Langenesis

Niger-Congo family

Zulu

1500 CE – today Living

Zulu (1500 CE – today) is a living Niger-Congo language. It has 1 descendant languages and stages on the map. Lineage: Proto-Niger-Congo → Proto-Atlantic-Congo → Proto-Benue-Congo → Proto-Bantu → Proto-Nguni → Zulu.

See Zulu on the interactive map
Speakers
28M (28,000,000)
ISO 639-3
zul
Glottocode
zulu1248

Nguni language of KwaZulu-Natal and the source of Northern Ndebele. Most-spoken home language in South Africa. Speaker count includes L1 and L2.

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. Proto-Ngunic. 500 CE – 1500 CE
  6. Zulu1500 CE – today

Descendants 1

Sister languages 2

Also descended from Proto-Nguni.

Sources