The Bongo languages, or Bongo–Baka, comprise six languages spoken in South Sudan. They are members of the Central Sudanic language family.
| Bongo | |
|---|---|
| Bongo–Baka | |
| Geographic distribution | South Sudan |
| Linguistic classification | Nilo-Saharan? |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | bong1285 (Bongo)moro1282 (Baka–Beli) |
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
edit- ^ 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.
- ^ Boyeldieu, Pascal. 2006. Présentation des langues Sara-Bongo-Baguirmiennes Archived 2019-05-16 at the Wayback Machine. Paris: CNRS-LLACAN (online version).
- Roger Blench (n.d.) Nilo-Saharan language listing