Yaren Bantu

**Harsunan Bantu** (Turanci:Ipa-cen, IPA-cen Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀) dangin harshe ne na adadin harsuna kusan 600 waɗanda al'ummomin Bantu na Tsakiya, Kudancin, Gabas da Kudu maso Gabashin Afirka ke magana. Sun kafa reshe mafi girma na harsunan Bantoid na Kudancin.

An kiyasta jimlar yawan harsunan Bantu tsakanin adadin harsuna 440 zuwa 680, dangane da ma'anar "harshe" da "harshen". Yawancin harsunan Bantu suna aron kalmomi daga juna, wasu kuma suna iya fahimtar juna. Wasu daga cikin harsunan mutane kalilan ne ke magana da su, misali harshen Kabwa an kiyasta cewa a shekarar 2007 mutane 8500 ne kawai ke magana amma an tantance yare ne na daban.

An kiyasta jimlar adadin masu magana da Bantu kusan miliyan 350 a cikin 2015 (kusan kashi 30% na al'ummar Afirka ko kashi 5% na al'ummar duniya). Harsunan Bantu galibi ana magana ne a kudu maso gabashin Kamaru, kuma a ko'ina cikin Tsakiya, Kudancin, Gabas, da Kudu maso Gabashin Afirka. Kimanin kashi ɗaya bisa shida na masu magana da Bantu, da kashi ɗaya bisa uku na harsunan Bantu, ana samun su a Jamhuriyar Dimokuradiyyar Kwango.

Yaren Bantu da aka fi amfani da shi ta yawan masu magana shi ne Swahili, tare da masu jin yaren gida miliyan 16 da masu magana da L2 miliyan 80 (2015).

Harsunan Bantu (Turanci: Template:IPA-cen, Template:IPA-cen Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀) dangin harshe ne na harsuna kusan 600 waɗanda al'ummomin Bantu na Tsakiya, Kudancin, Gabas da Kudu maso Gabashin Afirka ke magana. Sun kafa reshe mafi girma na harsunan Bantoid na Kudancin.

An kiyasta jimlar yawan harsunan Bantu tsakanin harsuna 440 zuwa 680, dangane da ma'anar "harshe" da "harshen". Yawancin harsunan Bantu suna aron kalmomi daga juna, wasu kuma suna iya fahimtar juna. Wasu daga cikin harsunan mutane kalilan ne ke magana da su, misali harshen Kabwa an kiyasta cewa a shekarar 2007 mutane 8500 ne kawai ke magana amma an tantance yare ne na daban.

An kiyasta jimlar adadin masu magana da Bantu kusan miliyan 350 a cikin 2015 (kusan kashi 30% na al'ummar Afirka ko kashi 5% na al'ummar duniya). Harsunan Bantu galibi ana magana ne a kudu maso gabashin Kamaru, kuma a ko'ina cikin Tsakiya, Kudancin, Gabas, da Kudu maso Gabashin Afirka. Kimanin kashi ɗaya bisa shida na masu magana da Bantu, da kashi ɗaya bisa uku na harsunan Bantu, ana samun su a Jamhuriyar Dimokuradiyyar Kwango.

Yaren Bantu da aka fi amfani da shi ta yawan masu magana shi ne Swahili, tare da masu jin yaren gida miliyan 16 da masu magana da L2 miliyan 80 (2015). Yawancin masu jin harshen Swahili na zama a Tanzaniya, inda yaren kasa ne, yayin da a matsayin harshe na biyu, ana koyar da shi a matsayin darasi na wajibi a makarantu da yawa a gabashin Afirka, kuma harshe ne na al'ummar Gabashin Afirka.

Sauran manyan yarukan Bantu sun hada da Lingala mai masu magana da fiye da miliyan 20 (Congo, DRC), Zulu mai magana da miliyan 12 (Afirka ta Kudu), Xhosa mai magana da miliyan 8.2 (Afirka ta Kudu da Zimbabwe), da Shona mai kasa da miliyan 10 (idan Manyika da Ndau sun haɗa da), yayin da harsunan Sotho-Tswana (Sotho, Tswana da Pedi) suna da masu magana sama da miliyan 15 (a faɗin Botswana, Lesotho, Afirka ta Kudu, da Zambia). Zimbabwe na da masu magana da Kalanga, Matebele, Nambiya, da Xhosa. Ethnologue ya raba Kinyarwanda da Kirundi, waɗanda ke da masu magana miliyan 20 tare.

