View source for Bantu languages

{{Short description|Large language family spoken in Sub-Saharan Africa}}
{{other uses|Bantu}}
{{Infobox language family
| name          = Bantu
| altname       = Narrow Bantu
| ethnicity     = [[Bantu peoples]]
| familycolor   = Niger-Congo
| fam2          = [[Atlantic–Congo languages|Atlantic–Congo]]
| fam3          = [[Volta–Congo languages|Volta–Congo]]
| fam4          = [[Benue–Congo languages|Benue–Congo]]
| fam5          = [[Bantoid languages|Bantoid]]
| fam6          = [[Southern Bantoid languages|Southern Bantoid]]
| map           = Map of the Bantu languages.svg
| mapcaption    = {{legend|#f8acec|{{color|#a4228d|'''Bantu languages'''}} shown within the [[Niger–Congo languages|Niger–Congo language family]]. Non-Bantu, but [[Niger–Congo languages|Niger-Congo]], languages are greyscale.}}
| iso2          = bnt
| iso5          = bnt
| glotto        = narr1281
| glottorefname = Narrow Bantu
| protoname     = [[Proto-Bantu language|Proto-Bantu]]
| children      = {{plainlist|
* [[Guthrie classification of Bantu languages|Zones A–S]] (geographic)
* [[Mbam languages|Mbam]]–[[Bube language|Bube]]
* ''[[Manenguba language|Manenguba]]''
* [[Sawabantu languages|Sawabantu]]
* [[Basaa languages|Basaa]]
* [[Bafia languages|Bafia]]
* [[Beti language|Beti]]
* [[Makaa–Njem languages|Makaa–Njem]]
* [[Kele–Tsogo languages|Kele–Tsogo]]
* [[Teke–Mbede languages|Teke–Mbede]]
* [[Mboshi–Buja languages|Mboshi–Buja]]
* [[Bangi–Tetela languages|Bangi–Tetela]]
* [[Mbole–Enya languages|Mbole–Enya]]
* [[Lega–Binja languages|Lega–Binja]]
* [[Boan languages|Boan]]
* [[Lebonya languages|Lebonya]]
* [[Nyanga–Buyi languages|Nyanga–Buyi]]
* '''[[Northeast Bantu languages|Northeast Bantu]]'''
* [[Tongwe language|Tongwe-Bende]]
* [[Mbugwe–Rangi languages|Mbugwe–Rangi]]
* [[Kilombero languages|Kilombero]]
* [[Kongo languages|Kongo]]–[[Yaka languages|Yaka]]
* [[Sira languages|Sira]]
* [[Kimbundu languages|Kimbundu]]
* [[Chokwe–Luchazi languages|Chokwe–Luchazi]]
* ''[[Luyana language|Luyana]]''
* ''[[Mbukushu language|Mbukushu]]''
* [[Pende languages|Pende]]
* [[Luban languages|Luban]]
* [[Lunda languages|Lunda]]
* [[Rukwa languages|Rukwa]]
* [[Sabi languages|Sabi]]–[[Botatwe languages|Botatwe]]
* [[Turu language|Nyaturu]]-[[Nilamba language|Nilamba]]-[[Isanzu language|Isanzu]]
* [[Nyasa languages|Nyasa]]
* [[Rufiji–Ruvuma languages|Rufiji–Ruvuma]]
* ''[[Umbundu]]''
* [[Kavango – Southwest Bantu languages|Kavango–Southwest Bantu]]
* ''[[Yeyi language|Yeyi]]''
* [[Shona languages|Shona]]
* '''[[Southern Bantu languages|Southern Bantu]]'''
}}
| region        = [[Central Africa]], [[Southeast Africa]], [[East Africa]], [[Southern Africa]], [[geography of Somalia|Southern Somalia]]
}}

The '''Bantu languages''' ({{IPA-cen|UK|ˌ|b|æ|n|ˈ|t|uː}}, {{IPA-cen|US|ˈ|b|æ|n|t|uː}}  [[Proto-Bantu language|Proto-Bantu]]: *bantʊ̀)<ref>{{cite LPD|3}}</ref><ref>{{cite EPD|18}}</ref> are a [[language family]], or a branch of the proposed [[Niger–Congo languages|Niger-Congo]] language family, containing about 600 [[language]]s that are spoken by the [[Bantu peoples]] of [[Central Africa|Central]], [[Southern Africa|Southern]], [[East Africa|Eastern]] and [[Southeast Africa|Southeast]] [[Africa]]. They form the largest branch of the [[Southern Bantoid languages]].

The total number of Bantu languages is estimated at between 440 and 680 distinct languages, depending on the definition of [[Dialect#Dialect or language|"language" versus "dialect"]].<ref name=":1">"Guthrie (1967–71) names some 440 Bantu 'varieties', Grimes (2000) has 501 (minus a few 'extinct' or 'almost extinct'), Bastin ''et al.'' (1999) have 542, Maho (this volume) has some 660, and Mann ''et al.'' (1987) have ''c.'' 680." Derek Nurse, 2006, "Bantu Languages", in the ''Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics'', p. 2. [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=73-16 :Ethnologue report for Southern Bantoid"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016142546/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=73-16 |date=2012-10-16}} lists a total of 535 languages. The count includes 13 [[Mbam languages]], which are not always included under "Narrow Bantu".</ref> Many Bantu languages borrow words from each other, and some are [[mutually intelligible]].<ref>McWhorter, J. 2001. ''The Power of Babel'' (pp. 81–82). New York: Freeman-Times-Henry Holt.</ref>  Some of the languages are spoken by a very small number of people; for example, the [[Kabwa language]] was estimated in 2007 to be spoken by only 8,500 people, but was assessed to be a distinct language.<ref>{{cite book |language=en |first1=Rebekah |last1=Overton |first2=John B. |last2=Walker |first3=Holly |last3=Robinson |date=2017a |title=Kabwa orthography statement |newspaper=SIL International |url=https://www.sil.org/resources/archives/73084 |access-date=2024-02-16 |archive-date=2022-12-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221209193306/https://www.sil.org/resources/archives/73084 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The total number of Bantu speakers is estimated to be around 350 million in 2015 (roughly 30% of the [[Demographics of Africa|population of Africa]] or 5% of the [[world population]]).<ref>Total population cannot be established with any accuracy due to the unavailability of precise census data from Sub-Saharan Africa. A number just above 200 million was cited in the early 2000s (see [[:File:Niger-Congo speakers.png|Niger-Congo languages: subgroups and numbers of speakers]] for a 2007 compilation of data from [[SIL Ethnologue]], citing 210 million). Population estimates for the region of West-Central Africa were recognized as significantly too low by the [[United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs]] in 2015 ({{cite web|url=https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Publications/Files/WPP2017_KeyFindings.pdf|title=World Population Prospects: The 2016 Revision – Key Findings and Advance Tables|date=July 2016|publisher=[[United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs]], Population Division|access-date=26 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626225001/https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Publications/Files/WPP2017_KeyFindings.pdf|archive-date=26 June 2019|url-status=dead}}). [[Demographics of Africa#Population growth|Population growth]] in Central-West Africa as of 2015 is estimated at between 2.5% and 2.8% p.a., for an annual increase of the Bantu population by about 8 to 10 million.</ref> Bantu languages are largely spoken southeast of [[Cameroon]], and throughout [[Central Africa|Central]], [[Southern Africa|Southern]], [[East Africa|Eastern]], and [[Southeast Africa]]. About one-sixth of [[List of Bantu peoples|Bantu speakers]], and one-third of Bantu languages, are found in the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]].

