niger-kordofanian
Noun A major language family of Africa, comprising the vast majority of languages spoken on the continent south of the Sahara Desert. It is characterized by a large number of tonal languages, though significant non-tonal languages are also included within this family.
The term is used in linguistic classification to group together a large number of African languages based on proposed genetic relationships. * Linguists study the historical development of the Niger-Kordofanian language family. * The Niger-Kordofanian hypothesis groups languages from West, Central, and Southern Africa.
- In contemporary linguistics, the term "Niger-Congo" is often used as a more common and sometimes more precise label, with "Kordofanian" sometimes treated as a primary branch. The term Niger-Kordofanian reflects an older but still recognized classification that emphasizes the inclusion of the Kordofanian languages of Sudan.
- Niger-Congo (n): A closely related or synonymous term for the language family, often used in modern linguistic literature.
- Kordofanian (n): A subgroup of languages within this family, spoken in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan.
- Niger-Congo languages
This term refers specifically to a proposed genetic linguistic grouping. It is not a single language but a family encompassing hundreds of distinct languages, such as Yoruba, Igbo, Swahili, Zulu, and Fula. Its defining feature is not exclusively tonality, as it includes major non-tonal languages like Swahili.
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the family of languages that includes most of the languages spoken in Africa south of the Sahara; the majority of them are tonal languages but there are important exceptions (e.g., Swahili or Fula)
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