## Suna
Samfura:Duba kamanceceniya tsakanin harsunan Bantu da aka tarwatsa an gansu tun farkon ƙarni na 17. Kalmar Bantu a matsayin suna ga ƙungiyar Wilhelm Bleek ne ya ƙirƙira (a matsayin Bâ-ntu) a cikin 1857 ko 1858, kuma ya shahara a cikin nahawunsa na Comparative na 1862. Ya ƙirƙira kalmar don wakiltar kalmar don "mutane" a cikin sakin layi na Proto. -Bantu, daga jam'in suna a prefix * ba- categorizing "mutane", da tushen *ntʊ̀- "wasu (halli), kowane" (misali Xhosa umntu "mutum", abantu "mutane"; Zulu umuntu "mutum", abantu "mutane").

Babu wata kalma ta asali ga ƙungiyar, kamar yadda al'ummar Bantu ke magana da kansu ta hanyar ƙayyadaddun ƙabilanci, amma ba su da wata ma'ana ga phylum mafi girma na kabilanci. Kuɗin Bleek ya sami wahayi ne ta hanyar lura da ɗan adam na ƙungiyoyi akai-akai masu bayyana kansu a matsayin "mutane" ko "mutane na gaskiya" (kamar yadda lamarin yake, alal misali, tare da kalmar Khoikhoi, amma wannan kare "adireshin yabo" ne ba sunan kabilanci).

Harsunan Bantu (Turanci: Template:IPA-cen, Template:IPA-cen Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀) dangin harshe ne na harsuna kusan 600 waɗanda al'ummomin Bantu na Tsakiya, Kudancin, Gabas da Kudu maso Gabashin Afirka ke magana. Sun kafa reshe mafi girma na harsunan Bantoid na Kudancin.

An kiyasta jimlar yawan harsunan Bantu tsakanin harsuna 440 zuwa 680, dangane da ma'anar "harshe" da "harshen". Yawancin harsunan Bantu suna aron kalmomi daga juna, wasu kuma suna iya fahimtar juna. Wasu daga cikin harsunan mutane kalilan ne ke magana da su, misali harshen Kabwa an kiyasta cewa a shekarar 2007 mutane 8500 ne kawai ke magana amma an tantance yare ne na daban.

An kiyasta jimlar adadin masu magana da Bantu kusan miliyan 350 a cikin 2015 (kusan kashi 30% na al'ummar Afirka ko kashi 5% na al'ummar duniya). Harsunan Bantu galibi ana magana ne a kudu maso gabashin Kamaru, kuma a ko'ina cikin Tsakiya, Kudancin, Gabas, da Kudu maso Gabashin Afirka. Kimanin kashi ɗaya bisa shida na masu magana da Bantu, da kashi ɗaya bisa uku na harsunan Bantu, ana samun su a Jamhuriyar Dimokuradiyyar Kwango.

Yaren Bantu da aka fi amfani da shi ta yawan masu magana shi ne Swahili, tare da masu jin yaren gida miliyan 16 da masu magana da L2 miliyan 80 (2015). Yawancin masu jin harshen Swahili na zama a Tanzaniya, inda yaren kasa ne, yayin da a matsayin harshe na biyu, ana koyar da shi a matsayin darasi na wajibi a makarantu da yawa a gabashin Afirka, kuma harshe ne na al'ummar Gabashin Afirka.

Sauran manyan yarukan Bantu sun hada da Lingala mai masu magana da fiye da miliyan 20 (Congo, DRC), Zulu mai magana da miliyan 12 (Afirka ta Kudu), Xhosa mai magana da miliyan 8.2 (Afirka ta Kudu da Zimbabwe), da Shona mai kasa da miliyan 10 (idan Manyika da Ndau sun haɗa da), yayin da harsunan Sotho-Tswana (Sotho, Tswana da Pedi) suna da masu magana sama da miliyan 15 (a faɗin Botswana, Lesotho, Afirka ta Kudu, da Zambia). Zimbabwe na da masu magana da Kalanga, Matebele, Nambiya, da Xhosa. Ethnologue ya raba Kinyarwanda da Kirundi, waɗanda ke da masu magana miliyan 20 tare.

