Langenesis

Niger-Congo family

Proto-Bantu

c. 3,000 BCE – 1,000 BCE Reconstructed

Proto-Bantu (c. 3,000 BCE – 1,000 BCE) is a reconstructed Niger-Congo language. It has 28 descendant languages and stages on the map. Lineage: Proto-Niger-Congo → Proto-Atlantic-Congo → Proto-Benue-Congo → Proto-Bantu.

See Proto-Bantu on the interactive map

Reconstructed ancestor of the Bantu sub-branch (~500 languages spoken across Central, Eastern, and Southern Africa). The Bantu expansion from a homeland in the Cameroon–Nigeria border region began ~3000 BCE.

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

Descendants 22

Sources