The Northeast Bantu 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. T ...

spoken in

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the histori ...

. In Guthrie's geographic classification, they fall within Bantu zones E50 plus E46 (Sonjo), E60 plus E74a (Taita), F21–22, J, G60, plus

Northeast Coast Bantu The Northeast Coast Bantu languages are the Bantu languages spoken along the coast of Tanzania and Kenya, and including inland Tanzania as far as Dodoma.Derek Nurse & Thomas Spear, 1985, ''The Swahili'' In Guthrie's geographic classification, t ...

(of zones E & G).Derek Nurse, 2003, ''The Bantu Languages'' Some of these languages (F21, most of E50, and some of J) share a phonological innovation called

Dahl's law Dahl's law (German: ''Das Dahlsche Gesetz'') is a sound rule in some of the Northeast Bantu languages that illustrates a case of voicing dissimilation. In the history of these languages, a voiceless stop, such as , became voiced () when immediatel ...

that is unlikely to be borrowed as a productive process, though individual words reflecting Dahl's law have been borrowed into neighboring languages. The languages, or clusters, are: *Kikuyu–Kamba Thagiicu (primarily E50): ** Sonjo (E40) ** Cuka **

Meru Meru may refer to: Geography Kenya * Meru, Kenya, a city in Meru County, Kenya ** Meru County, created by the merger of *** Meru Central District *** Meru North District *** Meru South District * Meru National Park, a Kenyan wildlife park Tan ...

(incl. Tharaka, Mwimbi-Muthambi) **South *** Kamba, Daisu *** Gikuyu,

Embu Embu may refer to: Places ; in Brazil * Embu das Artes * Embu-Guaçu ; in Kenya * Embu, Kenya * Embu County Other *Embu people of Kenya *Embu language Embu, also known as Kîembu, is a Bantu language of Kenya. It is spoken by the Embu people, ...

*Chaga–Taita **

Taita Taita may refer to: * Taita people, a Bantu ethnic group in Kenya * Taita language, a Bantu language * Taitā, New Zealand, a suburb of Lower Hutt City * Taita Hills, a mountain range in Kenya * Taita Cushitic languages, an extinct pair of Afr ...

(Dawida; E70) –

Sagalla Taita is a Bantu language spoken in the Taita Hills of Kenya. It is closely related to the Chaga languages of Kenya and Tanzania. The Saghala (Northern Sagala, Sagalla) variety is distinct enough to be considered a language separate from the Da ...

Chaga languages Chaga, also ''Kichaga'' or ''Kichagga'', is a Bantu dialect continuum spoken by the Chaga people of northern Tanzania, south of Mount Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, M ...

(E60) *

(G10-G40):

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language official in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa * Swahili culture Swahili culture is the culture of ...

(E70), ''etc.'' *Takama: Sukuma– Nyamwezi (+ Konongo–Ruwila), Kimbu (F20),

Iramba Iramba is one of the six districts of the Singida Region of central Tanzania. It is bordered to the Northwest by the Shinyanga Region, to the North by Simiyu Region, to the east by the Mkalama District, to the South by Ikungi District and to the ...

–

Isanzu The Isanzu (Anyihanzu) are a Bantu ethno-linguistic group based in Mkalama, Singida, Tanzania. In 1987 the Isanzu population was estimated to number 32,40 The Isanzu have matrilineal descent groups and are agriculturalists who subsist on sorghum, ...

, Nyaturu (Rimi) (F30), ?

Holoholo Holoholo may refer to: * Holoholo people, an ethnic group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo * Holoholo language Holoholo is a Bantu language of DR Congo and formerly in Tanzania spoken by the Holoholo people on either side of Lake Tanganyik ...

–Tumbwe–Lumbwe (D20) *

Great Lakes Bantu The Great Lakes Bantu languages, also known as Lacustrine Bantu and Bantu zone J, are a group of Bantu languages of East Africa. They were recognized as a group by the ''Tervuren'' team, who posited them as an additional zone (zone J) to Guthrie' ...

(zone J):

Rwanda-Rundi Rwanda-Rundi is a group of Bantu languages, specifically a dialect continuum, spoken in Central Africa. Two dialects, Kirundi and Kinyarwanda, have been standardized as national languages of Burundi and Rwanda respectively. These neighbouring ...

, Ganda, ''etc.'' *Bena–Kinga (G60):

Sangu Sangu may refer to: * Sangu language (Gabon) * Sangu language (Tanzania) * Sanghu, Taplejung, Nepal * Sangu River The Sangu River is a river in Myanmar and Bangladesh. Its source is in the North Arakan Hills of Myanmar, located at 21°13´N 92� ...

, Hehe, Bena, Pangwa, Kinga– Magoma, Wanji, Kisi, ? Manda (N10)

Notes

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