Bangi–Ntomba languages explained

Bangi–Ntomba
Also Known As:Bangi–Mongo
Region:Central reaches of the Congo River and adjacent areas
Familycolor:Niger-Congo
Fam2:Atlantic–Congo
Fam3:Benue–Congo
Fam4:Southern Bantoid
Fam5:Bantu (Zone C.30)
Fam6:Bangi–Tetela?
Child1:Zamba–Binza
Child2:Bangi–Moi
Child3:Sakata
Child4:Mongo (Bolia)

The Bangi–Ntomba languages are a group of Bantu languages spoken in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of the Congo. They are coded Zone C.30 in Guthrie's classification, and included the trade language Lingala, one of four national languages of the DRC and two of the RC.

According to Nurse & Philippson (2003), apart from the Ngiri languages (to Ngondi–Ngiri) and Budza (Buja), and together with a few additional languages such as Mongo-Nkundu, they form a valid node. Using Guthrie's listing, they are:

Lingala and Bangala developed as trade languages, primarily on a Bangi lexical base.

References