Western Lakes Bantu languages
| Western Lakes Bantu | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | Rwanda, Burundi, Kigoma Region, South Kivu, North Kivu, Kisoro District, Rwenzururu, Kagera Region |
| Linguistic classification | Niger–Congo? |
| Proto-language | Proto-Western Lakes Bantu[1] |
| Subdivisions |
|
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | west2842 |
The Western Lakes Bantu languages form a subgroup of the Great Lakes Bantu languages spoken in Rwanda, Burundi the DRC, Uganda and Tanzania.
Classification
The Western Lakes Bantu languages are classified within the Glottolog database as follows:[2]
History
Proto-Western Lakes Bantu was developed in 400 AD by those who remained in the original Proto-Great Lakes Bantu homeland, which was in and on the hillsides of the Kivu Rift Valley.[3]
Similar to the Okiek people in Kenya, the Great Lakes Twa played important roles as "outsiders" in the ritual and oral historiographic life of Western Lakes Bantu speaking societies.[4]
References
- ^ A Green Place, a Good Place: Agrarian Change, Gender, and Social Identity in the Great Lakes Region to the 15th Century. Boydell & Brewer, Limited. 1998. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-85255-681-8.
- ^ https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/west2842
- ^ A Green Place, a Good Place: Agrarian Change, Gender, and Social Identity in the Great Lakes Region to the 15th Century. Boydell & Brewer, Limited. 1998. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-85255-681-8.
- ^ A Green Place, a Good Place: Agrarian Change, Gender, and Social Identity in the Great Lakes Region to the 15th Century. Boydell & Brewer, Limited. 1998. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-85255-681-8.