Suna

Samfura:Duba kamanceceniya tsakanin harsunan Bantu da aka tarwatsa an gansu tun farkon ƙarni na 17. Kalmar Bantu a matsayin suna ga ƙungiyar Wilhelm Bleek ne ya ƙirƙira (a matsayin Bâ-ntu) a cikin 1857 ko 1858, kuma ya shahara a cikin nahawunsa na Comparative na 1862. Ya ƙirƙira kalmar don wakiltar kalmar don "mutane" a cikin sakin layi na Proto. -Bantu, daga jam'in suna a prefix * ba- categorizing "mutane", da tushen *ntʊ̀- "wasu (halli), kowane" (misali Xhosa umntu "mutum", abantu "mutane"; Zulu umuntu "mutum", abantu "mutane").

Babu wata kalma ta asali ga ƙungiyar, kamar yadda al'ummar Bantu ke magana da kansu ta hanyar ƙayyadaddun ƙabilanci, amma ba su da wata ma'ana ga phylum mafi girma na kabilanci. Kuɗin Bleek ya sami wahayi ne ta hanyar lura da ɗan adam na ƙungiyoyi akai-akai masu bayyana kansu a matsayin "mutane" ko "mutane na gaskiya" (kamar yadda lamarin yake, alal misali, tare da kalmar Khoikhoi, amma wannan kare "adireshin yabo" ne ba sunan kabilanci).

Kalmar kunkuntar Bantu, ban da waɗannan harsunan da Guthrie ya ware (1948), an ƙaddamar da shi a cikin 1960s.

Prefix musamman yana nufin mutane. A ƙarshe, kalmar abubuwan al'adu, gami da harshe, an ƙirƙira su ne tare da ajin ki-noun (Nguni ísi-), kamar a cikin KiSwahili (harshen Swahili da al'ada), IsiZulu (harshen Zulu da al'ada) da KiGanda (addini da al'adun Ganda) .

A cikin 1980s, masana harsunan Afirka ta Kudu sun ba da shawarar a kira waɗannan harsunan a matsayin KiNtu. Kalmar kintu tana wanzuwa a wasu wurare, amma tana nufin "abu", ba tare da wata alaƙa da manufar "harshe". Bugu da ƙari, wakilai a taron Ƙungiyar Harsunan Afirka na Kudancin Afirka a 1984 sun ba da rahoton cewa, a wasu wurare, kalmar Kintu tana da ma'anar wulakanci. Wannan saboda kintu yana nufin "abubuwa" kuma ana amfani da ita azaman kalmar wulaƙanci ga mutanen da suka rasa mutuncinsu.

Bugu da kari, Kintu adadi ne a wasu tatsuniyoyi.

A cikin 1990s, har yanzu ana amfani da kalmar Kintu a wasu lokuta masana harsunan Afirka ta Kudu. Amma a cikin ilimin harsunan Afirka ta Kudu na mulkin mallaka na zamani, ana amfani da kalmar Ntu harsuna.

## Asalin
Harsunan Bantu sun fito ne daga yaren Proto-Bantu na gama gari, wanda aka yi imanin ana magana da shi a ƙasar Kamaru a yanzu a Afirka ta Tsakiya. Kimanin shekaru 2,500-3,000 da suka gabata (1000 BC zuwa 500 BC), masu magana da yaren Proto-Bantu sun fara jerin ƙaura zuwa gabas da kudu, ɗauke da noma tare da su. Wannan fadada Bantu ya mamaye yankin kudu da hamadar Sahara a gabashin Kamaru, yankin da al'ummar Bantu ke zama kusan daukacin al'umma. Wasu kafofin sun kiyasta Faɗawar Bantu ya fara kusan 3000 BC.

Kalmar fasaha ta Bantu, ma'ana "'yan adam" ko kuma a sauƙaƙe "mutane", Wilhelm Bleek (1827-1875) ya fara amfani da shi, kamar yadda ra'ayi ya bayyana a yawancin harsunan wannan rukuni. Halin gama gari na harsunan Bantu shine cewa suna amfani da kalmomin 

The total number of Bantu languages is estimated at between 440 and 680 distinct languages, depending on the definition of "language" versus "dialect". Many Bantu languages borrow words from each other, and some are mutually intelligible.  Some of the languages are spoken by a very small number of people, for example the Kabwa language was estimated in 2007 to be spoken by only 8500 people but was assessed to be a distinct language.

The total number of Bantu speakers is estimated to be around 350 million in 2015 (roughly 30% of the population of Africa or 5% of the world population). Bantu languages are largely spoken southeast of Cameroon, and throughout Central, Southern, Eastern, and Southeast Africa. About one-sixth of Bantu speakers, and one-third of Bantu languages, are found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The most widely spoken Bantu language by number of speakers is Swahili, with 16 million native speakers and 80 million L2 speakers (2015). Most native speakers of Swahili live in Tanzania, where it is a national language, while as a second language, it is taught as a mandatory subject in many schools in East Africa, and is a lingua franca of the East African Community.

