Langenesis

Niger-Congo family

Umbundu

c. 1500 CE – today Living

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

See Umbundu on the interactive map
Speakers
6M (6,000,000)
ISO 639-3
umb

Western Bantu (Guthrie R11) language of Angola's central highlands, the country's most widely spoken indigenous language.

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. Umbunduc. 1500 CE – today

Sister languages 21

Also descended from Proto-Bantu.

Sources