Langenesis

Niger-Congo family

Kinyarwanda

c. 1500 CE – today Living

Kinyarwanda (c. 1500 CE – today) is a living Niger-Congo language. Lineage: Proto-Niger-Congo → Proto-Atlantic-Congo → Proto-Benue-Congo → Proto-Bantu → Kinyarwanda.

See Kinyarwanda on the interactive map
Speakers
12M (12,000,000)
ISO 639-3
kin
Glottocode
kiny1244

Great Lakes Bantu language of Rwanda, mutually intelligible with Kirundi.

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. Kinyarwandac. 1500 CE – today

Sister languages 21

Also descended from Proto-Bantu.

Sources