The most widely spoken Bantu language by number of speakers is [[Swahili language|Swahili]], with 16 million [[First language|native]] speakers and 80 million [[L2 language|L2]] speakers (2015).<ref>[https://www.ethnologue.com/language/swh "Swahili"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180808104736/https://www.ethnologue.com/language/swh |date=2018-08-08 }}, ''Ethnologue'' (18th ed., 2015): "47,000,000 in Tanzania, all users. L1 users: 15,000,000 (2012), increasing. L2 users: 32,000,000 (2015 D. Nurse). Total users in all countries: 98,310,110 (as L1: 16,010,110; as L2: 82,300,000)."</ref> Most native speakers of Swahili live in [[Tanzania]], where it is a national language, while as a second language, it is taught as a mandatory subject in many schools in East Africa, and is a [[lingua franca]] of the [[East African Community]].

Other major Bantu languages include [[Lingala language|Lingala]] with more than 20 million speakers ([[Republic of the Congo|Congo]], [[DRC]]), followed by [[Zulu language|Zulu]] with 13.56 million speakers ([[South Africa]]), [[Xhosa language|Xhosa]], with 8.2 million [[Xhosa people|speakers]] ([[South Africa]] and [[Zimbabwe]]), and [[Shona language|Shona]] with less than 10 million speakers (if [[Manyika dialect|Manyika]] and [[Ndau dialect|Ndau]] are included), while [[Sotho–Tswana languages|Sotho-Tswana languages]] ([[Sotho language|Sotho]], [[Tswana language|Tswana]] and [[Northern Sotho language|Pedi]]) have more than 15 million speakers (across [[Botswana]], [[Lesotho]], South Africa, and [[Zambia]]). Zimbabwe has [[Kalanga language|Kalanga]], [[Matebele]], [[Nambya language|Nambya]], and Xhosa speakers.<ref name="Z.Thamba">{{cite journal |last1=Zimbabwe |first1=AmaXhosa |title=AmaXhosa |date=2021 |url=https://gal-dem.com/xhosa-people-of-zimbabwe-indigenous-south-africans-displaced-by-colonialism/ |access-date=2023-07-20 |archive-date=2023-07-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230720175051/https://gal-dem.com/xhosa-people-of-zimbabwe-indigenous-south-africans-displaced-by-colonialism/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/sna|title=Ethnologue: Shona|access-date=2017-03-06|archive-date=2016-12-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228181311/https://www.ethnologue.com/language/sna|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Ethnologue]]'' separates the largely mutually intelligible [[Kinyarwanda]] and [[Kirundi]], which together have 20 million speakers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/ethno_docs/distribution.asp?by=size |title=Statistical Summaries |publisher=Ethnologue |access-date=2012-06-29 |archive-date=2013-02-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130202224556/http://www.ethnologue.com/ethno_docs/distribution.asp?by=size |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Name==
{{further|Bantu peoples#Etymology}}
The similarity among dispersed Bantu languages had been observed as early as the 17th century.<ref>R. Blench, ''Archaeology, Language, and the African Past'' (2006), [https://books.google.com/books?id=esFy3Po57A8C&pg=PA119 p. 119]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627091227/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=esFy3Po57A8C&lpg=PP1&hl=de&pg=PA119 |date=2018-06-27 }}.</ref> The term ''Bantu'' as a name for the group was not coined but "noticed" or "identified" (as ''Bâ-ntu'') by [[Wilhelm Bleek]] as the first European in 1857 or 1858, and popularized in his ''Comparative Grammar'' of 1862.<ref name=":2">{{cite journal |last1=Silverstein |first1=Raymond O. |title=A note on the term 'Bantu' as first used by W. H. I. Bleek |journal=African Studies |date=January 1968 |volume=27 |issue=4 |pages=211–212 |doi=10.1080/00020186808707298}}</ref> He noticed the term to represent the word for "people" in loosely reconstructed [[Proto-Bantu]], from the plural [[noun class]] prefix ''[[:wikt:Appendix:Swahili noun classes#M-wa class|*ba-]]'' categorizing "people", and the [[root (linguistics)|root]] ''*ntʊ̀-'' "some (entity), any" (e.g. Xhosa ''umntu'' "person", ''abantu'' "people"; Zulu ''umuntu'' "person", ''abantu'' "people").

There is no native term for the people who speak Bantu languages because they are not an [[ethnic group]]. People speaking Bantu languages refer to their languages by ethnic [[Endonym and exonym|endonyms]], which did not have an indigenous concept prior to European contact for the larger ethnolinguistic phylum named by 19th-century European linguists. Bleek's identification was inspired by the anthropological observation of groups frequently self-identifying as "people" or "the true people" (as is the case, for example, with the term ''[[Khoikhoi]]'', but this is a ''kare'' "praise address" and not an ethnic name).<ref>R. K. Herbert and R. Bailey in Rajend Mesthrie (ed.), ''Language in South Africa'' (2002), [https://books.google.com/books?id=cqaGb_SEQHUC&pg=PA50 p. 50]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627091217/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=cqaGb_SEQHUC&pg=PA50 |date=2018-06-27 }}.</ref>

The term ''narrow Bantu'', excluding those languages classified as [[Bantoid]] by [[Malcolm Guthrie]] (1948), was introduced in the 1960s.<ref name=":4">''Studies in African Linguistics'': Supplement, Issues 3–4, Department of Linguistics and the African Studies Center, University of California, Los Angeles (1969), p. 7.</ref>

The prefix ''ba-'' specifically refers to people. Endonymically, the term for cultural objects, including language, is formed with the [[:wikt:Appendix:Swahili noun classes#Ki-vi class|''ki-'' noun class]] (Nguni ''[[:wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Nguni/ísi-|ísi-]]''), as in KiSwahili (Swahili language and culture), IsiZulu (Zulu language and culture) and KiGanda (Ganda religion and culture).

In the 1980s, South African linguists suggested referring to these languages as ''KiNtu.'' The word ''kintu'' exists in some places, but it means "thing", with no relation to the concept of "language".<ref>Joshua Wantate Sempebwa, ''The Ontological and Normative Structure in the Social Reality of a Bantu Society: A Systematic Study of Ganda Ontology and Ethics'', 1978, p. 71.</ref> In addition, delegates at the African Languages Association of Southern Africa conference in 1984 reported that, in some places, the term ''Kintu'' has a derogatory significance.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Addendum |journal=South African Journal of African Languages |date=1 January 1984 |volume=4 |issue=Suppl 1 |page=120 |doi=10.1080/02572117.1984.10587452}}</ref> This is because ''kintu'' refers to "things" and is used as a dehumanizing term for people who have lost their dignity.<ref>[[Molefi Kete Asante]], Ama Mazama, ''Encyclopedia of African Religion'' (2009), [https://books.google.com/books?id=B667ATiedQkC&pg=PT173 p. 173]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627091157/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=B667ATiedQkC&pg=PT173 |date= 2018-06-27 }}.</ref>

In addition, ''[[Kintu]]'' is a figure in some mythologies.<ref>David William Cohen, ''The Historical Tradition of Busoga, Mukama and Kintu'' (1972). Joseph B. R. Gaie, Sana Mmolai, ''The Concept of Botho and HIV/AIDS in Botswana'' (2007), [https://books.google.com/books?id=ieiT9tZMqBgC&pg=PA2 p. 2]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627091129/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ieiT9tZMqBgC&pg=PA2 |date=2018-06-27 }}.</ref>

