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Untangling the West-Coastal Bantu mess : identification, geography and phylogeny of the Bantu B50-80 languages

Sara Pacchiarotti (UGent) , Natalia Chousou-Polydouri and Koen Bostoen (UGent)
(2019) AFRICANA LINGUISTICA. 25. p.155-229
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  • BANTUFIRST (The First Bantu Speakers South of the Rainforest: A Cross-Disciplinary Approach to Human Migration, Language Spread, Climate Change and Early Farming in Late Holocene Central Africa)
Abstract
In this paper we deal with the identification, geography and internal phylogeny of Bantu B50-80 languages. According to lexicostatistical and lexicon-based phylogenetic studies, these languages belong to the West-Coastal branch of the Bantu family along with the Kikongo Language Cluster. First, we present an updated list of nearly 100 language varieties falling into Guthrie's B50-80 groups along with corresponding updated geographical coordinate values. We dissipate confusion surrounding some glossonyms and point out misinterpretations that led to conflation of different varieties and misnumbering in non-genetic, referential classifications (Guthrie 1971; Maho 2009; Hammarstrom 2019). Second, we present the results of a new phylogenetic study including all B50-80 varieties in our sample to be later compared to an internal classification based on shared phonological innovations. Our results show that: (i) previous internal subgroupings of Guthrie's B50-80 languages within West-Coastal Bantu either need to be revised or are no longer valid against new evidence; and (ii) the new internal structure of the West-Coastal branch suggests that the homeland of Proto-West-Coastal Bantu speakers is not to be found, as previously believed, somewhere in between the Bateke Plateau and the Bandundu region in the DRC but rather much more eastward, i.e. somewhere between the Kamtsha and Kasai Rivers in the DRC.
Dans cet article, nous traitons de l’identification, de la géographie et de la phylogénie interne des langues bantu B50-80. Selon les études lexicostatistiques et phylogénétiques basées sur le lexique, ces langues appartiennent à la branche Côte-Ouest de la famille bantu, tout comme le groupe kikongo. Nous commençons par présenter une liste mise à jour des près de 100 variantes linguistiques des groupes B50-80 de Guthrie et des coordonnées géographiques correspondantes, mises à jour également. Nous dissipons la confusion qui entoure certains glossonymes et pointons du doigt les mauvaises interprétations qui ont conduit au regroupement de variétés en réalité distinctes, et à des erreurs de numérotation dans les classifications référentielles non génétiques. Nous présentons ensuite les résultats d’une nouvelle étude phylogénétique de toutes les variantes B50-80 de notre échantillon, que nous comparerons plus tard à une classification interne réalisée sur base d’innovations phonologiques partagées. Les résultats que nous avons obtenus montrent que (i) les classifications internes des langues B50-80 doivent être révisées, soit être reconsidérées entièrement et (ii) la structure interne de la branche Côte-Ouest se dégageant de notre étude suggère que son berceau ne se trouve pas, comme on l’a cru précédemment, quelque part entre le plateau Batéké et la région du Bandundu en RDC, mais beaucoup plus à l'est, entre les rivières Kamtsha et Kasaï, toujours en RDC.
Keywords
West-Coastal Bantu, West-Western Bantu, Bantu B50-60-70-80, Kikongo Language Cluster, glossonyms, Guthrie’s referential classification, linguistic geography, phylogenetics, internal classification, subgrouping, Bantu Expansion, homeland, MBUUN BANTU, INFERENCE, MRBAYES, B87

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Citation

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MLA
Pacchiarotti, Sara, et al. “Untangling the West-Coastal Bantu Mess : Identification, Geography and Phylogeny of the Bantu B50-80 Languages.” AFRICANA LINGUISTICA, vol. 25, 2019, pp. 155–229, doi:10.2143/AL.25.0.3287234.
APA
Pacchiarotti, S., Chousou-Polydouri, N., & Bostoen, K. (2019). Untangling the West-Coastal Bantu mess : identification, geography and phylogeny of the Bantu B50-80 languages. AFRICANA LINGUISTICA, 25, 155–229. https://doi.org/10.2143/AL.25.0.3287234
Chicago author-date
Pacchiarotti, Sara, Natalia Chousou-Polydouri, and Koen Bostoen. 2019. “Untangling the West-Coastal Bantu Mess : Identification, Geography and Phylogeny of the Bantu B50-80 Languages.” AFRICANA LINGUISTICA 25: 155–229. https://doi.org/10.2143/AL.25.0.3287234.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Pacchiarotti, Sara, Natalia Chousou-Polydouri, and Koen Bostoen. 2019. “Untangling the West-Coastal Bantu Mess : Identification, Geography and Phylogeny of the Bantu B50-80 Languages.” AFRICANA LINGUISTICA 25: 155–229. doi:10.2143/AL.25.0.3287234.
Vancouver
1.
Pacchiarotti S, Chousou-Polydouri N, Bostoen K. Untangling the West-Coastal Bantu mess : identification, geography and phylogeny of the Bantu B50-80 languages. AFRICANA LINGUISTICA. 2019;25:155–229.
IEEE
[1]
S. Pacchiarotti, N. Chousou-Polydouri, and K. Bostoen, “Untangling the West-Coastal Bantu mess : identification, geography and phylogeny of the Bantu B50-80 languages,” AFRICANA LINGUISTICA, vol. 25, pp. 155–229, 2019.
@article{8644150,
  abstract     = {{In this paper we deal with the identification, geography and internal phylogeny of Bantu B50-80 languages. According to lexicostatistical and lexicon-based phylogenetic studies, these languages belong to the West-Coastal branch of the Bantu family along with the Kikongo Language Cluster. First, we present an updated list of nearly 100 language varieties falling into Guthrie's B50-80 groups along with corresponding updated geographical coordinate values. We dissipate confusion surrounding some glossonyms and point out misinterpretations that led to conflation of different varieties and misnumbering in non-genetic, referential classifications (Guthrie 1971; Maho 2009; Hammarstrom 2019). Second, we present the results of a new phylogenetic study including all B50-80 varieties in our sample to be later compared to an internal classification based on shared phonological innovations. Our results show that: (i) previous internal subgroupings of Guthrie's B50-80 languages within West-Coastal Bantu either need to be revised or are no longer valid against new evidence; and (ii) the new internal structure of the West-Coastal branch suggests that the homeland of Proto-West-Coastal Bantu speakers is not to be found, as previously believed, somewhere in between the Bateke Plateau and the Bandundu region in the DRC but rather much more eastward, i.e. somewhere between the Kamtsha and Kasai Rivers in the DRC.}},
  author       = {{Pacchiarotti, Sara and Chousou-Polydouri, Natalia and Bostoen, Koen}},
  issn         = {{2033-8732}},
  journal      = {{AFRICANA LINGUISTICA}},
  keywords     = {{West-Coastal Bantu,West-Western Bantu,Bantu B50-60-70-80,Kikongo Language Cluster,glossonyms,Guthrie’s referential classification,linguistic geography,phylogenetics,internal classification,subgrouping,Bantu Expansion,homeland,MBUUN BANTU,INFERENCE,MRBAYES,B87}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{155--229}},
  title        = {{Untangling the West-Coastal Bantu mess : identification, geography and phylogeny of the Bantu B50-80 languages}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.2143/AL.25.0.3287234}},
  volume       = {{25}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}
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