Editing Languages of Africa (section)

===Niger–Congo languages===
{{Main|Niger–Congo languages}}
[[File:Africa ethnic groups 1996.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Map showing the traditional language families represented in Africa:
{{legend|#E6EAAD|[[Afroasiatic languages|Afroasiatic]] (Semitic-Hamitic)}}
{{legend|#8E7D8F|[[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]] (Malay-Polynesian)}}
{{legend|#8A421A|[[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]]}}
{{legend|#DC782D|[[Khoisan languages|Khoisan]]}}
[[Niger-Congo languages|Niger-Congo]]:
{{legend|#A6BE50|[[Bantu languages|Bantu]]}}
{{legend|#E9A96C|Central and Eastern Sudanese}}
{{legend|#51384E|Central Bantoid}}
{{legend|#C96273|Eastern Bantoid}}
{{legend|#A7BC47|Guinean}}
{{legend|#B77B85|[[Mande languages|Mande]]}}
{{legend|#4D7830|Western Bantoid}}
[[Nilo-Saharan languages|Nilo-Saharan]]:
{{legend|#827241|[[Kanuri language|Kanuri]]}}
{{legend|#824240|[[Nilotic languages|Nilotic]]}}
{{legend|#C88C50|[[Songhay languages|Songhai]]}}]]
The [[Niger–Congo languages]] constitute the largest language family spoken in [[West Africa]] and perhaps the world in terms of the number of languages.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}} One of its salient features is an elaborate [[noun class]] system with grammatical [[agreement (linguistics)|concord]]. A large majority of languages of this family are [[tonal language|tonal]] such as [[Yoruba language|Yoruba]] and [[Igbo language|Igbo]], [[Akan language|Akan]] and [[Ewe language]]. A major branch of Niger–Congo languages is the [[Bantu languages|Bantu]] phylum, which has a wider speech area than the rest of the family (see Niger–Congo B (Bantu) in the map above).

The [[Niger–Kordofanian languages|Niger–Kordofanian]] language family, joining Niger–Congo with the [[Kordofanian languages]] of south-central [[Sudan]], was proposed in the 1950s by [[Joseph Greenberg]]. Today, linguists often use "Niger–Congo" to refer to this entire family, including Kordofanian as a subfamily. One reason for this is that it is not clear whether Kordofanian was the first branch to diverge from rest of Niger–Congo. [[Mande languages|Mande]] has been claimed to be equally or more divergent. Niger–Congo is generally accepted by linguists, though a few question the inclusion of Mande and [[Dogon languages|Dogon]], and there is no conclusive evidence for the inclusion of [[Ubangian languages|Ubangian]].