Ubangian Languages - Internal Classification

Internal Classification

Boyd and Moñino (2010) removed the Gbaya and Zande languages. The half dozen remaining branches are coherent, but their interrelationships are not straightforward. Williamson & Blench (2000) propose the following arrangement:

Ubangian

Banda



Ngbandi (Sango, with 2 million speakers total, is Ngbandi-based)


Sere–Mba

Sere


Ngbaka–Mba

Ngbaka (note the principal Gbaya language is also called Ngbaka)



Mba





In addition there is the Ngombe language, whose placement is uncertain due to a paucity of data.

Ethnologue 16 agrees with Williamson & Blench on the Sere–Mba node.

Note: The ambiguous name Ngbaka is used for various languages in the area. Generally, singular Ngbaka language refers to one of the main Gbaya languages, whereas plural Ngbaka languages refers to a branch of Ubangian.

Read more about this topic:  Ubangian Languages

Famous quotes containing the word internal:

    I maintain that I have been a Negro three times—a Negro baby, a Negro girl and a Negro woman. Still, if you have received no clear cut impression of what the Negro in America is like, then you are in the same place with me. There is no The Negro here. Our lives are so diversified, internal attitudes so varied, appearances and capabilities so different, that there is no possible classification so catholic that it will cover us all, except My people! My people!
    Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)