Other major Bantu languages include Lingala with more than 20 million speakers (Congo, DRC), Zulu with 12 million speakers (South Africa), Xhosa with 8.2 million speakers (South Africa and Zimbabwe), and Shona with less than 10 million speakers (if Manyika and Ndau are included), while Sotho-Tswana languages (Sotho, Tswana and Pedi) have more than 15 million speakers (across Botswana, Lesotho, South Africa, and Zambia). Zimbabwe has Kalanga, Matebele, Nambiya, and Xhosa speakers. *[[Ethnologue]]* separates the largely mutually intelligible Kinyarwanda and Kirundi, which together have 20 million speakers.

## Name

The similarity among dispersed Bantu languages had been observed as early as the 17th century. The term *Bantu* as a name for the group was coined (as *Bâ-ntu*) by Wilhelm Bleek in 1857 or 1858, and popularized in his *Comparative Grammar* of 1862. He coined the term to represent the word for "people" in loosely reconstructed Proto-Bantu, from the plural noun class prefix *[[:wikt:Appendix:Swahili noun classes#M-wa class|*ba-]]* categorizing "people", and the root **ntʊ̀-* "some (entity), any" (e.g. Xhosa *umntu* "person", *abantu* "people"; Zulu *umuntu* "person", *abantu* "people").

There is no indigenous term for the group, as Bantu-speaking populations refer to themselves by their endonyms, but did not have a concept for the larger ethno-linguistic phylum. Bleek's coinage was inspired by the anthropological observation of groups frequently self-identifying as "people" or "the true people" (as is the case, for example, with the term *[[Khoikhoi]]*, but this is a *kare* "praise address" and not an ethnic name).

The term *narrow Bantu*, excluding those languages classified as Bantoid by Guthrie (1948), was introduced in the 1960s.

The prefix *ba-* specifically refers to people. Endonymically, the term for cultural objects, including language, is formed with the ''ki-'' noun class (Nguni *[[:wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Nguni/ísi-|ísi-]]*), as in KiSwahili (Swahili language and culture), IsiZulu (Zulu language and culture) and KiGanda (Ganda religion and culture).

In the 1980s, South African linguists suggested referring to these languages as *KiNtu.* The word *kintu* exists in some places, but it means "thing", with no relation to the concept of "language". In addition, delegates at the African Languages Association of Southern Africa conference in 1984 reported that, in some places, the term *Kintu* has a derogatory significance. This is because *kintu* refers to "things" and is used as a dehumanizing term for people who have lost their dignity.

In addition, *[[Kintu]]* is a figure in some mythologies.

In the 1990s, the term *Kintu* was still occasionally used by South African linguists. But in contemporary decolonial South African linguistics, the term *Ntu languages* is used.

## Origin
The Bantu languages descend from a common Proto-Bantu language, which is believed to have been spoken in what is now Cameroon in Central Africa. An estimated 2,500–3,000 years ago (1000 BC to 500 BC), speakers of the Proto-Bantu language began a series of migrations eastward and southward, carrying agriculture with them. This Bantu expansion came to dominate Sub-Saharan Africa east of Cameroon, an area where Bantu peoples now constitute nearly the entire population. Some other sources estimate the Bantu Expansion started closer to 3000 BC.

The technical term Bantu, meaning "human beings" or simply "people", was first used by Wilhelm Bleek (1827–1875), as the concept is reflected in many of the languages of this group. A common characteristic of Bantu languages is that they use words such as *muntu* or *mutu* for "human being" or in simplistic terms "person", and the plural prefix for human nouns starting with *mu-* (class 1) in most languages is *ba-* (class 2), thus giving *bantu* for "people". Bleek, and later Carl Meinhof, pursued extensive studies comparing the grammatical structures of Bantu languages.

## Sashe Sashe

The most widely used classification is an alphanumeric coding system developed by Malcolm Guthrie in his 1948 classification of the Bantu languages. It is mainly geographic. The term "narrow Bantu" was coined by the *Benue–Congo Working Group* to distinguish Bantu as recognized by Guthrie, from the Bantoid languages not recognized as Bantu by Guthrie.

In recent times, the distinctiveness of Narrow Bantu as opposed to the other Southern Bantoid languages has been called into doubt, but the term is still widely used.

