| Makaa–Njem | |
| Region: | Southern Cameroon and neighbouring areas |
| Familycolor: | Niger-Congo |
| Fam2: | Atlantic–Congo |
| Fam3: | Benue–Congo |
| Fam4: | Southern Bantoid |
| Fam5: | Bantu (Zone A.80–90) |
| Child1: | Mvumboic (Kwasio) |
| Child2: | Pomo–Bomwali |
| Glotto: | maka1323 |
| Glottorefname: | Makaa–Njem (A.80) |
| Map: | Maka-Njem ethnic groups.png |
| Mapcaption: | The Makaa–Njem languages (excluding Kako) |
The Makaa–Njem languages are a group of Bantu languages spoken in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo. They are coded Zone A.80 in Guthrie's classification.
According to Nurse & Philippson (2003), adding the Kako languages (Guthrie's A.90) forms a valid node, called Pomo–Bomwali (Kairn Klieman 1997).
The Guthrie Kako (A.90) languages are:
The Guthrie Makaa–Njem (A.80) languages are:
| Language name | Primary location | Secondary location(s) | Ethnic group(s) | No. speakers[1] | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bekwel | Congo | Cameroon, Gabon | Bekwel | 12,060 | Close to Nkonabeeb and Koonzime. Cameroonian speakers also use Mpongmpong.[2] | |
| Bomwali | Congo | Cameroon | Bomwali | 39,280 | ||
| Byep | Cameroon | None | Maka | 9,500 | Also called North Makaa, though not intelligible with Makaa.[3] | |
| Kol | Cameroon | Gabon | Bekol | 12,000 | Speakers use Makaa or Koonzime as well.[4] | |
| Koonzime | Cameroon | None | Badwe'e, Nzime | 30,000 | Badwe'e speak Koozime dialect; Nzime speak Koonzime dialect. Used as a second language by many Baka.[5] | |
| Makaa | Cameroon | None | Maka | 80,000 | Related to Byep (North Makaa) and Kol, although unintelligible with them.[6] | |
| Mpiemo | Central African Republic | Cameroon, Congo | Mbimu | 29,000 | ||
| Mpumpong | Cameroon | None | Nkonabeeb | 45,000 | ||
| Ngumba (Kwasio) | Cameroon | Equatorial Guinea | Mabi, Ngumba, Bujeba, Gyele (Koya, Kola) | 22,000 | The Gyele are Pygmies | |
| Njyem | Cameroon | Congo | Njyem | 7,000 | Spoken by many Baka as a second language.[7] | |
| Swo | Cameroon | None | Swo | 9,000 | High level of influence from Beti.[8] | |
| Ukhwejo | Central African Republic | None | Benkonjo | 2,000 |
Maho (2009) adds Shiwe (Oshieba) of central Gabon.
Glottolog classifies the languages as follows:[9]