In the classification of African languages, Bantoid is a branch of the Benue–Congo subfamily of the Niger–Congo phylum. The term 'Bantoid' was first used by Krause in 1895 for languages that showed resemblances in vocabulary to Bantu. Greenberg in his 1963 The Languages of Africa defined Bantoid as the group to which (Narrow) Bantu belongs together with its closest relatives; this is the sense in which the term is still used today.
A proposal that divided Bantoid into North and South Bantoid was introduced in Williamson (1989, based on work presented in Blench ). In this proposal, the Mambiloid and Dakoid languages (and later Tikar) are grouped together as North Bantoid, while everything else Bantoid is subsumed under South Bantoid; the Ethnologue uses this classification. The legitimacy of the North Bantoid group is questionable, and the Dakoid languages are often now placed outside of Bantoid, but the work did establish Southern Bantoid as a valid genetic unit. Southern Bantoid includes the well known and numerous Bantu subfamily.
Famous quotes containing the word languages:
“People in places many of us never heard of, whose names we can’t pronounce or even spell, are speaking up for themselves. They speak in languages we once classified as “exotic” but whose mastery is now essential for our diplomats and businessmen. But what they say is very much the same the world over. They want a decent standard of living. They want human dignity and a voice in their own futures. They want their children to grow up strong and healthy and free.”
—Hubert H. Humphrey (1911–1978)