In the 1990s, the term ''Kintu'' was still occasionally used by South African linguists.<ref name=":0">as in Noverino N. Canonici, ''A Manual of Comparative Kintu Studies'', Zulu Language and Literature, University of Natal (1994).</ref> But in contemporary decolonial South African linguistics, the term ''Ntu languages'' is used.<ref name=":0" />

Within the fierce debate among linguists about the word "Bantu", Seidensticker (2024) indicates that there has been a "profound conceptual trend in which a 'purely technical [term] without any non-linguistic connotations was transformed into a designation referring indiscriminately to language, culture, society, and race'."<ref name="Seidensticker">{{cite journal |last1=Seidensticker |first1=Dirk |title=Pikunda-Munda and Batalimo-Maluba Archaeological Investigations of the Iron Age Settlement History of the Western and Northern Congo Basin |journal=African Archaeological Review |date=28 March 2024 |volume=41 |issue=2 |pages=5–6 |doi=10.1007/s10437-024-09576-7 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-024-09576-7 |issn=0263-0338 |oclc=10194943180 |s2cid=268802330|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Origin==
The Bantu languages descend from a common [[Proto-Bantu language]], which is believed to have been spoken in what is now [[Cameroon]] in [[Central Africa]].<ref name="Adler">Philip J. Adler, Randall L. Pouwels, ''World Civilizations: To 1700 Volume 1 of World Civilizations'', (Cengage Learning: 2007), p.169.</ref> An estimated 2,500–3,000 years ago (1000 BC to 500 BC), speakers of the Proto-Bantu language began a series of migrations eastward and southward, carrying agriculture with them. This [[Bantu expansion]] came to dominate Sub-Saharan Africa east of Cameroon, an area where [[Bantu peoples]] now constitute nearly the entire population.<ref name="Adler"/><ref name="Falola">Toyin Falola, Aribidesi Adisa Usman, ''Movements, borders, and identities in Africa'', (University Rochester Press: 2009), p.4.</ref> Some other sources estimate the Bantu Expansion started closer to 3000 BC.<ref name=":6">Gemma Berniell-Lee et al, [http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/content/26/7/1581.abstract "Genetic and Demographic Implications of the Bantu Expansion: Insights from Human Paternal Lineages"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110416143255/http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/content/26/7/1581.abstract |date=2011-04-16 }}, Oxford Journals</ref>

The technical term Bantu, meaning "human beings" or simply "people", was first used by [[Wilhelm Bleek]] (1827–1875), as the concept is reflected in many of the languages of this group. A common characteristic of Bantu languages is that they use words such as ''muntu'' or ''mutu'' for "human being" or in simplistic terms "person", and the plural prefix for human nouns starting with ''mu-'' (class 1) in most languages is ''ba-'' (class 2), thus giving ''bantu'' for "people". Bleek, and later [[Carl Meinhof]], pursued extensive studies comparing the grammatical structures of Bantu languages.

==Classification==
{{main|Guthrie classification of Bantu languages}}
{{see also|List of Bantu languages}}
[[File:Bantu zones.png|thumb|upright=1.59|The approximate locations of the [[Guthrie classification of Bantu languages|sixteen Guthrie Bantu zones]], including the addition of a [[Great Lakes Bantu languages|zone J around the Great Lakes]]. The [[Jarawan languages]] are spoken in Nigeria.]]

The most widely used classification is an alphanumeric coding system developed by [[Malcolm Guthrie]] in his 1948 classification of the Bantu languages. It is mainly geographic. The term "narrow Bantu" was coined by the ''Benue–Congo Working Group'' to distinguish Bantu as recognized by Guthrie, from the [[Bantoid languages]] not recognized as Bantu by Guthrie.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Bostoen, Koen|title=Linguistics for the use of African history and the comparative study of Bantu pottery vocabulary|date=2004|oclc=803473571}}</ref>

In recent times,{{when|date=July 2017}} the distinctiveness of Narrow Bantu as opposed to the other [[Southern Bantoid languages]] has been called into doubt,<ref>(cf. Piron 1995, Williamson & Blench 2000, Blench 2011)</ref> but the term is still widely used.

There is no true genealogical classification of the (Narrow) Bantu languages. Until recently{{when|date=July 2017}} most attempted classifications only considered languages that happen to fall within traditional Narrow Bantu, but there seems to be a continuum with the related languages of South Bantoid.<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal|last=Dalby|first=David|date=January 1976|title=The Prehistorical Implications of Guthrie's Comparative Bantu. Part II: Interpretation of Cultural Vocabulary|journal=The Journal of African History|volume=17|issue=1|pages=1–27|doi=10.1017/s0021853700014742|s2cid=163068049|issn=0021-8537}}</ref>

At a broader level, the family is commonly split in two depending on the reflexes of proto-Bantu tone patterns: many Bantuists group together parts of zones A through D (the extent depending on the author) as ''Northwest Bantu'' or ''Forest Bantu'', and the remainder as ''Central Bantu'' or ''Savanna Bantu''. The two groups have been described as having mirror-image tone systems: where Northwest Bantu has a high tone in a cognate, Central Bantu languages generally have a low tone, and vice versa.

Northwest Bantu is more divergent internally than Central Bantu, and perhaps less [[conservative (language)|conservative]] due to contact with non-Bantu Niger–Congo languages; Central Bantu is likely the innovative line [[cladistically]]. Northwest Bantu is not a coherent family, but even for Central Bantu the evidence is lexical, with little evidence that it is a historically valid group.

Another attempt at a detailed genetic classification to replace the Guthrie system is the 1999 "Tervuren" proposal of Bastin, Coupez, and Mann.<ref>The Guthrie, Tervuren, and SIL lists are compared side by side in [https://web.archive.org/web/20090325021837/http://www.african.gu.se/maho/downloads/bantulineup.pdf Maho 2002].</ref> However, it relies on [[lexicostatistics]], which, because of its reliance on overall similarity rather than [[synapomorphy|shared innovations]], may predict spurious groups of [[polyphyly|conservative languages that are not closely related]]. Meanwhile, ''[[Ethnologue]]'' has added languages to the Guthrie classification which Guthrie overlooked, while removing the [[Mbam languages]] (much of zone A), and shifting some languages between groups (much of zones D and E to a new zone J, for example, and part of zone L to K, and part of M to F) in an apparent effort at a semi-genetic, or at least semi-areal, classification. This has been criticized for sowing confusion in one of the few unambiguous ways to distinguish Bantu languages. Nurse & Philippson (2006) evaluate many proposals for low-level groups of Bantu languages, but the result is not a complete portrayal of the family.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" /> ''[[Glottolog]]'' has incorporated many of these into their classification.<ref>{{cite web| editor-last1 = Hammarström| editor-first1 = Harald| editor-last2 = Forke| editor-first2 = Robert| editor-last3 = Haspelmath| editor-first3 = Martin| editor-last4 = Bank| editor-first4 = Sebastian| year = 2020| title = Narrow Bantu| work = [[Glottolog]] 4.3| url = https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/narr1281| access-date = 2020-12-02| archive-date = 2020-11-04| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201104105022/https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/narr1281| url-status = live}}</ref>

The languages that share [[Dahl's law]] may also form a valid group, [[Northeast Bantu languages|Northeast Bantu]]. The infobox at right lists these together with various low-level groups that are fairly uncontroversial, though they continue to be revised. The development of a rigorous genealogical classification of many branches of Niger–Congo, not just Bantu, is hampered by insufficient data.<ref name=":5">Bryan, M.A.(compiled by), ''The Bantu Languages of Africa''. Published for the International African Institute, Oxford University Press, 1959.</ref><ref name=":4" />

