numbering perhaps 350 million. Benue–Congo also includes a few minor isolates in the Nigeria–Cameroon region, but their exact relationship is uncertain.
The neighbouring Volta–Niger branch of Nigeria and Benin is sometimes called "West Benue–Congo", but it does not form a united branch with Benue–Congo. When Benue–Congo was first proposed by Joseph Greenberg (1963), it included Volta–Niger (as West Benue–Congo); the boundary between Volta–Niger and Kwa 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.
The branches of the Benue–Congo family are thought to be as follows:
- Bantoid–Cross languages
- Cross River
- Northern Bantoid
- Southern Bantoid
- Central Nigerian languages, also known as Platoid
- Jukunoid
- Kainji
- Plateau
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 of Baissa and Tita are also Benue–Congo but are otherwise unclassified.
Branches and locations (Nigeria)
Below is a list of major Benue–Congo branches and their primary locations (centres of diversity) within Nigeria based on Blench (2019).
| Branch | Primary locations |
|---|---|
| Cross River | Cross River, Akwa Ibom, and Rivers States; Cameroon |
| Bendi | Obudu and Ogoja 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, and Plateau States of Nigeria; Cameroon |
| Yukubenic | Takum LGA, Taraba State; Cameroon |
| Kainji | Kauru and Lere LGAs, Kaduna State; and Bassa LGA, Plateau State; Kano State; Kainji Lake area of Niger and Kebbi States |
| Plateau | Plateau, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Niger and Bauchi States and the FCT |
| Tivoid | Benue State; Obudu LGA, Cross River State and Sardauna LGA, Taraba State; Nasarawa State; Cameroon |
| Beboid | Takum LGA, Taraba State; Cameroon |
| Ekoid | Ikom and Ogoja LGAs, Cross River State; Cameroon |
| Grassfields | Sardauna LGA, Taraba State; Cameroon |
| Jarawan | Bauchi, Plateau, Adamawa, and Taraba States |
Comparative vocabulary
Sample basic vocabulary for reconstructed proto-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 | *-lito | *-tuŋi | *-zua | *-nini, *-nino; *-sana; *-gaŋgo | *-lemi; *-lake | *-zi; *-luŋ | *-kupe | *-titi; *-kwon | *-izi; *-ni | *-zina | ||
| Kainji | Proto-Northern Jos | **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 | *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 | *-gi | *-two | *nii[ŋ] | *-dyam | *-nu[ŋ] | *-suok | *-kup | *-kwan | *-sii | |||
| Plateau | Proto-Jaba | *gu-su | *gu-to[ŋ] | *-gi[ŋ] | *ga-lem | *ga-nyu | *ba-zi | *gu-kup | |||||
| Plateau | Proto-Beromic | *-gis | *-toŋ | *-ɣiŋ | *-lyam | *-nu | *nì-ji | *-kup | *-kon | *-sii | |||
| Plateau | Proto-Ninzic | *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 | *dyèná | *-ttóŋ(ì) | *dyòná | *-ttân | *-dák | *-mà | *-dè; *-yìŋ | *-kúpà | *-tté | *-nì | *dyá | *-dínà |
| Cross | Proto-Lower Cross | *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 | *adɛ́ɛ̃ | *ɔ̀tɔ́̃ | *m̀ bĩɔ́̃ | *àdáNa | *àdídɛ́Nɛ́ | *m̀ miNi, *m̀ muNu | *ákpogó | *èté | m̀ mṹṹ | *dè | *àbée | |
| Grassfields | Proto-Grassfields | *Ít` | *túŋ-li | *L(u)Í` | *sòŋ´ | *lím` | *cùl` | *lém`; *cÌ´ | *gÚp; *kúi(n)´ | *tí´ | *LÍb; *kÌ´; *mò´ | *lÍa | *lÍn`; *kúm |
| Grassfields | Proto-Ring | *túɛ̀ | *túndé | *dúì, *tɔ́ŋ | *túŋɔ̀, *góìk | *dɔ́mì, *dídè | *dúɔ̀ | *dúŋá, *káŋù | *gúpɛ́ | *kák`, *tíɛ́ | *múɔ̀ | *dúɛ̀ | *dítɔ́, *gíd' |
| Bantu | Proto-Bantu | *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 |
See also
- List of Proto-Benue-Congo reconstructions (Wiktionary)
- Systematic graphic of the Niger–Congo languages with numbers of speakers
References
- Roger Blench, Niger-Congo: an alternative view Archived 2012-12-03 at the Wayback Machine
- Watters JR (2018). Watters, John R (eds.). East Benue-Congo: Nouns, pronouns, and verbs (pdf). Berlin: Language Science Press. doi:10.5281/zenodo.1314306. ISBN 978-3-96110-100-9. Archived from the original on 2018-11-16. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
- Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
- de wolf, Paul. 1971. The Noun-Class System of Proto-Benue-Congo Archived 2023-11-11 at the Wayback Machine. Janua Linguarum. Series Practica 167. The Hague: Mouton.
