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(Redirected from Volta-Congo)
In the classification of African languages, 'Volta-Congo' is a major branch (in terms of number of languages) of the Niger-Congo phylum. Itself part of Atlantic-Congo, the Volta-Congo branch is divided in two major groupings: East and West. West Volta-Congo comprises Kru, the Gur and Adamawa-Ubangi subfamilies and probably Senufo (if not included in Gur). East Volta-Congo consists of the Kwa and Benue-Congo subfamilies, the latter of which includes the well-known and particularly numerous Bantu group.
Comparative linguistic research by John M. Stewart in the sixties and seventies has helped establish the genetic unity of Volta-Congo and shed light on its internal structure. The vowel systems of Volta-Congo languages have been the subject of much historical comparative linguistic debate. Casali (1995) defends the hypothesis that the proto-Volta-Congo language originally had a nine- or ten-vowel system employing vowel harmony and that this set has been reduced to a seven vowel-system in many Volta-Congo languages. The Ghana Togo Mountain languages are examples of languages where nine- or ten-vowel systems are still found.
Williamson and Blench (2000) note that in many cases it is difficult to draw clear lines between the respective subfamilies of Volta-Congo and suggest that this might indicate the diversification of a dialect continuum rather than a clear split of families. This has been suggested before by Bennet (1983 as cited in Williamson and Blench 2000:17) in the case of the Gur and Adamawa-Ubangi subfamilies.
★ African languages
★ Language families and languages
★ Casali, Roderic F. (1995) 'On the Reduction of Vowel Systems in Volta-Congo', ''African Languages and Cultures'', 8, 2, Dec, 109–121.
★ Stewart, John M. (1976) ''Towards Volta-Congo reconstruction: a comparative study of some languages of Black-Africa''. (Inaugural speech, Leiden University) Leiden: Universitaire Pers Leiden.
★ Stewart, John M. (1985) 'Nasality patterns in the Volta-Congo foot.' Paper presented at the Colloquium on African Linguistics, Leiden, Sept. 1985.
★ Williamson, Kay & Blench, Roger (2000) 'Niger-Congo', in Heine, Bernd and Nurse, Derek (eds) ''African Languages - An Introduction.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University press, pp. 11–42.
In the classification of African languages, 'Volta-Congo' is a major branch (in terms of number of languages) of the Niger-Congo phylum. Itself part of Atlantic-Congo, the Volta-Congo branch is divided in two major groupings: East and West. West Volta-Congo comprises Kru, the Gur and Adamawa-Ubangi subfamilies and probably Senufo (if not included in Gur). East Volta-Congo consists of the Kwa and Benue-Congo subfamilies, the latter of which includes the well-known and particularly numerous Bantu group.
Comparative linguistic research by John M. Stewart in the sixties and seventies has helped establish the genetic unity of Volta-Congo and shed light on its internal structure. The vowel systems of Volta-Congo languages have been the subject of much historical comparative linguistic debate. Casali (1995) defends the hypothesis that the proto-Volta-Congo language originally had a nine- or ten-vowel system employing vowel harmony and that this set has been reduced to a seven vowel-system in many Volta-Congo languages. The Ghana Togo Mountain languages are examples of languages where nine- or ten-vowel systems are still found.
Williamson and Blench (2000) note that in many cases it is difficult to draw clear lines between the respective subfamilies of Volta-Congo and suggest that this might indicate the diversification of a dialect continuum rather than a clear split of families. This has been suggested before by Bennet (1983 as cited in Williamson and Blench 2000:17) in the case of the Gur and Adamawa-Ubangi subfamilies.
| Contents |
| See also |
| References |
See also
★ African languages
★ Language families and languages
References
★ Casali, Roderic F. (1995) 'On the Reduction of Vowel Systems in Volta-Congo', ''African Languages and Cultures'', 8, 2, Dec, 109–121.
★ Stewart, John M. (1976) ''Towards Volta-Congo reconstruction: a comparative study of some languages of Black-Africa''. (Inaugural speech, Leiden University) Leiden: Universitaire Pers Leiden.
★ Stewart, John M. (1985) 'Nasality patterns in the Volta-Congo foot.' Paper presented at the Colloquium on African Linguistics, Leiden, Sept. 1985.
★ Williamson, Kay & Blench, Roger (2000) 'Niger-Congo', in Heine, Bernd and Nurse, Derek (eds) ''African Languages - An Introduction.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University press, pp. 11–42.
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