| Mangbutu–Lese | |
| Also Known As: | Mangbutu–Efe |
| Region: | Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda |
| Familycolor: | Nilo-Saharan |
| Fam2: | Central Sudanic |
| Fam3: | Eastern |
| Child1: | Mangbutu |
| Child2: | Mvuba |
| Child3: | Ndo (Membitu) |
| Child4: | Mamvu |
| Child5: | Lese (incl. Efe) |
| Child6: | ?Bendi |
| Glotto: | memb1239 |
| Glottorefname: | Membi–Mangbutu–Efe |
The Mangbutu–Lese languages of the Central Sudanic language family, also known as Mangbutu–Efe or simply Mangbutu (e.g. Starostin 2016), are a cluster of closely related languages spoken in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. Moru–Madi languages are spoken to the northeast, and Mangbetu languages are spoken to the west.[1]
The languages are:
Mangbutu, Mvuba, Ndo, Mamvu, Lese, Bendi.Efe (the language of the Efe Pygmies) is often counted as another, but appears to be a dialect of Lese. Ndo (Membitu) is the most populous language and is spoken by a caste of blacksmiths.