ICHLXX 20 th International Conference on Historical Linguistics July 25-30, 2011, Osaka

PHYLOGENETIC CLASSIFICATION OF NORTH WESTERN BANTU LANGUAGES

Rebecca Grollemund Laboratoire Dynamique du Langage, Lyon, France [email protected] Conceptions of the North-Western Bantu area (1) • NW Bantu languages generally refer to languages spoken in: – Cameroon – Gabon – Congo – Equatorial Guinea – parts of DRC – parts of Central African Republic Conceptions of the North-Western Bantu area (2) • NW Bantu languages also form a linguistic unit, highlighted by previous classifications: – A, B, C and part of the languages spoken in zone H (Jacquot, 1960) – A, B10-20-30 (Bastin et al. 1999) – A, B, C, parts of H and D10-30 (Nurse & Philippson, 2003): “Forest Bantu languages” – A, B, C, parts of D and H + Mamfe and Grassfields Bantu (Nurse, 2008) Location of NW Bantu area

Nurse & Tucker, 2001 Interest in NW area (1)

• NW Bantu is recognized as the most divergent area (Henrici 1973, Heine 1977, Bastin et al. 1999)

• High degree of linguistic diversity: – Impact of the geographical situation: contacts between bantu/bantu populations and bantu/non- bantu populations Interest in NW area (2)

• NW languages represent one primary branch of the Bantu tree – NW versus other Bantu languages (subdivided into West and East)

• Bantu homeland Goals • Complexity of the NW Bantu area (Bastin & al. 1999, Holden 2002, Holden & Gray 2006, Rexová & al. 2006)

• New classification of 176 languages spoken in the NW area → better understanding of this particular area

• Addition of Non-Narrow Bantu languages (Bantoid) → better understanding of the articulation between Bantoid and Bantu mbam/bubi (A31/A40-60)

NW: Bantu A/B10/B30/(B20)

CW Bantu

SE Bantu

Bastin & al. (1999) Adapted by Schadeberg 2003, from Williamson and Blench (2000) Languages

• Selection of 176 Bantoid and Bantu languages:

– 43 Bantoid (non-Narrow bantu) languages

– 133 Bantu (Narrow Bantu) languages Selection of 133 Bantu languages

• 53 zone A languages − A10-20-30-40-50-60-70- 80-90

• 58 zone B languages − B10-20-30-40-50-60-70- 80-90

• 15 zone C languages − C10-20-30 & C60-70-80

• 7 zone H languages − H10 & H30

Map by DDL: Grollemund & Fressard Selection of 43 Bantoid languages

• 1 Mamfe language (Kenyang)

• 4 Beboid languages (Noni, Ncanti, Bu, Misaje)

• 2 Ekoid languages (Ejagham, Keake)

• 5 Jarawan languages (Bwazza, Mbula, Bile, Kulung)

• 28 Grassfields languages (Mbam-Nkam, Momo, Ring)

• 2 Tivoid languages (Tiv, Esimbi)

Adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bantoid_languages Data

• 100 words belonging to the basic vocabulary documented in 176 languages – Nouns, verbs, numbers

• NB: These items were extracted from the 160 ALGAB wordlist (Atlas Linguistique du GABon) – A list used for the fieldwork in Gabon Method

• Dataset

• Criteria: • Identification of number of cognates/lexical item

• Multistate coding

• Phylogenetic distance (Neighbor-Net method) (for building phylogenetic trees) Multistate coding