There is no true genealogical classification of the (Narrow) Bantu languages. Until recently most attempted classifications only considered languages that happen to fall within traditional Narrow Bantu, but there seems to be a continuum with the related languages of South Bantoid.

At a broader level, the family is commonly split in two depending on the reflexes of proto-Bantu tone patterns: many Bantuists group together parts of zones A through D (the extent depending on the author) as *Northwest Bantu* or *Forest Bantu*, and the remainder as *Central Bantu* or *Savanna Bantu*. The two groups have been described as having mirror-image tone systems: where Northwest Bantu has a high tone in a cognate, Central Bantu languages generally have a low tone, and vice versa.

Northwest Bantu is more divergent internally than Central Bantu, and perhaps less conservative due to contact with non-Bantu Niger–Congo languages; Central Bantu is likely the innovative line cladistically. Northwest Bantu is not a coherent family, but even for Central Bantu the evidence is lexical, with little evidence that it is a historically valid group.

Another attempt at a detailed genetic classification to replace the Guthrie system is the 1999 "Tervuren" proposal of Bastin, Coupez, and Mann. However, it relies on lexicostatistics, which, because of its reliance on overall similarity rather than shared innovations, may predict spurious groups of conservative languages that are not closely related. Meanwhile, *[[Ethnologue]]* has added languages to the Guthrie classification which Guthrie overlooked, while removing the Mbam languages (much of zone A), and shifting some languages between groups (much of zones D and E to a new zone J, for example, and part of zone L to K, and part of M to F) in an apparent effort at a semi-genetic, or at least semi-areal, classification. This has been criticized for sowing confusion in one of the few unambiguous ways to distinguish Bantu languages. Nurse & Philippson (2006) evaluate many proposals for low-level groups of Bantu languages, but the result is not a complete portrayal of the family. *[[Glottolog]]* has incorporated many of these into their classification.

The languages that share Dahl's law may also form a valid group, Northeast Bantu. The infobox at right lists these together with various low-level groups that are fairly uncontroversial, though they continue to be revised. The development of a rigorous genealogical classification of many branches of Niger–Congo, not just Bantu, is hampered by insufficient data.

### Computational phylogenetic classifications
Simplified phylogeny of northwestern branches of Bantu by Grollemund (2012):

Other computational phylogenetic analyses of Bantu include Currie et al. (2013), Grollemund et al. (2015), Rexova et al. 2006, Holden et al., 2016, and Whiteley et al. 2018.

### Glottolog classification
Glottolog (**2021**) does not consider the older geographic classification by Guthrie relevant for its ongoing classification based on more recent linguistic studies, and divides Bantu into four main branches: Bantu A-B10-B20-B30, Central-Western Bantu, East Bantu and Mbam-Bube-Jarawan.

## Language structure
Guthrie reconstructed both the phonemic inventory and the vocabulary of Proto-Bantu.

The most prominent grammatical characteristic of Bantu languages is the extensive use of affixes (see Sotho grammar and Ganda noun classes for detailed discussions of these affixes). Each noun belongs to a class, and each language may have several numbered classes, somewhat like grammatical gender in European languages. The class is indicated by a prefix that is part of the noun, as well as agreement markers on verb and qualificative roots connected with the noun. Plurality is indicated by a change of class, with a resulting change of prefix. All Bantu languages are agglutinative.

The verb has a number of prefixes, though in the western languages these are often treated as independent words. In Swahili, for example, *Mtoto mdogo amekisoma* (for comparison, *Kamwana kadoko karikuverenga* in Shona language) means 'The small child has read it [a book]'. *Mtoto* 'child' governs the adjective prefix *m-* (representing the diminutive form of the word) and the verb subject prefix *a-*. Then comes perfect tense *-me-* and an object marker *-ki-* agreeing with implicit *kitabu* 'book' (from Arabic *kitab*). Pluralizing to 'children' gives *Watoto wadogo wamekisoma* (*Vana vadoko varikuverenga* in Shona), and pluralizing to 'books' (*vitabu*) gives *watoto wadogo wamevisoma*.

Bantu words are typically made up of open syllables of the type CV (consonant-vowel) with most languages having syllables exclusively of this type. The Bushong language recorded by Vansina, however, has final consonants, while slurring of the final syllable (though written) is reported as common among the Tonga of Malawi. The morphological shape of Bantu words is typically CV, VCV, CVCV, VCVCV, etc.; that is, any combination of CV (with possibly a V- syllable at the start). In other words, a strong claim for this language family is that almost all words end in a vowel, precisely because closed syllables (CVC) are not permissible in most of the documented languages, as far as is understood.