===Computational phylogenetic classifications===
Simplified phylogeny of northwestern branches of Bantu by Grollemund (2012):<ref>Grollemund, Rebecca. 2012. ''[http://www.evolution.reading.ac.uk/~vy904310/pdf/Grollemund_2012_classification%20bantu%20NO.pdf Nouvelles approches en classification : Application aux langues bantu du Nord-Ouest] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200618162850/http://www.evolution.reading.ac.uk/~vy904310/pdf/Grollemund_2012_classification%20bantu%20NO.pdf |date=2020-06-18 }}''. Ph.D Dissertation, Université Lumière Lyon 2, Lyon, 550 pp.</ref>

{{clade |style=font-size:90%; line-height:90%;
|label1=Bantu
|1={{clade
|label1=Northwest
|label2=Central
|1={{clade
|label1=Northwest 1
|label2=Northwest 2
|1={{clade
|label1=Northwest 1a
|label2=Northwest 1b
|1={{clade
|1=A40-50-60-70: [[Basaa languages]], [[Bafia languages]], [[Mbam languages]], [[Beti language]]
|2=A10-20-30: [[Sawabantu languages]], [[Manenguba languages]]}}
|2={{clade
|1=A80-90: [[Makaa–Njem languages]]
|2=B20: [[Kele languages]]}} }}
|2={{clade
|1=B10: [[Myene language]]
|2=B30: [[Tsogo languages]]}} }}
|2={{clade
|label1=Central 1
|label2=Central 2
|1={{clade
|label1=Central 1a
|label2=Central 1b
|1={{clade
|1=C10-20-30: [[Ngondi–Ngiri languages]], [[Mboshi languages]], [[Bangi–Ntomba languages]]
|2=C40-D20-D32: [[Bati–Angba languages]], [[Lega–Binja languages]], [[Bira language]]}}
|2={{clade
|1=B80-C60-70-80: [[Boma–Dzing languages]], [[Soko languages]], [[Tetela languages]], [[Bushoong languages]]
|2=B40-H10-30-B50-60-70: [[Sira languages]], [[Kongo languages]], [[Yaka languages]], [[Nzebi languages]], [[Mbete languages]], [[Teke languages]]
|3=L10-H40: [[Pende languages]], [[Hungana language]]}} }}
|2={{clade
|1=C50-D10: [[Soko languages]], [[Lengola language]]
|2=D10-20-30-40-JD50: [[Mbole–Enya languages]], [[Komo–Bira languages]], [[Shi–Havu languages]]}} }} }} }}

Other [[computational phylogenetic]] analyses of Bantu include Currie et al. (2013),<ref>Currie, Thomas E., Andrew Meade, Myrtille Guillon, Ruth Mace (2013). [http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/280/1762/20130695 "Cultural phylogeography of the Bantu Languages of sub-Saharan Africa"].  {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180718205704/http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/280/1762/20130695 |date=2018-07-18 }}. ''Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences'', 2013, Volume 280, issue 1762 {{doi|10.1098/rspb.2013.0695}}</ref> Grollemund et al. (2015),<ref>Grollemund, Rebecca Simon Branford, Koen Bostoen, Andrew Meade, Chris Venditti, and Mark Pagel (2015). [http://www.pnas.org/content/112/43/13296 "Bantu expansion shows that habitat alters the route and pace of human dispersals"].  {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180718213510/http://www.pnas.org/content/112/43/13296 |date=2018-07-18 }}. PNAS October 27, 2015. 112 (43), 13296–13301. {{doi|10.1073/pnas.1503793112}}</ref> Rexova et al. 2006,<ref>Rexová, K., Bastin, Y., Frynta, D. 2006. "Cladistic analysis of Bantu languages: a new tree based on combined lexical and grammatical data". ''Naturwissenschaften'' 93, 189–194.</ref> Holden et al., 2016,<ref>Holden, C., Meade, A., Pagel, M. 2016. "Comparison of MP and Bayesian Bantu Trees" (Chp. 4). In: ''The Evolution of Cultural Diversity: a Phylogenetic Approach'', Ruth Mace, Clare Holden, Stephen Shennan (eds.)(Amazon Look Inside)(in Britain 1st published by UCL Press, 2005).</ref> and Whiteley et al. 2018.<ref>Whiteley, P.M., Ming Xue, Wheeler, W.C. 2018. Revising the Bantu tree. Cladistics, 1–20 (amnh.org).</ref>

===Glottolog classification===
[[Glottolog]] ('''2021''') does not consider the older geographic classification by Guthrie relevant for its ongoing classification based on more recent linguistic studies, and divides Bantu into four main branches: [[Bantu A-B10-B20-B30]], [[Central-Western Bantu]], [[East Bantu]] and [[Mbam-Bube-Jarawan]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/narr1281|title=Glottolog 4.5 – Narrow Bantu|access-date=2020-12-02|archive-date=2020-11-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201104105022/https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/narr1281|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Language structure==
Guthrie reconstructed both the phonemic inventory and the vocabulary of Proto-Bantu.<ref name=":1" />

The most prominent [[Grammar|grammatical]] characteristic of Bantu languages is the extensive use of [[affix]]es (see [[Sotho grammar]] and [[Luganda#Noun classes|Ganda noun classes]] for detailed discussions of these affixes). Each noun belongs to a [[noun class|class]], and each language may have several numbered classes, somewhat like [[grammatical gender]] in European languages. The class is indicated by a prefix that is part of the noun, as well as agreement markers on verb and qualificative roots connected with the noun. Plurality is indicated by a change of class, with a resulting change of prefix.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" /> All Bantu languages are [[agglutinative]].

The verb has a number of prefixes, though in the western languages these are often treated as independent words.<ref>Derek Nurse, 2008. ''Tense and aspect in Bantu'', p 70 (fn). In many of the Zone A, including [[Mbam languages|Mbam]], the verbs are clearly analytic.</ref> In [[Swahili language|Swahili]], for example, ''Kitoto kidogo kimekisoma'' (for comparison, ''Kamwana kadoko karikuverenga'' in [[Shona language]]) means 'The small child has read it [a book]'. ''kitoto'' 'child' governs the adjective prefix ''ki-'' (representing the diminutive form of the word) and the verb subject prefix ''a-''. Then comes perfect tense ''-me-'' and an object marker ''-ki-'' agreeing with implicit ''kitabu'' 'book' (from Arabic ''kitab''). Pluralizing to 'children' gives ''Vitoto vidogo vimekisoma'' (''Vana vadoko varikuverenga'' in Shona), and [[plural]]izing to 'books' (''vitabu'') gives ''vitoto vidogo vimevisoma''.<ref name=":6" />

Bantu words are typically made up of [[Syllable#Coda|open syllable]]s of the type CV (consonant-vowel) with most languages having syllables exclusively of this type. The [[Bushong language]] recorded by [[Jan Vansina|Vansina]], however, has final consonants,<ref>Vansina, J. ''Esquisse de Grammaire Bushong''. Commission de Linguistique Africaine, Tervuren, Belgique, 1959.</ref> while slurring of the final syllable (though written) is reported as common among the [[Tonga (Nyasa) language|Tonga]] of Malawi.<ref>Turner, Rev. Wm. Y., ''Tumbuka–Tonga$1–$2 $3ictionEnglish Dictionary''  Hetherwick Press, Blantyre, Malawi 1952. pages i–ii.</ref> The morphological shape of Bantu words is typically CV, VCV, CVCV, VCVCV, etc.; that is, any combination of CV (with possibly a V- syllable at the start). In other words, a strong claim for this language family is that almost all words end in a vowel, precisely because closed syllables (CVC) are not permissible in most of the documented languages, as far as is understood.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":7" />