tooth (5) tongue (6) nose (7) animal (54) rain (39) A11 Londo dìsòŋgá 1 ìyémè 1 mòk 1 nyàmà 1 mbúà 1 A122 Bakundu dìsõ̀ŋɡá 1 lyémè 1 dò 2 ? ? mbúà 1 A24 Duala songá 1 (e)yéme̱ 1 mpemba 3 ńama 1 mbúa 1 A42 Abo ǐ-sɔŋ̌ 1 -lém 1 dʒ-òó 2 t 2 lɔʷ̀ 2 A44 Tunen nǐny 2 nɛbɔ̀ mb́ 2 nìɔń 2 mènyam 1 èmbɔŋ 3 A75a Fang asoŋ 1 oyəm 1 dʒwiɲ 2 tsit 2 mvəŋ 3 A841 Badwe eje 3 jm 1 dʉ 2 r 2 mpé 1 A87 Bomwali èjè 3 jémò 1 ɗŵ 2 titi 2 mbyɔ 1 B11a Mpongwe ino 2 onɛw̃ɛ 1 ompombo 3 ɲaw̃a 1 niŋgo 4 B21 Seki diisõ 1 dideemi 1 dyɔyu 2 ɲaamo 1 buyɔ 1 B22a Kele leʃoŋa 1 ðaðem 1 dyuyu 2 tʃitʃi 2 mbvoða 1 B22b Ngom disɔŋa 1 lalema 1 dyolo 2 tutu 2 mbula 1 B24 Wumbvu dʒina 2 ilimi 1 dʒulu 2 ɲama 1 mvula 1 B203 Samaye dʒinu 2 lelimi 1 dʒulu 2 ɲama 1 mvula 1 B31 Tsogo inɔ 2 omɛni 3 opombo 3 ɲama 1 mbuwa 1 B41 Shira diinu 2 dulimi 1 mbasu 4 ɲamə 1 mfulə 1 C25 Mboshi diina 2 lelemi 1 pemba 3 ɲama 1 mbuwa 1 H12 Civili lyeenu 2 ludimə 1 liyilu 2 tʃibulu 3 mvulə 1 Bwazza (Jarawan) mnú 2 lásúù 4 lulù 5 nyama 1 mbulɔ 1 Kom (Ring, center) īsɔŋ̄́ 1 īlɛḿ 1 āʒýˋ 6 ə̄ɲám 1 īvʊˊ́ 5 Oku (Ring, center) īʃɔŋ́ 1 kēlé:mê 1 īɥuî 6 ɲàm 1 īwú: 5 Njen (Momo) ìsɔ̄ŋ 1 èlʉ́ʉ̰ˊ 1 ìj 6 áɲɛm̀ 1 m̀ bəŋ̀ 3 Moghamo (Momo) šɔ̄ŋ 1 nɛḿ 1 jẅé 6 ɲâm 1 mbəŋ 3 Fefe (Mbam-Nkam) sɛˀ˚̀ 1 lām 1 nzī 6 nəə̀ 1 mbàk 3 Bafut (Mbam-Nkam) nsɔ̀ ŋ̀ 1 àləˋ́ 1 nlwˋ̀ 6 m̄bà 3 m̄bəŋ̀ 3 Esimbi (Tivoid) kizini 2 onəmə 1 ohundu 7 ɛnyìmì̀ 1 obiri 6 Software : SplitsTree4

100 lexical items

Languages Network of 176 Bantoid and Bantu languages, calculated using the Neighbor-Net method (Bryant & Moulton 2003) A10-A20-A30 A31-A40-A60 Jarawan + A40-A60-A70 A10-20-30 A30 (Bubi)-A40-A60 A40-60-70 A50 Jarawan A50 B20 B20 A80 Seki B20 + A90 Mbam-Bubi Momo Extreme NW Bantu Mbam-Nkam A80 Bantoid Grassfields B21-A90 Ring Bantoid Beboid C Tivoid Bantu Bantoid (non-narrow bantu) NW Ekoid B20 B10 + B30 B50-B60-B70-B80 Network of 176 Bantoid and Bantu B40 + languages, calculated using the Remaining B and C Neighbor-Net method (Bryant & languages H10(H30) Moulton 2003) Concluding remarks (1)

• First branch composed of bantoid languages: – Mamfe > Ekoid > Tivoid > Beboid

• Division of Grassfields languages into 3 subgroups: – Momo (+ Ndemli), Ring and Mbam-Nkam