This tendency to avoid consonant clusters in some positions is important when words are imported from English or other non-Bantu languages. An example from Chewa: the word "school", borrowed from English, and then transformed to fit the sound patterns of this language, is *sukulu*. That is, *sk-* has been broken up by inserting an epenthetic *-u-*; *-u* has also been added at the end of the word. Another example is *buledi* for "bread". Similar effects are seen in loanwords for other non-African CV languages like Japanese. However, a clustering of sounds at the beginning of a syllable can be readily observed in such languages as Shona, and the Makua languages.

With few exceptions, such as Kiswahili and Rutooro, Bantu languages are tonal and have two to four register tones.

### Reduplication
Reduplication is a common morphological phenomenon in Bantu languages and is usually used to indicate frequency or intensity of the action signalled by the (unreduplicated) verb stem.

*Example: in Swahili, *piga* means "strike", *pigapiga* means "strike repeatedly".

Well-known words and names that have reduplication include:
*Bafana Bafana, a football team
*Chipolopolo, a football team
*Eric Djemba-Djemba, a footballer
*Lomana LuaLua, a footballer

Repetition emphasizes the repeated word in the context that it is used. For instance, "Mwenda pole hajikwai," means "He who goes slowly doesn't trip," while, "Pole pole ndio mwendo," means "A slow but steady pace wins the race." The latter repeats "pole" to emphasize the consistency of slowness of the pace. 

As another example, "Haraka haraka" would mean "hurrying just for the sake of hurrying" (reckless hurry), as in "Njoo! Haraka haraka" [come here! Hurry, hurry].

In contrast, there are some words in some of the languages in which reduplication has the opposite meaning. It usually denotes short durations, or lower intensity of the action, and also means a few repetitions or a little bit more.

*Example 1: In Xitsonga and (Chi)Shona, *famba* means "walk" while *famba-famba* means "walk around".
*Example 2: in isiZulu and SiSwati *hamba* means "go", *hambahamba* means "go a little bit, but not much".
*Example 3: in both of the above languages *shaya* means "strike", *shayashaya* means "strike a few more times lightly, but not heavy strikes and not too many times".
*Example 4: In Shona ** means "scratch", *Kwenyakwenya* means "scratch excessively or a lot".
*Example 5: In Luhya *cheenda* means "walk",* cheendacheenda* means "take a walk but not far off", as in buying time before something is ready or a situation or time is right.

### Noun class
The following is a list of nominal classes in Bantu languages:

### Syntax
Virtually all Bantu languages have a Subject–verb–object word order with some exceptions such as 
the Nen language which has a Subject-Object-Verb word order.

## By country

Following is an incomplete list of the principal Bantu languages of each country. Included are those languages that constitute at least 1% of the population and have at least 10% the number of speakers of the largest Bantu language in the country.

Most languages are referred to in English without the class prefix (*Swahili*, *Tswana*, *Ndebele*), but are sometimes seen with the (language-specific) prefix (*Kiswahili*, *Setswana*, *Sindebele*). In a few cases prefixes are used to distinguish languages with the same root in their name, such as Tshiluba and Kiluba (both *Luba*), Umbundu and Kimbundu (both *Mbundu*). The prefixless form typically does not occur in the language itself, but is the basis for other words based on the ethnicity. So, in the country of Botswana the people are the *[[Tswana people|Batswana]]*, one person is a *Motswana*, and the language is *[[Setswana]]*; and in Uganda, centred on the kingdom of *[[Buganda]]*, the dominant ethnicity are the *[[Baganda]]* (singular *Muganda*), whose language is *[[Luganda]]*.

### Lingua franca
*Swahili (Kiswahili) (350,000; tens of millions as L2)

### Angola
*South Mbundu (Umbundu) (4 million)
*Central North Mbundu (Kimbundu) (3 million)
*North Bakongo (Kikongo) (576,800)
*Ovambo (Ambo) (Oshiwambo) (500,000)
*Luvale (Chiluvale) (500,000)
*Chokwe (Chichokwe) (500,000)

### Botswana
*Tswana (Setswana) (1.6 million)
*Kalanga (Ikalanga) (150,000)

### Burundi
:*Swahili is a recognized national language*
*Kirundi (8.5 – 10.5 million)

### Cameroon
*Beti (1.7 million: 900,000 Bulu, 600,000 Ewondo, 120,000 Fang, 60,000 Eton, 30,000 Bebele)
*Basaa (230,000)
*Duala (350,000)
*Manenguba languages (230,000)