This tendency to avoid [[consonant cluster]]s in some positions is important when words are imported from [[English language|English]] or other non-Bantu languages. An example from [[Chewa language|Chewa]]: the word "school", borrowed from English, and then transformed to fit the sound patterns of this language, is ''sukulu''. That is, ''sk-'' has been broken up by inserting an [[epenthesis|epenthetic]] ''-u-''; ''-u'' has also been added at the end of the word. Another example is ''buledi'' for "bread". Similar effects are seen in [[loanword]]s for other non-African CV languages like [[Japanese language|Japanese]]. However, a clustering of sounds at the beginning of a syllable can be readily observed in such languages as Shona,<ref>Doke, Clement M., ''A Comparative Study in Shona Phonetics'' University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 1931.</ref> and the [[Makua languages]].<ref>''Relatório do I Seminário sobre a Padronização da Ortografia de Línguas Moçambicanas''  NELIMO, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane. 1989.</ref>

With few exceptions, such as [[Swahili language|Kiswahili]] and [[Tooro language|Rutooro]], Bantu languages are [[Tone (linguistics)|tonal]] and have two to four register tones.

===Reduplication===
[[Reduplication]] is a common morphological phenomenon in Bantu languages and is usually used to indicate frequency or intensity of the action signalled by the (unreduplicated) verb stem.<ref name=":8">Abdulaziz Lodhi, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20090325021837/http://www.african.gu.se/aa/pdfs/aa02004.pdf Verbal extensions in Bantu (the case of Swahili and Nyamwezi)]". ''Africa & Asia,'' 2002, 2:4–26, Göteborg University</ref>

*Example: in Swahili, ''piga'' means "strike", ''pigapiga'' means "strike repeatedly".

Well-known words and names that have reduplication include:
*[[South Africa national football team|Bafana Bafana]], a football team
*[[Zambia national football team|Chipolopolo]], a football team
*[[Eric Djemba-Djemba]], a footballer
*[[Lomana LuaLua]], a footballer

Repetition emphasizes the repeated word in the context that it is used. For instance, "Mwenda pole hajikwai," means "He who goes slowly doesn't trip," while, "Pole pole ndio mwendo," means "A slow but steady pace wins the race." The latter repeats "pole" to emphasize the consistency of slowness of the pace.

As another example, "Haraka haraka" would mean "hurrying just for the sake of hurrying" (reckless hurry), as in "Njoo! Haraka haraka" [come here! Hurry, hurry].

In contrast, there are some words in some of the languages in which reduplication has the opposite meaning. It usually denotes short durations, or lower intensity of the action, and also means a few repetitions or a little bit more.

*Example 1: In [[Tsonga language|(Xi)Tsonga]] and [[Shona language|(Chi)Shona]], ''famba'' means "walk" while ''famba-famba'' means "walk around".
*Example 2: in [[Zulu language|isiZulu]] and [[Swazi language|(si)Swati]] ''hamba'' means "go", ''hambahamba'' means "go a little bit, but not much".
*Example 3: in both of the above languages ''shaya'' means "strike", ''shayashaya'' means "strike a few more times lightly, but not heavy strikes and not too many times".
*Example 4: In [[ChiShona|Shona]] ''{{wikt-lang|sn|kwenya}}'' means "scratch", ''Kwenyakwenya'' means "scratch excessively or a lot".
*Example 5: In [[Luhya language|Luhya]] ''cheenda'' means "walk",'' cheendacheenda'' means "take a walk but not far off", as in buying time before something is ready or a situation or time is right.

===Noun class===
The following is a list of nominal classes in Bantu languages:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bantu-languages.com/fr/classes.html|title=Les classes nominales en bantu|access-date=2005-04-26|archive-date=2017-11-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171101213948/http://www.bantu-languages.com/fr/classes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="2" | Singular classes
! colspan="2" | Plural classes
! rowspan="2" | Typical meaning(s)
|-
! Number !! Prefix
! Number !! Prefix
|-
| 1 || ''*mʊ-''
| 2 || ''*ba-''
| Humans, animate
|-
| 3 || ''*mu-''
| 4 || ''*mi-''
| Plants, inanimate
|-
| 5 || ''*dɪ-''
| 6 || ''*ma-''
| Various; class 6 for liquids ([[mass noun]]s)
|-
| 7 || ''*ki-''
| 8 || ''*bɪ-''
| Various, diminutives, manner/way/language
|-
| 9 || ''*n-''
| 10 || ''*n-''
| Animals, inanimate
|-
| 11 || ''*du-''
| colspan="2" |
| Abstract nouns
|-
| 12 || ''*ka-''
| 13 || ''*tu-''
| Diminutives
|-
| 14 || ''*bu-''
| colspan="2" rowspan="6" |
| Abstract nouns
|-
| 15 || ''*ku-''
| Infinitives
|-
| 16 || ''*pa-''
| Locatives (proximal, exact)
|-
| 17 || ''*ku-''
| Locatives (distal, approximate)
|-
| 18 || ''*mu-''
| Locatives (interior)
|-
| 19 || ''*pɪ-''
| Diminutives
|}

===Syntax===
Virtually all Bantu languages have a [[subject–verb–object]] word order, with some exceptions, such as 
the [[Nen language (Cameroon)|Nen language]], which has a [[subject–object–verb]] word order.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lqIUDAAAQBAJ&dq=bantu+language+SOV+word+order&pg=PA70|title = Tense and Aspect in Bantu|isbn = 978-0-19-923929-0|last1 = Nurse|first1 = Derek|date = 3 July 2008| publisher=OUP Oxford }}</ref>

==By country==
{{further|List of Bantu peoples}}
Following is an incomplete list of the principal Bantu languages of each country.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.org |title=According to Ethnologue |publisher=Ethnologue.org |access-date=2012-06-29 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=2012-06-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616034708/http://www.ethnologue.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Included are those languages that constitute at least 1% of the population and have at least 10% the number of speakers of the largest Bantu language in the country.

Most languages are referred to in English without the class prefix (''Swahili'', ''Tswana'', ''Ndebele''), but are sometimes seen with the (language-specific) prefix (''Kiswahili'', ''Setswana'', ''Sindebele''). In a few cases prefixes are used to distinguish languages with the same root in their name, such as [[Luba-Kasai language|Tshilubà]] and [[Luba-Katanga language|Kiluba]] (both ''Luba''), [[Umbundu]] and [[Kimbundu]] (both ''Mbundu''). The prefixless form typically does not occur in the language itself, but is the basis for other words based on the ethnicity. So, in the country of [[Botswana]] the people are the ''[[Tswana people|Batswana]]'', one person is a ''Motswana'', and the language is ''[[Setswana]]''; and in [[Uganda]], centred on the kingdom of ''[[Buganda]]'', the dominant ethnicity are the ''[[Baganda]]'' (singular ''Muganda''), whose language is ''[[Luganda]]''.

