Bongo–Baka languages explained

Bongo
Also Known As:Bongo–Baka
Region:South Sudan
Familycolor:Nilo-Saharan
Fam2:Central Sudanic
Fam3:Bongo–Bagirmi
Glotto:bong1285
Glottoname:Bongo
Glotto2:moro1282
Glottoname2:Baka–Beli

The Bongo languages, or Bongo–Baka, comprise six languages spoken in South Sudan. They are members of the Central Sudanic language family.

The most populous Bongo language is Jur Modo, spoken by a hundred thousand people. The languages are:

In various classifications, Bongo is sometimes split off from the rest of the family, so the phrase Bongo–Baka may be less ambiguous than simply Bongo.[1]

However, Boyeldieu (2006)[2] does not consider Bongo–Baka to be a valid grouping, and considers Bongo and Baka to each be primary splits from Proto-Sara-Bongo-Bagirmi.

References

  1. For example, Ethnologue places Bongo in its own branch of Bongo–Baka, but then comments that it is similar to Jur Beli in the main branch.
  2. Boyeldieu, Pascal. 2006. Présentation des langues Sara-Bongo-Baguirmiennes . Paris: CNRS-LLACAN (online version).