### Central African Republic
*Mbati (60,000)
*Aka (30,000)
*Pande (8,870)
*Ngando (5,000)
*Ukhwejo
*Kako
*Mpiemo
*Bodo 
*Kari

### Democratic Republic of the Congo
:*Swahili is a recognized national language*
*Lingala (Ngala) (2 million; 7 million with L2 speakers)
*Luba-Kasai (Tshiluba) (6.5 million)
*Kituba (4.5 million), a Bantu creole
*Kongo (Kikongo) (3.5 million)
*Luba-Katanga (Kiluba) (1.5+ million)
*Songe (Lusonge) (1+ million)
*Nande (Orundandi) (1 million)
*Tetela (Otetela) (800,000)
*Yaka (Iyaka) (700,000+)
*Shi (700,000)
*Yombe (Kiyombe) (670,000)
*Lele (Bashilele) (26,000)

### Equatorial Guinea
*Beti (Fang) (300,000)
*Bube (40,000)

### Eswatini
*Swazi (Siswati) (1 million)

### Gabon
*Baka
*Barama
*Bekwel
*Benga
*Bubi
*Bwisi
*Duma
*Fang (500,000)
*Kendell
*Kanin
*Sake
*Sangu
*Seki
*Sighu
*Simba
*Sira
*Northern Teke
*Western Teke
*Tsaangi
*Tsogo
*Vili (3,600)
*Vumbu
*Wandji
*Wumbvu
*Yangho
*Yasa

### Kenya
:*Swahili and English are national languages*
*Gikuyu (8 million)
*Luhya (6.8 million)
*Kamba (4 million)
*Meru (Kimeru) (2.7 million)
*Gusii (2 million)
*Mijikenda
*Taita
*Embu
*Mbeere
*Giriama

### Lesotho
*Sesotho (1.8 million)
*Zulu (Isizulu) (300,000)

### Malawi
*Chewa (Nyanja) (Chichewa) (7 million)
*Tumbuka (1 million)
*Yao (1 million)

### Mozambique
:*Swahili is a recognized national language*
*Makhuwa (4 million; 7.4 million all Makua)
*Tsonga (Xitsonga) (3.1 million)
*Shona (Ndau) (1.6 million)
*Lomwe (1.5 million)
*Sena (1.3 million)
*Tswa (1.2 million)
*Chuwabu (1.0 million)
*Chopi (800,000)
*Ronga (700,000)
*Chewa (Nyanja) (Chichewa) (600,000)
*Yao (Chiyao) (500,000)
*Nyungwe (Cinyungwe/Nhungue)(400,000)
*Tonga (400,000)
*Makonde (400,000)
*Nathembo (25,000)

### Namibia
*Ovambo (Ambo, Oshiwambo) (1,500,000)
*Herero (200,000)

### Nigeria
*Jarawa (250,000)
*Mbula-Bwazza (100,000)
*Kulung (40,000)
*Bile (38,000)
*Lame (10,000)
*Mama (2,000–3,000)
*Shiki (1,200)
*Gwa
*Labir
*Dulbu

### Republic of the Congo
*Kituba (1.2+ million) [a Bantu creole]
*Kongo (Kikongo) (1.0 million)
*Teke languages (500,000)
*Yombe (350,000)
*Suundi (120,000)
*Mbosi (110,000)
*Lingala (100,000; ? L2 speakers)

### Rwanda
:*Swahili, Kinyarwanda, English, and French are official languages*
*Kinyarwanda (Kinyarwanda) (10 – 12 million)

### Somalia
*Swahili (Mwini dialect)
*Chimwini
*Mushungulu

### South Africa
According to the South African National Census of 2011
*Zulu (Isizulu) (11,587,374)
*Xhosa (Isixhosa) (8,154,258)
*Sepedi(4,618,576)
*Tswana (Setswana) (4,067,248)
*Sotho (Sesotho) (3,849,563)
*Tsonga (Xitsonga) (2,277,148)
*Swazi (Siswati) (1,297,046)
*Venda (Tshivenda) (1,209,388)
*Southern Ndebele (Transvaal Ndebele) (1,090,223)
*Total Nguni: 22,406,049 (61.98%)
*Total Sotho-Tswana: 13,744,775 (38.02%)
*Total official indigenous language speakers: 36,150,824 (69.83%)

