The Botatwe languages are a group of
Bantu languages
The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀) are a large family of languages spoken by the Bantu people of Central, Southern, Eastern africa and Southeast Africa. They form the largest branch of the Southern Bantoid languages.
The t ...
. They are the languages of
Guthrie group M.60 (Lenje–Tonga) plus some of the Subia languages (K.40):
*
Tonga
Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...
(incl. Dombe, Leya)
*
Ila (Lundwe, Sala)
*
Soli
*
Lamba
*
Lenje
Lenje is a Bantu language of central Zambia. The Lukanga dialect is spoken by the Lukanga Twa Pygmies, fishermen of the Lukanga Swamp
Lukanga Swamp is a major wetland in the Central Province of Zambia, about 50 km west of Kabwe.Terraca ...
(incl.
Lukanga Twa
The Twa of the Lukanga Swamp of Zambia are one of several fishing and hunter-gatherer castes living in a patron–client relationship with farming Bantu peoples across central and southern Africa. The Lukanga Twa live primarily among the Lenje, a ...
)
*Subia (K40):
Fwe (Sifwe),
Kuhane (Subiya, Mbalang'we)
*
Totela (K41 and K411)
Kafue Twa
The Twa of the Kafue Flats wetlands of Zambia are one of several fishing and hunter-gatherer castes living in a patron-client relationship with farming Bantu peoples across central and southern Africa.
In Southern Province, where swampy terrai ...
may be Ila or Tonga.
Nurse (2003) suspects that the
Sabi languages
The Sabi languages are a group of Bantu languages established by Christine Ahmed. They constitute much of Guthrie classification of Bantu languages#Zone M, Guthrie's Zone M, plus Senga. The languages, or clusters, along with their Guthrie identi ...
may be related.
Notes
{{Bantu-lang-stub