===Lingua franca===
*[[Swahili language|Swahili]] (Kiswahili) (350,000; tens of millions as L2)

===Angola===
*[[Umbundu|South Mbundu]] (Umbundu) (4 million)
*[[Kimbundu|Central North Mbundu]] (Kimbundu) (3 million)
*[[kikongo|North Bakongo]] (Kikongo) (576,800)
*[[Ovambo language|Ovambo (Ambo)]] (Oshiwambo) (500,000)
*[[Luvale language|Luvale]] (Chiluvale) (500,000)
*[[Chokwe language|Chokwe]] (Chichokwe) (500,000)

===Botswana===
*[[Tswana language|Tswana]] (Setswana) (1.6 million)
*[[Kalanga language|Kalanga]] (Ikalanga) (150,000)

===Burundi===
:''Swahili is a recognized national language''
*[[Kirundi]] (8.5 – 10.5 million)

===Cameroon===
*[[Beti language|Beti]] (1.7 million: 900,000 [[Bulu language|Bulu]], 600,000 [[Ewondo language|Ewondo]], 120,000 [[Fang language|Fang]], 60,000 [[Eton language|Eton]], 30,000 Bebele)
*[[Basaa language|Basaa]] (230,000)
*[[Duala language|Duala]] (350,000)
*[[Manenguba languages]] (230,000)

===Central African Republic===
*[[Mbati language|Mbati]] (60,000)
*[[Aka language|Aka]] (30,000)
*[[Pande language|Pande]] (8,870)
*[[Ngando language (Central African Republic)|Ngando]] (5,000)
*[[Ukhwejo language|Ukhwejo]]
*[[Kako language|Kako]]
*[[Mpiemo language|Mpiemo]]
*[[Bodo language (Bantu)|Bodo]] 
*[[Kari language|Kari]]

===Comoros===
*[[Shingazija]]
*[[Shindzuani]]
*[[Shimwali]]

===Democratic Republic of the Congo===
:''Swahili is a recognized national language''
*[[Lingala|Lingala (Ngala)]] (2 million; 7 million with L2 speakers)
*[[Luba-Kasai language|Luba-Kasai]] (Tshiluba) (6.5 million)
*[[Kituba language|Kituba]] (4.5 million), a Bantu creole
*[[Kongo language|Kongo]] (Kikongo) (3.5 million)
*[[Luba-Katanga language|Luba-Katanga]] (Kiluba) (1.5+ million)
*[[Songe language|Songe]] (Lusonge) (1+ million)
*[[Nande language|Nande]] (Orundandi) (1 million)
*[[Tetela language|Tetela]] (Otetela) (800,000)
*[[Yaka language (Congo–Angola)|Yaka]] (Iyaka) (700,000+)
*[[Shi language|Shi]] (700,000)
*[[Kongo language|Yombe]] (Kiyombe) (670,000)
*[[Lele language (Bantu)|Lele (Bashilele)]] (26,000)

===Equatorial Guinea===
*[[Beti language|Beti]] ([[Fang language|Fang]]) (300,000)
*[[Bube language|Bube]] (40,000)

===Eswatini===
*[[Swati language|Swazi]] (Siswati) (1 million)

===Gabon===
*[[Baka language|Baka]]
*[[Barama language|Barama]]
*[[Bekwel language|Bekwel]]
*[[Benga language|Benga]]
*[[Bubi language|Bubi]]
*[[Bwisi language|Bwisi]]
*[[Duma language|Duma]]
*[[Fang language|Fang]] (500,000)
*[[Kande language|Kendell]]
*[[Kaningi language|Kanin]]
*[[Sake language|Sake]]
*[[Sangu language (Gabon)|Sangu]]
*[[Seki language|Seki]]
*[[Sighu language|Sighu]]
*[[Simba language|Simba]]
*[[Sira language|Sira]]
*[[Northern Teke language|Northern Teke]]
*[[Western Teke language|Western Teke]]
*[[Tsaangi language|Tsaangi]]
*[[Tsogo language|Tsogo]]
*[[Vili language|Vili]] (3,600)
*[[Vumbu language|Vumbu]]
*[[Wandji language|Wandji]]
*[[Wumbvu language|Wumbvu]]
*[[Yangho language|Yangho]]
*[[Yasa language|Yasa]]

===India===
*[[Sidi language|Sidi]]

===Kenya===
:''Swahili is the national language. English and Swahili are official languages.''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Article 7. National, Official and Other Languages {{!}} The Constitution of Kenya 2010 |url=https://blog.afro.co.ke/constitution/chapter-2/article-7/national-official-and-other-languages/ |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=AfroCave |language=en}}</ref>
*[[Kikuyu language|Gikuyu]] (8 million)
*[[Luhya language|Luhya]] (6.8 million)
*[[Kamba language|Kamba]] (4 million)
*[[Gusii language|Gusii]] (2.7 million)
*[[Meru language|Meru]] (Kimeru) (1.9 million)
*[[Mijikenda language|Mijikenda]] ([[Giryama dialect|Giryama]], [[Kambe dialect|Kambe]], [[Ribe dialect|Ribe]], [[Rabai dialect|Rabai]], [[Kauma language|Kauma]], [[Chonyi language|Chonyi]], [[Jibana language|Jibana]], [[Digo language|Digo]] and [[Duruma dialect|Duruma]])
*[[Taita language|Taita]]
*[[Kiembu language|Embu]]
*[[Mbeere language|Mbeere]]
*[[Pokomo language|Pokomo]]
*[[Kuria language|Kuria]]
*[[Suba language|Suba]]
*[[Swahili language|Swahili]]

===Lesotho===
*[[Sotho language|Sesotho]] (1.8 million)
*[[Zulu language|Zulu]] (Isizulu) (300,000)
*[[Xhosa language|Xhosa]] (Isixhosa)

===Madagascar===
*[[Shimaore]]
*[[Shindzuani]]

===Malawi===
*[[Chewa language|Chewa (Nyanja)]] (Chichewa) (7 million)
*[[Tumbuka language|Tumbuka]] (1 million)
*[[Yao language|Yao]] (1 million)

===Mayotte===
*[[Shimaore]]

===Mozambique===
:''Swahili is a recognized national language''
*[[Makhuwa language|Makhuwa]] (4 million; 7.4 million all [[Makua languages|Makua]])
*[[Tsonga language|Tsonga]] (Xitsonga) (3.1 million)
*[[Ndau language|Shona (Ndau)]] (1.6 million)
*[[Lomwe language|Lomwe]] (1.5 million)
*[[Sena language|Sena]] (1.3 million)
*[[Tswa language|Tswa]] (1.2 million)
*[[Chuwabu language|Chuwabu]] (1.0 million)
*[[Chopi language|Chopi]] (800,000)
*[[Ronga language|Ronga]] (700,000)
*[[Chewa language|Chewa (Nyanja)]] (Chichewa) (600,000)
*[[Yao language|Yao]] (Chiyao) (500,000)
*[[Nyungwe language|Nyungwe]] (Cinyungwe/Nhungue)(400,000)
*[[Tonga language (Zambia and Zimbabwe)|Tonga]] (400,000)
*[[Makonde language|Makonde]] (400,000)
*[[Nathembo]] (25,000)

===Namibia===
*[[Ovambo language|Ovambo (Ambo, Oshiwambo)]] (1,500,000)
*[[Herero language|Herero]] (200,000)
*[[Kavango language|Kavango]] (100,000)
*[[Lozi language|Lozi]] (Silozi)

