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Bantu languages

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
group of African languages forming a subdivision of the Benue-Niger division of the Niger-Congo branch of the Niger-Kordofanian language family (see African languages ). Bantu contains hundreds of languages that are spoken by 120 million Africans in the Congo Basin, Angola, the Republic of South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, and Kenya. The word Bantu means “the people” and is made up of the stem -ntu (“person”) and the plural prefix ba -. The total number of Bantu languages is uncertain. The most important is Swahili (see Swahili language ), spoken as a first language by more than 30 million people, chiefly in Kenya, Tanzania, Congo (Kinshasa), and Uganda. As the chief trade language of E Africa, it is understood by perhaps an additional 20 million. Other significant Bantu languages include Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho, and Setswana, which are spoken respectively by 9 million, 7 million, 5 million, and 4 million persons, all living in South Africa, Lesotho, and…
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Full text Article Bantu languages

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
group of African languages forming a subdivision of the Benue-Niger division of the Niger-Congo branch of the Niger-Kordofanian language family (see African languages ). Bantu contains hundreds of languages that are spoken by 120 million Africans in the Congo Basin, Angola, the Republic of South…
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Full text Article Bantu languages

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
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The Bantu people of the African continent include some 400 different ethnic groups that cover most of sub-Saharan Africa and speak a tongue from a common language group. The first time the word Bantu (meaning “people” in many Bantu languages) was used in its current sense was by Dr. Wilhelm Bleek in…
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Full text Article Bantu languages

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
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Full text Article Johnston, Harry H. (1858-1927)

From Encyclopedia of African History
Harry H. Johnston was perhaps the leading Africanist of his generation. His travels took him to every region of the continent and enabled him, better than any of his contemporaries, to see Africa whole. Son of a London company secretary, his education was directed to developing his obvious talents…
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Full text Article Bantu

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
(băn'tō´´), ethnic and linguistic group of Africa, numbering about 120 million. The Bantu inhabit most of the continent S of the Congo River except the extreme southwest. The classification is primarily linguistic, and there are almost a hundred Bantu languages, including Luganda, Zulu, and Swahili. …
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Full text Article Swahili language

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
member of the Bantu group of African languages (see African languages and Bantu languages ). Swahili is spoken by 30 million people, chiefly in Tanzania, Kenya, Congo (Kinshasa), Burundi, and Uganda, and serves as a lingua franca for additional millions in E Africa, including Europeans, Arabs, and…
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Full text Article Congo

From The Macquarie Dictionary
a republic in central Africa in the basin of the Congo River with a short Atlantic coastline; a Belgian colony before independence in 1960. 2~344~885 km 2 French, English, Kongo, Lingala, and over 200 Sudanic and Bantu languages Congolese franc Kinshasa Official name Democratic Republic of the Congo…
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Full text Article BANTU

From Cassell's Peoples, Nations and Cultures Full text Article Africa
Bantu Bantu-speakingpeoples spreadthrough most...
A linguistic classification identifying the 60 million or so people occupying almost the whole southern projection of Africa, or roughly one third of the entire continent. These areas were previously mostly the preserve of the PYGMY people and the Khoisan ( SAN ). Owing to the vast regions the Bantu…
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Full text Article Meinhof, Carl

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
(born July 23, 1857, Barzwitz, near Schlawe, Pomerania, Prussia—died Feb. 10, 1944, Greifswald, Ger.) German scholar of African languages. A specialist in the Bantu languages who also studied Khoisan and other African language families, he was one of the first to treat African languages in terms of…
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