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The dozen Ngbaka languages are a family of Ubangian languages spoken in the Central African Republic and neighboring areas. It includes Pygmy languages such as Baka and Gundi. The most populous Ngbaka languages are Mbaka in the western branch, spoken by a quarter million people, and Mayogo in the eastern branch, spoken by half that number.

Like the Mba languages, the Ngbaka languages are spoken across discontiguous areas scattered across various central African countries.

Languages

Glottolog 3.4, following Winkhart (2015), gives the structure of the Baka-Mundu family as follows:

• Eastern
  • Mayogo–Bangba: Bangba, Mayogo
  • Mündü
• Western
  • Baka (Baka–Ganzi, Gundi, Limassa, Ngombe)
  • River Western
    • Mbaka / Bwaka (Ngbaka Ma'bo, Gilima)
    • Gbanzili (Gbanziri–Buraka)
    • Monzombo (Monzombo, Kpala–Yango)

The varieties listed for each may not be mutually intelligible.

References

1. Güldemann, Tom (2018). "Historical linguistics and genealogical language classification in Africa". In Güldemann, Tom (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of Africa. The World of Linguistics series. Vol. 11. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 58–444. doi:10.1515/9783110421668-002. ISBN 978-3-11-042606-9. S2CID 133888593.
2. Winkhart, Benedikt. 2015. The reconstruction of Mundu-Baka. Berlin: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin MA thesis.

External links

• Ngbaka languages project at Ghent University

• Ngbaka languages
• Ubangian languages