===Nigeria===
*[[Tiv language|Tiv]] (8,000,000)
*[[Jarawa language (Nigeria)|Jarawa]] (250,000)
*[[Mbula-Bwazza language|Mbula-Bwazza]] (100,000)
*[[Kulung language (Jarawan)|Kulung]] (40,000)
*[[Bile language|Bile]] (38,000)
*[[Lame language|Lame]] (10,000)
*[[Mama language|Mama]] (2,000–3,000)
*[[Shiki language|Shiki]] (1,200)
*[[Gwa language|Gwa]]
*[[Labir language|Labir]]
*[[Dulbu language|Dulbu]]

===Pakistan===
*[[Sidi language|Sidi]]

===Republic of the Congo===
*[[Kituba language|Kituba]] (1.2+ million) [a Bantu creole]
*[[Kongo language|Kongo]] (Kikongo) (1.0 million)
*[[Teke languages]] (500,000)
*[[Kongo language|Yombe]] (350,000)
*[[Suundi language|Suundi]] (120,000)
*[[Mboshi language|Mbosi]] (110,000)
*[[Lingala]] (100,000; ? L2 speakers)

===Rwanda===
:''Swahili, Kinyarwanda, English, and French are official languages''
*[[Kinyarwanda]] (Kinyarwanda) (10 – 12 million)

===Somalia===
*[[Swahili language|Swahili]] (Mwini dialect)
*[[Bravanese dialect|Chimwini]]
*[[Zigula language|Mushungulu]]

===South Africa===
According to the [[South African National Census of 2011]]:<ref name=SAC>South African National Census of 2011</ref>{{full citation needed|date=July 2017}}
*[[Zulu language|Zulu]] (Isizulu) (11,587,374<ref name=SAC/>)
*[[Xhosa language|Xhosa]] (Isixhosa) (8,154,258<ref name=SAC/>)
*[[Pedi language|Sepedi]] (4,618,576<ref name=SAC/>)
*[[Tswana language|Tswana]] (Setswana) (4,067,248<ref name=SAC/>)
*[[Sotho language|Sotho]] (Sesotho) (3,849,563<ref name=SAC/>)
*[[Tsonga language|Tsonga]] (Xitsonga) (2,277,148<ref name=SAC/>)
*[[Swazi language|Swazi]] (Siswati) (1,297,046<ref name=SAC/>)
*[[Venda language|Venda]] (Tshivenda) (1,209,388<ref name=SAC/>)
*[[Southern Ndebele language|Southern Ndebele]] (Transvaal Ndebele) (1,090,223<ref name=SAC/>)
**Total [[Nguni languages|Nguni]]: 22,406,049 (61.98%)
**Total [[Sotho-Tswana]]: 13,744,775 (38.02%)
**Total official indigenous language speakers: 36,150,824 (69.83%<ref name=SAC/>)

===Tanzania===
:''Swahili is the national language''
*[[Sukuma language|Sukuma]] (5.5 million)
*[[Gogo language|Gogo]] (1.5 million)
*[[Haya language|Haya]] (Kihaya) (1.3 million)
*[[Chaga languages|Chaga]] (Kichaga) (1.2+ million : 600,000 Mochi, 300,000+ Machame, 300,000+ Vunjo)
*[[Nyamwezi language|Nyamwezi]] (1.0 million)
*[[Makonde language|Makonde]] (1.0 million)
*[[Ha language|Ha]] (1.0 million)
*[[Nyakyusa language|Nyakyusa]] (800,000)
*[[Hehe language|Hehe]] (800,000)
*[[Luguru language|Luguru]] (700,000)
*[[Bena language|Bena]] (600,000)
*[[Shambala language|Shambala]] (650,000)
*[[Turu language|Nyaturu]] (700,000)

===Uganda===
:''Swahili and English are official languages''
*[[Luganda]] (9,295,300)
*[[Nkore language|Runyankore]] (4,436,000)
*[[Soga language|Lusoga]] (3,904,600)
*[[Kiga language|Rukiga]] (3,129,000)
*[[Masaba language|Masaba]] (Lumasaba) (2.7 million)
*[[Nyoro language|Runyoro]] (1,273,000)
*[[Konjo language (Bantu)|Konjo]] (1,118,000)
*[[Tooro language|Rutooro]] (1,111,000)
*[[Gwere language|Lugwere]] (816,000)
*[[Kinyarwanda]] (750,000)
*[[Samia language|Samia]] (684,000)
*[[Ruuli language|Ruuli]] (250,000)
*[[Talinga language|Talinga Bwisi]] (133,000)
*[[Gungu language|Gungu]] (110,000)
*[[Amba language (Bantu)|Amba]] (56,000)
*[[Singa language|Singa]]

===Yemen===
*[[Socotra Swahili language|Socotra Swahili]]

===Zambia===
*[[Aushi language|Aushi]] (Unknown)
*[[Bemba language|Bemba]] (3.3 million)
*[[Tonga language (Zambia and Zimbabwe)|Tonga]] (1.0 million)
*[[Chewa language|Chewa (Nyanja)]] (Chichewa) (800,000)
*[[Kaonde language|Kaonde]] (240,000)
*[[Lozi language|Lozi]] (Silozi) (600,000)
*[[Lala-Bisa language|Lala-Bisa]] (600,000)
*[[Nsenga language|Nsenga]] (550,000)
*[[Tumbuka language|Tumbuka]] (Chitumbuka) (500,000)
*[[Lunda language|Lunda]] (450,000)
*[[Nyiha language|Nyiha]] (400,000+)
*[[Mambwe-Lungu language|Mambwe-Lungu]] (400,000)

===Zimbabwe===
*[[Shona language]]s (15 million incl. Karanga, Zezuru, Korekore, Ndau, Manyika)
*[[Northern Ndebele language|Northern Ndebele]] (IsiNdebele) (estimated 2 million)
*[[Tonga language (Zambia and Zimbabwe)|Tonga]]
*[[Chewa language|Chewa/ Nyanja]] (Chichewa/ChiNyanja)
*[[Venda language|Venda]]
*[[Kalanga language|Kalanga]]
*[[Xhosa language|Xhosa]]

==Geographic areas==
Map 1 shows Bantu languages in Africa and map 2 a magnification of the Benin, Nigeria and Cameroon area, as of July 2017.{{citation needed|date=July 2017}}
{{multiple image|align=none
|image1=Niger-Congo map.png
|width1=300
|image2=Nigeria Benin Cameroon languages.png
|width2=310 
|footer=Localization of the Niger–Congo languages
}}

==Bantu words popularised in western cultures==
A case has been made out for borrowings of many place-names and even misremembered rhymes – chiefly from one of the [[Luban languages|Luba]] varieties – in the USA.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Vass|first1=Winifred Kellersberger|title=The Bantu Speaking Heritage of the United States|date=1979|publisher=Center for Afro-American Studies, University of California|page=73|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sbp1AAAAMAAJ&q=Here+we|access-date=7 September 2014|quote="Here we go looby-loo; here we go looby-la (or looby-light) / Here we go looby-loo; all on a Saturday night!" Both of these Luba words, ''lubilu'' (quickly, in a hurry), and ''lubila'' (a shout) are words still in common usage in the Republic of Zaïre.|isbn=9780934934015|archive-date=30 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330035809/https://books.google.com/books?id=Sbp1AAAAMAAJ&q=Here+we|url-status=live}}</ref>