- Shimizu, Kiyoshi (1982). "Die Nord-Jos-Grüppe der Plateau-Sprachen Nigerias". Afrika und Übersee (in German). 65 (2): 161–210. ISSN 0002-0427.
- Shimizu, Kiyoshi. 1980. Comparative Jukunoid, 3 vols. (Veröffentlichungen der Institute für Afrikanistik und Ägyptologie der Universität Wien 7–9. Beiträge zur Afrikanistik 5–7). Vienna: Afro-Pub.
- Gerhardt, Ludwig (1983). Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Sprachen des Nigerianischen Plateaus. Afrikanistische Forschungen (in German). Vol. 9. Glückstadt: J. J. Augustin. ISBN 3-87030-062-0.
- Dimmendaal, Gerrit J. (1978). The Consonants of Proto-Upper Cross and their Implications for the Classification of the Upper Cross Languages (PhD). Leiden University. OCLC 37049861.
- Connell, Bruce. n.d. Comparative Lower Cross wordlist Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. Unpublished manuscript.
- Blench, Roger and Kay Williamson. 2008. The Ogoni languages: comparative word list and historical reconstructions Archived 2020-08-05 at the Wayback Machine.
- Hyman, L.M. 1979. Index of Proto-Grassfields Bantu roots Archived 2019-09-04 at the Wayback Machine. Ms. U.S.C.; CBOLD Archived 2011-09-15 at the Wayback Machine; accessed from Comparalex Archived 2020-08-15 at the Wayback Machine.
- Paulin, Pascale. 1995. Etude comparative des langues du groupe Ring: langues Grassfields de l'ouest, Cameroun. MA thesis, Université Lumière Lyon 2.
- Schadeberg, Thilo C. 2003. Historical linguistics. In Derek Nurse and Gérard Philippson (eds.), The Bantu languages. (Routledge language family series 4. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-700-71134-5
- Wolf, Paul Polydoor de (1971) The Noun Class System of Proto-Benue–Congo (Thesis, Leiden University). The Hague/Paris: Mouton.
- Williamson, Kay (1989) 'Benue–Congo Overview', pp. 248–274 in Bendor-Samuel, John & Rhonda L. Hartell (eds.) The Niger–Congo Languages – A classification and description of Africa's largest language family. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America.
