Editing Languages of Africa (section)

====Unclassified languages====
{{further|:Category:Unclassified languages of Africa}}
A fair number of [[unclassified languages]] are reported in Africa. Many remain unclassified simply for lack of data; among the better-investigated ones that continue to resist easy classification are:

* possibly Afroasiatic: [[Ongota language|Ongota]], [[Gomba language|Gomba]]
* possibly Nilo-Saharan: [[Shabo language|Shabo]]
* possibly Niger–Congo: [[Jalaa language|Jalaa]], [[Mbre language|Mbre]], [[Bayot language|Bayot]]
* unknown: [[Laal language|Laal]], [[Mpre language|Mpre]]
Of these, [[Jalaa language|Jalaa]] is perhaps the most likely to be an isolate.

Less-well investigated languages include [[Rimba language|Irimba]], [[Luo language (Cameroon)|Luo]], [[Mawa language (Nigeria)|Mawa]], [[Rer Bare]] (possibly Bantu languages), [[Bete language (Nigeria)|Bete]] (evidently Jukunoid), [[Bung language|Bung]] (unclear), [[Kujargé language|Kujarge]] (evidently Chadic), [[Lufu language|Lufu]] (Jukunoid), [[Meroitic language|Meroitic]] (possibly Afroasiatic), [[Oropom language|Oropom]] (possibly spurious) and [[Weyto language|Weyto]] (evidently Cushitic). Several of these are extinct, and adequate comparative data is thus unlikely to be forthcoming. Hombert & Philippson (2009)<ref name="HombertPhilippson">{{cite book |first1=Jean-Marie |last1=Hombert |first2=Gérard |last2=Philippson |year=2009 |url=http://www.ddl.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/fulltext/hombert/Hombert_2009_LDLT2.pdf |chapter=The linguistic importance of language isolates: the African case |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523092814/http://www.ddl.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/fulltext/hombert/Hombert_2009_LDLT2.pdf |archive-date=23 May 2013 |editor-first1=Peter K. |editor-last1=Austin |editor-first2=Oliver |editor-last2=Bond |editor-first3=Monik |editor-last3=Charette |editor-link3=Monik Charette |editor-first4=David |editor-last4=Nathan |editor-first5=Peter |editor-last5=Sells |title=Proceedings of Conference on Language Documentation and Linguistic Theory 2 |location=London |publisher=SOAS}}</ref> list a number of African languages that have been classified as [[language isolate]]s at one point or another. Many of these are simply unclassified, but Hombert & Philippson believe Africa has about twenty language families, including isolates. Beside the possibilities listed above, there are:

*[[Aasax language|Aasax]] or Aramanik ([[Tanzania]]) ([[South Cushitic languages|South Cushitic]]? contains non-Cushitic lexicon)
*[[Imeraguen language|Imeraguen]] ([[Mauritania]]) – [[Hassaniyya]] Arabic restructured on an Azêr ([[Soninke language|Soninke]]) base
*Kara ([[Fer language|Fer]]?) ([[Central African Republic]])
*[[Oblo language|Oblo]] ([[Cameroon]]) ([[Adamawa languages|Adamawa]]? Extinct?)
<!--*[[Yeni language|Yeni]] ([[Cameroon]]) is clearly Mambiloid-->

[[Roger Blench]] notes a couple additional possibilities:
*[[Defaka language|Defaka]] ([[Nigeria]])
*[[Dompo language|Dompo]] ([[Ghana]])

Below is a list of language isolates and otherwise unclassified languages in Africa, from Vossen & Dimmendaal (2020:434):<ref name="Vossen">{{cite book |editor-last1=Vossen |editor-first1=Rainer  |editor-last2=Dimmendaal |editor-first2=Gerrit J. |year=2020 |title=The Oxford Handbook of African Languages |pages=392–407 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press.}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Language !! Country
|-
| [[Bangime language|Bangi Me]] || [[Mali]]
|-
| [[Bayot language|Bayot]] || [[Senegal]]
|-
| [[Dompo language|Dompo]] || [[Ghana]]
|-
| [[Ega language|Ega]] || [[Ivory Coast]]
|-
| [[Gomba language|Gomba]] || [[Ethiopia]]
|-
| [[Gumuz language|Gumuz]] || [[Ethiopia]], [[Sudan]]
|-
| [[Hadza language|Hadza]] || [[Tanzania]]
|-
| [[Irimba language|Irimba]] || [[Gabon]]
|-
| [[Jalaa language|Jalaa]] || [[Nigeria]]
|-
| [[Kujarge language|Kujarge]] || [[Chad]]
|-
| [[Laal language|Laal]] || [[Chad]]
|-
| [[Lufu language|Lufu]] || [[Nigeria]]
|-
| [[Luo language (Cameroon)|Luo]] || [[Cameroon]]
|-
| [[Mawa language|Mawa]] || [[Nigeria]]
|-
| [[Miyobe language|Meyobe]] || [[Benin]], [[Togo]]
|-
| [[Mimi of Decorse]]; [[Mimi of Nachtigal]] || [[Chad]]
|-
| [[Mpra language|Mpra]] || [[Ghana]]
|-
| [[Oblo language|Oblo]] || [[Cameroon]]
|-
| [[Ongota language|Ongota]] || [[Ethiopia]]
|-
| [[Oropom language|Oropom]] || [[Kenya]], [[Uganda]]
|-
| [[Rer Bare language|Rer Bare]] || [[Ethiopia]]
|-
| [[Shabo language|Shabo]] || [[Ethiopia]]
|-
| [[Weyto language|Weyto]] || [[Ethiopia]]
|-
| [[Wutana language|Wutana]] || [[Nigeria]]
|-
| [[Yeni language|Yeni]] || [[Cameroon]]
|}