Some words from various Bantu languages have been borrowed into western languages. These include: 
<!-- The words Agogo, Askari, Banjo, Duppy and Zombie derive from WEST AFRICAN LANGUAGES and hence are non-Bantu -->
{{unreferenced section|date=September 2015}}
{{columns-list|colwidth=20em|
*{{Wikt-lang|sw|boma|Boma}}
*[[Bomba (Ecuador)|Bomba]]
*[[Bongo drum|Bongos]]
*{{Wikt-lang|sw|bwana|Bwana}}
*[[Candombe]]
*[[Chimpanzee]]
*[[Gumbo]]
*"{{lang|sw|[[Hakuna matata]]}}"
*{{lang|zu|[[Impala]]}}
*{{lang|zu|[[Indaba]]}}
*{{lang|sw|[[Jenga]]}}
*[[Jilo]]
*[[Jumbo (disambiguation)|Jumbo]]
*[[Mbira|Kalimba]]
*[[Kwanzaa]]
*[[Mamba]]
*[[wikt:mambo|Mambo]]
*[[Mbira]]
*{{lang|bnt|[[Marimba]]}}
*[[Rumba]]
*{{lang|sw|[[Safari]]}}
*{{lang|bnt|[[Samba]]}}
*{{lang|sw|[[Simba]]}}
*{{lang|zu|[[Ubuntu philosophy|Ubuntu]]}}
}}

==Writing systems==
Along with the [[Latin script]] and [[Arabic script]] orthographies, there are also some modern indigenous writing systems used for Bantu languages:
*The [[Mwangwego alphabet]] is an [[abugida]] created in 1979 that is sometimes used to write the [[Chewa language]] and other languages of [[Malawi]].
*The [[Mandombe script]] is an [[abugida]] that is used to write the Bantu [[languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo]], mainly by the [[Kimbanguist]] movement.
*The Isibheqe Sohlamvu or [[Ditema tsa Dinoko]] script is a [[Featural writing system|featural]] syllabary used to write the Sintu or [[Southern Bantu languages]].

==See also==
*[[Meeussen's rule]]
*[[Nguni languages]]
*[[Wiktionary:Appendix:Proto-Bantu Swadesh list|Proto-Bantu Swadesh list]]

==References==

{{reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |last=Biddulph |first=Joseph |title=Bantu Byways: Some Explorations among the Languages of Central and Southern Africa |location=Pontypridd |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-897999-30-1}}
*{{cite book |last1=Finck |first1=Franz Nikolaus |title=Die Verwandtschaftsverhältnisse der Bantusprachen |trans-title=The relationships between the Bantu languages |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Ph1WGXroFWoC |access-date=25 August 2012 |year=1908 |publisher=Vandenhoek und Ruprecht |location=Göttingen}}
*{{cite book |last=Guthrie |first=Malcolm |author-link=Malcolm Guthrie |year=1948 |title=The classification of the Bantu languages |location=London |publisher=Oxford University Press for the International African Institute |doi=10.4324/9781315105536|isbn=9781315105536 }}
*{{cite book |last=Guthrie |first=Malcolm |year=1971 |title=Comparative Bantu |volume=2 |location=Farnborough |publisher=Gregg International}}
*{{Cite journal |author-link=Bernd Heine |last=Heine |first=Bernd |date=1973 |title=Zur genetische Gliederung der Bantu-Sprachen |journal=Afrika und Übersee: Sprachen, Kulturen|language=German |volume=56 |issue=3 |pages=164–185}}.
*{{cite journal |last=Maho |first=Jouni F. |year=2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325021837/http://www.african.gu.se/aa/pdfs/aa01040.pdf |archive-date=2009-03-25 |url=http://www.african.gu.se/aa/pdfs/aa01040.pdf |title=The Bantu area: (towards clearing up) a mess |journal=Africa & Asia |issue=1 |pages=40–49}}
*{{cite web |last=Maho |first=Jouni Filip |year=2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325021837/http://www.african.gu.se/maho/downloads/bantulineup.pdf |title=Bantu lineup: comparative overview of three Bantu classifications |url=http://www.african.gu.se/maho/downloads/bantulineup.pdf |archive-date=2009-03-25}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Nurse |first1=Derek |first2=Gérard |last2=Philippson |date=2006 |title=The Bantu Languages |place=London |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780415412650}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Piron |first=Pascale |date=1995 |url=http://www.journalofwestafricanlanguages.org/Volume25.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115224255/http://www.journalofwestafricanlanguages.org/Volume25.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-01-15 |title=Identification lexicostatistique des groupes Bantoïdes stables |journal=Journal of West African Languages |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=3–39}}
*{{cite web |website=Stanford University |year=2013 |title=Kiswahili|url=http://swahililanguage.stanford.edu/|access-date=2013-06-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130126072239/http://swahililanguage.stanford.edu/ |archive-date=2013-01-26}}
* {{Cite journal |last=De Blois |first=K.F. |title=The augment in the Bantu languages |journal=Africana Linguistica |volume=4 |date=1970 |pages=85–165 |doi=10.3406/aflin.1970.879}}
* {{cite journal |last=Knappert |first=Jan |title=The Bantu Languages: An Appraisal |journal=European Journal of Sociology |volume=28 |issue=2 |year=1987 |pages=177–191 |doi=10.1017/S0003975600005464 |jstor=23997575|s2cid=143435640 }}

==External links==
*[https://archive.org/details/artedalinguadean00dias Arte da lingua de Angola: oeferecida &#91;sic&#93; a virgem Senhora N. do Rosario, mãy, Senhora dos mesmos pretos] The art of the language of Angola, by Father [[Pedro Dias (Jesuit)|Pedro Dias]], 1697, Lisbon, artedalinguadean
*[http://www.linguistics.berkeley.edu/CBOLD/ Comparative Bantu Online Dictionary] linguistics.berkeley.edu, includes comprehensive bibliography.
*Maho, Jouni Filip [https://web.archive.org/web/20130607210512/http://goto.glocalnet.net/mahopapers/nuglonline.pdf NUGL Online. The online version of the New Updated Guthrie List, a referential classification of the Bantu languages] goto.glocalnet.net, 4 June 2009, 120pp. Guthrie 1948 in detail, with subsequent corrections and corresponding ISO codes. 
*[https://www.bantu-languages.com/en/ Bantu online resources] bantu-languages.com, Jacky Maniacky, 7 July 2007, including
**[http://www.bantu-languages.com/fr/classes.html List of Bantu noun classes with reconstructed Proto-Bantu prefixes] bantu-languages.com (in French)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120624221430/http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/history/ehret/kinship/BantuClassification%204-09.pdf Ehret's compilation of classifications by Klieman, Bastin, himself, and others] pp 204–09, ucla.edu, 24 June 2012
*Contini-Morava, Ellen. ''[http://www3.iath.virginia.edu/swahili/ Noun Classification in Swahili] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026011841/http://www3.iath.virginia.edu/swahili/ |date=2020-10-26 }}''. 1994, Virginia.edu
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20121120223537/http://www.linguistics.berkeley.edu/CBOLD/Lgs/LgsbyGN.html List of Bantu language names with synonyms ordered by Guthrie number].linguistics.berkeley.edu 529 names
*[http://salanguages.com Introduction to the languages of South Africa] salanguages.com
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110726212602/http://www.journalofwestafricanlanguages.org/NarrowBantu.aspx Narrow Bantu] Journal of West African Languages
*[http://www.ugandatravelguide.com/bantu-people.html Uganda Bantu Languages] ugandatravelguide.com

{{Narrow Bantu languages}}
{{Bantu}}
{{Niger-Congo branches}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bantu languages}}
[[Category:Bantu languages| ]]
[[Category:Synthetic languages]]
[[Category:Agglutinative languages]]