External links
- ComparaLex, database with Benue-Congo word lists
- Web resources for the Benue–Congo languages
- Journal of West African Languages: Benue-Congo
- Proto-Benue-Congo Swadesh list Archived 2021-07-09 at the Wayback Machine (de Wolf 1971)
Benue Congo sometimes called East Benue Congo is a major branch of the Volta Congo languages which covers most of Sub Saharan Africa Benue CongoEast Benue CongoGeographic distributionAfrica from Nigeria eastwards and southwardsLinguistic classificationNiger Congo Atlantic CongoVolta CongoBenue CongoSubdivisionsBantoid Cross River Defoid Jukunoid Kainji Plateau Ukaan Fali of Baissa TitaLanguage codesISO 639 3 Glottologbenu1247The Benue Congo languages shown within the Niger Congo language family Non Benue Congo languages are greyscale SubdivisionsCentral Nigerian or Platoid contains the Plateau Jukunoid and Kainji families and Bantoid Cross combines the Bantoid and Cross 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 which Ethnologue counts 976 2017 and in speakers numbering perhaps 350 million Benue Congo also includes a few minor isolates in the Nigeria Cameroon region but their exact relationship is uncertain The neighbouring Volta Niger branch of Nigeria and Benin is sometimes called West Benue Congo but it does not form a united branch with Benue Congo When Benue Congo was first proposed by Joseph Greenberg 1963 it included Volta Niger as West Benue Congo the boundary between Volta Niger and Kwa 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 The Benue Congo branches of Nigeria and Cameroon The branches of the Benue Congo family are thought to be as follows Bantoid Cross languages Cross River Northern Bantoid Southern Bantoid Central Nigerian languages also known as Platoid Jukunoid Kainji Plateau 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 of Baissa and Tita are also Benue Congo but are otherwise unclassified The Benue Congo homeland and dispersal of the sub branchesBranches and locations Nigeria Below is a list of major Benue Congo branches and their primary locations centres of diversity within Nigeria based on Blench 2019 Distributions of Benue Congo branches in Nigeria Branch Primary locationsCross River Cross River Akwa Ibom and Rivers States CameroonBendi Obudu and Ogoja LGAs Cross River StateMambiloid Sardauna LGA Taraba State CameroonDakoid Mayo Belwa LGA Taraba State and adjacent areasJukunoid Taraba Benue Nasarawa Gombe Adamawa Bauchi and Plateau States of Nigeria CameroonYukubenic Takum LGA Taraba State CameroonKainji Kauru and Lere LGAs Kaduna State and Bassa LGA Plateau State Kano State Kainji Lake area of Niger and Kebbi StatesPlateau Plateau Kaduna Nasarawa Niger and Bauchi States and the FCTTivoid Benue State Obudu LGA Cross River State and Sardauna LGA Taraba State Nasarawa State CameroonBeboid Takum LGA Taraba State CameroonEkoid Ikom and Ogoja LGAs Cross River State CameroonGrassfields Sardauna LGA Taraba State CameroonJarawan Bauchi Plateau Adamawa and Taraba StatesComparative vocabularySample basic vocabulary for reconstructed proto languages of different Benue Congo branches Branch Language eye ear nose tooth tongue mouth blood bone tree water eat nameBenue Congo Proto Benue Congo lito tuŋi zua nini nino sana gaŋgo lemi lake zi luŋ kupe titi kwon izi ni zinaKainji Proto Northern Jos iji li a toŋ u ti nyimu bi i ʔini li a lelem li a nua u ti nyi aw ma ti with reduplication u ti nyi ma lia ji a li si Plateau Proto Jukunoid giP ri a toŋ ku a wiǹ ri a baŋ ku a gyin ri a dema ri a ndut u i yiŋ ma kup ku a kun ku i mbyed dyi gyin ri a Plateau Proto Kagoro gi two nii ŋ dyam nu ŋ suok kup kwan siiPlateau Proto Jaba gu su gu to ŋ gi ŋ ga lem ga nyu