### Tanzania
:*Swahili is the national language*
*Sukuma (5.5 million)
*Gogo (1.5 million)
*Haya (Kihaya) (1.3 million)
*Chaga (Kichaga) (1.2+ million : 600,000 Mochi, 300,000+ Machame, 300,000+ Vunjo)
*Nyamwezi (1.0 million)
*Makonde (1.0 million)
*Ha (1.0 million)
*Nyakyusa (800,000)
*Hehe (800,000)
*Luguru (700,000)
*Bena (600,000)
*Shambala (650,000)
*Nyaturu (600,000)

### Uganda
:*Swahili and English are official languages*
*Luganda (9,295,300)
*Runyankore (4,436,000)
*Lusoga (3,904,600)
*Rukiga (3,129,000)
*Masaba (Lumasaba) (2.7 million)
*Runyoro (1,273,000)
*Konjo (1,118,000)
*Rutooro (1,111,000)
*Lugwere (816,000)
*Kinyarwanda (750,000)
*Samia (684,000)
*Ruuli (250,000)
*Talinga Bwisi (133,000)
*Gungu (110,000)
*Amba (56,000)
*Singa

### Zambia
*Aushi (Unknown)
*Bemba (3.3 million)
*Tonga (1.0 million)
*Chewa (Nyanja) (Chichewa) (800,000)
*Kaonde (240,000)
*Lozi (Silozi) (600,000)
*Lala-Bisa (600,000)
*Nsenga (550,000)
*Tumbuka (Chitumbuka) (500,000)
*Lunda (450,000)
*Nyiha (400,000+)
*Mambwe-Lungu (400,000)

### Zimbabwe
*Shona languages (15 million incl. Karanga, Zezuru, Korekore, Ndau, Manyika)
*Northern Ndebele (IsiNdebele) (estimated 2 million)
*Tonga
*Chewa/ Nyanja (Chichewa/ChiNyanja)
*Venda
*Kalanga

## Yankuna da Suke
Map 1 shows Bantu languages in Africa and map 2 a magnification of the Benin, Nigeria and Cameroon area, as of July 2017.

## Bantu words popularised in western cultures
A case has been made out for borrowings of many place-names and even misremembered rhymes – chiefly from one of the Luba varieties – in the USA.

Some words from various Bantu languages have been borrowed into western languages. These include: 

## Rubutun Yare
Along with the Latin script and Arabic script orthographies, there are also some modern indigenous writing systems used for Bantu languages:
*The Mwangwego alphabet is an abugida created in 1979 that is sometimes used to write the Chewa language and other languages of Malawi.
*The Mandombe script is an abugida that is used to write the Bantu languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, mainly by the Kimbanguist movement.
*The Isibheqe Sohlamvu or Ditema tsa Dinoko script is a featural syllabary used to write the Sintu or Southern Bantu languages.

## Duba don Ƙarin Bayani
*Meeussen's rule
*Nguni languages
*

## Manazarta

## Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*.
*
*
* 
* 
*

## Further reading
* 
* 

## External links
*Arte da lingua de Angola: oeferecida &#91;sic&#93; a virgem Senhora N. do Rosario, mãy, Senhora dos mesmos pretos The art of the language of Angola, by Father Pedro Dias, 1697, Lisbon, artedalinguadean
*Comparative Bantu Online Dictionary linguistics.berkeley.edu, includes comprehensive bibliography.
*Maho, Jouni Filip NUGL Online. The online version of the New Updated Guthrie List, a referential classification of the Bantu languages goto.glocalnet.net, 4 June 2009, 120pp. Guthrie 1948 in detail, with subsequent corrections and corresponding ISO codes. 
*Bantu online resources bantu-languages.com, Jacky Maniacky, 7 July 2007, including
**List of Bantu noun classes with reconstructed Proto-Bantu prefixes bantu-languages.com (in French)
*Ehret's compilation of classifications by Klieman, Bastin, himself, and others pp 204–09, ucla.edu, 24 June 2012
*Contini-Morava, Ellen. *[http://www3.iath.virginia.edu/swahili/ Noun Classification in Swahili] *. 1994, Virginia.edu
*List of Bantu language names with synonyms ordered by Guthrie number.linguistics.berkeley.edu 529 names
*Introduction to the languages of South Africa salanguages.com
*Narrow Bantu Journal of West African Languages
*Uganda Bantu Languages  ugandatravelguide.com