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 mòkí 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 3-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 jom̂ 1 dʉ̂ 2 r 2 mpíé 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) míínú 2 lásúù 4 lulù 5 nyama 1 mbulɔ 1 Kom (Ring, center) īsɔŋ̄́ 1 īlɛmí́ 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 ìjí 6 áɲɛm̀ 1 m̀ bəŋ̀ 3 Moghamo (Momo) íšɔ̄ŋ 1 ínɛmí́ 1 íjẅé 6 ɲâm 1 ímbəŋ̂ 3 Fefe (Mbam-Nkam) sɛˀ˚̀ 1 lām 1 nzī 6 nəə̀ 1 mbàk 3 Bafut (Mbam-Nkam) nosɔ̀ ŋ̀ 1 àləˋ́ 1 nolwíˋ̀ 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. 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