• Incorporation of Jarawan languages (Bantoid) into the Mbam-Bubi (A40/60+A31)! Concluding remarks (2) • Split of the B20 group into 3 subgroups! – Seki B21 (isolated) linked to A90 languages – Relatedness beween « B20 (A) » languages and A languages – Special position of the « B20 (B) », related to B languages

• Incorporation of H10 into the B40 group

• Unity of B50-60-70

• Division of C languages into 2 subgroups Southern Bantoid Bantoid non Bantu

Mamfe Ekoid Tivoid Beboid Mbam-Bubi Grassfields Narrow Bantu NW

Jarawan A31-40-60

A50+A40-60-70 A10-A30

B21 Seki-A90 B20 (A)-A80

B10 B30 B20 (B) C10-20-30 C60-70-80 B40-H10(H30) B50-60-70-80 A simplified classification of NW languages References • BASTIN, Y., COUPEZ, A. & MANN, M. 1999. Continuity and divergence in the Bantu languages: perspectives from a lexicostatistic study, Tervuren : Musée Royal de l’Afrique Centrale (MRAC), Annales, Série in-8°, Sciences humaines 162. • BASTIN, Y. & PIRON, P. 1999. Classifications lexicostatistiques: bantou, bantou et bantoïde. De l'interêt des 'groupes flottants'. In J-M. Hombert et L.M. Hyman (Ed.), Bantu Historical Linguistics. Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives. Stanford, California: CSLI Publications, pp. 149-164. • GUTHRIE, M. 1948. The Classification of the Bantu Languages, London: Oxford University Press for the International African Institute. • HEINE, B., HOFF, H. & VOSSEN, R. 1977. Neuere Ergebnisse zur Territorialgeschichte der Bantu. In W. Möhlig, F. Rottland & B. Heine (Ed.), Zur Sprachgeschichte und Ethnohistorie in Afrika, Berlin: Dietrich Reimer., pp. 57-72. • HENRICI, A. 1973. Numerical Classification of Bantu Languages. African Language Studies, 14, pp. 82-104. • HOLDEN, C. J. 2002. Bantu language trees reflect the spread of farming across sub-Saharan Africa: a maximum-parsimony analysis. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 269, pp. 793-799. • HOLDEN, C. J. & GRAY, R. 2006. Rapid radiation, borrowing and dialect continua in the Bantu languages. Phylogenetic methods and the prehistory of languages, pp. 19-31. • HUSON, D. H. & BRYANT, D. 2006. Application of Phylogenetic Networks in Evolutionary Studies. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 23(2), pp. 254-267. • JACQUOT, A. 1960. Les langues Bantu du Nord-Ouest: etat des connaissances, perspectives de la recherche. Paris : Office de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique d’Outre-Mer (ORSTOM), (Rapport non-publié), 46 pp. • NURSE, D. & TUCKER, I. 2001. A survey report for the Bantu languages. SIL International. • NURSE, D. & PHILIPPSON, G. 2003. Towards a historical classification of the Bantu languages. In D. Nurse et G. Philippson (Ed.), The Bantu Languages. London-New York: Routledge, pp. 164-181. • PIRON, P. 1997. Classification interne du groupe bantoïde (2 vols), München-Newcastle: Lincom Europa, Lincom Studies in African Linguistics 11 et 12. • REXOVA, K., BASTIN, Y. & FRYNTA, D. 2006. Cladistic analysis of Bantu languages: a new tree based on combined lexical and grammatical data. Naturwissenschaften, 93, pp. 189-194. • SCHADEBERG, T. C. 2003. Historical linguistics. In D. Nurse et G. Philippson (Ed.), The Bantu Languages. London-New York: Routledge, pp. 143-63. • WATTERS, J. R. & LEROY, J. 1989. Southern Bantoid. In Bendor-Samuel (Ed.), The Niger-Congo languages: a classification and description of Africa’s largest language family, Lanham, MD: University Press of America, pp. 431-449. • WILLIAMSON, K. & BLENCH, R. 2000. Niger-Congo. In Heine, B. & Nurse, D. (Ed.), African languages: An introduction, Cambridge University Press, pp. 11-42.