The Niger-Congo languages are probably the largest group of the world in terms of different languages. Some of the African languages with the largest number of speakers belong to it. A common property of many Niger-Congo languages is the use of a noun class system.

Joseph H. Greenberg was the first to identify the boundaries of this family, which he called Niger-Kordofanian, in his book Languages of Africa. John Bendor-Samuel introduced the name Niger-Congo for the whole family, which is in current use among linguists. (see Kordofanian languages)

The major languages or subgroups belonging to Niger-Congo are

• Westatlantic: includes Wolof, spoken in Senegal, and Fulfulde, a language spoken across the Sahel.
• Mande: spoken in West Africa; includes Bambara, the language spoken in Mali.
• Kwa: includes Akan, spoken in Ghana and the Gbe languages, spoken in Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria, of which Ewe is best known.
• Gur: Including Dagbani in Northern Ghana, they are spoken among others in Côte d'Ivoire, Togo, Burkina Faso and Mali.
• Kru: spoken in West Africa, include Bété, Nyabwa, and Dida.
• Adamawa-Ubangi: includes Sango, spoken in the Central African Republic)
• Benue-Congo, including among others:
  • Bantu: a very large group, includes Swahili (Kiswahili).
  • The Yoruba and Igbo languages, spoken in Nigeria.

Some linguists link the thirty or so Kordofanian languages to the Niger-Congo family, forming a Niger-Kordofanian language family. While a plausible hypothesis, this idea is still generally regarded as not proven.

The Laal, Mpre, and Jalaa languages are often linked with Niger-Congo, but have yet to be conclusively classified.

References

• Joseph H. Greenberg, The Languages of Africa. Indiana Univ. Press (1966).
• Bernd Heine and Derek Nurse, African Languages - An Introduction. Cambridge Univ. press (2000)
• John Bendor-Samuel (ed.), The Niger-Congo Languages — A classification and description of Africa's largest language family, University Press of America (1989).

• Ethnologue: Niger-Congo Family Tree (http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=18)

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