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Niger-Congo

Definitions of Niger-Congo
  1. noun
    a family of African language spoken in west Africa
    see moresee less
    types:
    Sango
    a trade language widely used in Chad
    Bantoid language, Bantu
    a family of languages widely spoken in the southern half of the African continent
    Gur, Voltaic
    a group of Niger-Congo languages spoken primarily in southeastern Mali and northern Ghana
    West African
    a group of languages spoken in the extreme western part of West Africa
    Mande
    a group of African languages in the Niger-Congo group spoken from Senegal east as far as the Ivory Coast
    Kwa
    a group of African language in the Niger-Congo group spoken from the Ivory Coast east to Nigeria
    Chichewa
    the Bantu language of the Chewa of east central Africa
    ChiMwini
    a Bantu language spoken in southern Somalia
    Chishona
    a Bantu language that is one of the two major languages of Zimbabwe
    Fang
    a Bantu language spoken in Cameroon
    Gikuyu
    a Bantu language spoken in western Kenya
    Giriama
    a Bantu language spoken in the coastal regions of eastern Kenya
    Herero
    a Banto language spoken by the Herero in Namibia, Botswana, and Angola
    Kamba
    a Bantu language spoken by the Kamba in Kenya
    Chaga, Chagga, Kichaga
    a Bantu language spoken by the Chaga in northern Tanzania
    Kinyarwanda
    a Bantu language
    Kiswahili
    a Bantu language
    Kongo
    the Bantu language spoken by the Kongo living in the tropical forests of Zaire and Congo and Angola
    Luba, Tshiluba
    a Bantu language spoken in southeastern Congo
    LuGanda
    the Bantu language of the Buganda people; spoken in Uganda
    Luyia
    a Bantu language
    Mashi
    a Bantu language
    Mwera
    a Bantu language spoken in southern coastal Tanzania
    Nguni
    a group of southern Bantu languages
    Nyamwezi
    a Bantu language spoken in central Tanzania
    Pokomo
    a Bantu language spoken in the Kenyan coastal areas of East Africa
    Shona
    a Bantu language spoken in Zimbabwe
    Sotho
    any of the mutually intelligible southern Bantu languages of the Sotho in Botswana and South Africa and Lesotho
    Umbundu
    a Bantu language spoken in Angola
    Swahili
    the most widely spoken Bantu languages; the official language of Kenya and Tanzania and widely used as a lingua franca in east and central Africa
    Tonga
    the language of the Tongan people of south central Africa (Zambia and Rhodesia)
    Ful, Fula, Fulani, Peul
    a family of languages of the Fulani of West Africa and used as a lingua franca in the sub-Saharan regions from Senegal to Chad; the best known of the West African languages
    Serer
    a West African language closely related to Fula; spoken primarily in Senegal and Gambia
    Wolof
    the West African language of the Wolof in Senegal; related to Fula
    Aku, Yoruba
    a Kwa language spoken by the Yoruba in southwestern Nigeria
    Akan
    a Kwa language spoken in Ghana and the Ivory Coast
    Ewe
    a Kwa language spoken by the Ewe in Ghana and Togo and Benin
    type of:
    Niger-Kordofanian, Niger-Kordofanian language
    the family of languages that includes most of the languages spoken in Africa south of the Sahara; the majority of them are tonal languages but there are important exceptions (e.g., Swahili or Fula)
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