Langenesis

Niger-Congo family

Kikongo

c. 1400 CE – today Living

Kikongo (c. 1400 CE – today) is a living Niger-Congo language. Lineage: Proto-Niger-Congo → Proto-Atlantic-Congo → Proto-Benue-Congo → Proto-Bantu → Kikongo.

See Kikongo on the interactive map
Speakers
7M (7,000,000)
ISO 639-3
kon

West-Central Bantu (Guthrie H10) language of the former Kingdom of Kongo; one of the first Bantu languages written (catechism of 1624).

Lineage

  1. Proto-Niger-Congoc. 10,000 BCE – 7,000 BCE
  2. Proto-Atlantic-Congoc. 7,000 BCE – 5,000 BCE
  3. Proto-Benue-Congoc. 5,000 BCE – 3,500 BCE
  4. Proto-Bantuc. 3,000 BCE – 1,000 BCE
  5. Kikongoc. 1400 CE – today

Sister languages 21

Also descended from Proto-Bantu.

Sources