ba zi gu kupPlateau Proto Beromic gis toŋ ɣiŋ lyam nu ni ji kup kon siiPlateau Proto Ninzic ki sị ku toŋ ki Nyin Nyir i rem nuŋ n y uŋ ma ɣi ku kụp u kon a ma sitCross Proto Upper Cross dyena ttoŋ i dyona ttan dak ma de yiŋ kupa tte ni dya dinaCross Proto Lower Cross ɛ ɲɛ n a u tɔ ŋ a i buko e dɛ t a ɛ lɛ mɛ a i nua ɟiːp ɔ kpɔ e tie ˊ mɔ ːŋ lia ɛ ɟɛ nCross Proto Ogoni adɛ ɛ ɔ tɔ m bĩɔ adaNa adidɛ Nɛ m miNi m muNu akpogo ete m mṹṹ de abeeGrassfields Proto Grassfields It tuŋ li L u I soŋ lim cul lem cI gUp kui n ti LIb kI mo lIa lIn kumGrassfields Proto Ring tuɛ tunde dui tɔ ŋ tuŋɔ goik dɔ mi dide duɔ duŋa kaŋu gupɛ kak tiɛ muɔ duɛ ditɔ gid Bantu Proto Bantu i jico kʊ tʊ i i jʊ lʊ i jino i gego lʊ lɪ mi ka nʊa mʊ lomo ma gila gil a ma gadi gadi mʊ lopa ma ɲinga i kupa mʊ tɪ ma jijɪ i diba HH lɪ a i jinaBantu Swahili jicho sikio pua jino ulimi kinywa damu Ar mfupa mti maji la jinaSee alsoList of Proto Benue Congo reconstructions Wiktionary Systematic graphic of the Niger Congo languages with numbers of speakersReferencesRoger Blench Niger Congo an alternative view Archived 2012 12 03 at the Wayback Machine Watters JR 2018 Watters John R eds East Benue Congo Nouns pronouns and verbs pdf Berlin Language Science Press doi 10 5281 zenodo 1314306 ISBN 978 3 96110 100 9 Archived from the original on 2018 11 16 Retrieved 2018 11 15 Blench Roger 2019 An Atlas of Nigerian Languages 4th ed Cambridge Kay Williamson Educational Foundation de wolf Paul 1971 The Noun Class System of Proto Benue Congo Archived 2023 11 11 at the Wayback Machine Janua Linguarum Series Practica 167 The Hague Mouton Shimizu Kiyoshi 1982 Die Nord Jos Gruppe der Plateau Sprachen Nigerias Afrika und Ubersee in German 65 2 161 210 ISSN 0002 0427 Shimizu Kiyoshi 1980 Comparative Jukunoid 3 vols Veroffentlichungen der Institute fur Afrikanistik und Agyptologie der Universitat Wien 7 9 Beitrage zur Afrikanistik 5 7 Vienna Afro Pub Gerhardt Ludwig 1983 Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Sprachen des Nigerianischen Plateaus Afrikanistische Forschungen in German Vol 9 Gluckstadt J J Augustin ISBN 3 87030 062 0 Dimmendaal Gerrit J 1978 The Consonants of Proto Upper Cross and their Implications for the Classification of the Upper Cross Languages PhD Leiden University OCLC 37049861 Connell Bruce n d Comparative Lower Cross wordlist Archived 2016 03 04 at the Wayback Machine Unpublished manuscript Blench Roger and Kay Williamson 2008 The Ogoni languages comparative word list and historical reconstructions Archived 2020 08 05 at the Wayback Machine Hyman L M 1979 Index of Proto Grassfields Bantu roots Archived 2019 09 04 at the Wayback Machine Ms U S C CBOLD Archived 2011 09 15 at the Wayback Machine accessed from Comparalex Archived 2020 08 15 at the Wayback Machine Paulin Pascale 1995 Etude comparative des langues du groupe Ring langues Grassfields de l ouest Cameroun MA thesis Universite Lumiere Lyon 2 Schadeberg Thilo C 2003 Historical linguistics In Derek Nurse and Gerard Philippson eds The Bantu languages Routledge language family series 4 New York Routledge ISBN 978 0 700 71134 5 Wolf Paul Polydoor de 1971 The Noun Class System of Proto Benue Congo Thesis Leiden University The Hague Paris Mouton Williamson Kay 1989 Benue Congo Overview pp 248 274 in Bendor Samuel John amp Rhonda L Hartell eds The Niger Congo Languages A classification and description of Africa s largest language family Lanham Maryland University Press of America External linksComparaLex database with Benue Congo word lists Web resources for the Benue Congo languages Journal of West African Languages Benue Congo Proto Benue Congo Swadesh list Archived 2021 07 09 at the Wayback Machine de Wolf 1971
