Bongo–Baka languages

The Bongo languages, or Bongo–Baka, comprise six languages spoken in South Sudan. They are members of the Central Sudanic language family.

Bongo
Bongo–Baka
Geographic distribution	South Sudan
Linguistic classification	Nilo-Saharan? Central Sudanic Bongo–Bagirmi Bongo
Glottolog	bong1285  (Bongo)[1] moro1282  (Baka–Beli)[2]

The most populous Bongo language is Jur Modo, spoken by a hundred thousand people. The languages are:

• Bongo
• Baka
• Morokodo–Beli
  • Jur Modo
  • Morokodo (Nyamusa-Molo, Mo’da)
  • Jur Beli (Beli)
  • Mittu (extinct)

In various classifications, Bongo is sometimes split off from the rest of the family, so the phrase Bongo–Baka may be less ambiguous than simply Bongo.[3]

However, Boyeldieu (2006)[4] does not consider Bongo–Baka to be a valid grouping, and considers Bongo and Baka to each be primary splits from Proto-Sara-Bongo-Bagirmi.

References

1. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Bongo". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Baka–Beli". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
3. For example, Ethnologue places Bongo in its own branch of Bongo–Baka, but then comments that it is similar to Jur Beli in the main branch.
4. Boyeldieu, Pascal. 2006. Présentation des langues Sara-Bongo-Baguirmiennes. Paris: CNRS-LLACAN (online version).

• Roger Blench (n.d.) Nilo-Saharan language listing