The term Congo Pygmies (African Pygmies) refers to "forest people" who have, or recently had, a

hunter-gatherer A hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living in a community, or according to an ancestrally derived Lifestyle, lifestyle, in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local naturally occurring sources, esp ...

economy and a simple, non-hierarchical societal structure based on

bands Bands may refer to: * Bands (song), song by American rapper Comethazine * Bands (neckwear), form of formal neckwear * Bands (Italian Army irregulars) Bands () was an Italian military term for Irregular military, irregular forces, composed of nati ...

, are of short stature,Generally speaking; those who are not particularly short, such as the Babongo and Bedzan, are sometimes distinguished as "pygmoid". have a deep cultural and religious affinity with the Congo forestApart from those who live in the savannah or mixed terrain, such as the Bofi and Bedzan. and live in a generally subservient relationship with agricultural "patrons", with which they trade forest products such as meat and honey for agricultural and iron products. Though lumped together as "Pygmies" by outsiders, including their patrons, these peoples are not related to each other either ethnically or linguistically. Different Pygmy peoples may have distinct genetic mechanisms for their short stature, demonstrating diverse origins.

Original Pygmy language(s)

An original Pygmy language has been postulated for at least some Pygmy groups.

Merritt Ruhlen Merritt Ruhlen (May 10, 1944 – January 29, 2021) was an American linguist who worked on the classification of languages and what this reveals about the origin and evolution of modern humans. Amongst other linguists, Ruhlen's work was recognized ...

writes that "African Pygmies speak languages belonging to either to the

Nilo-Saharan The Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed family of around 210 African languages spoken by somewhere around 70 million speakers, mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers, including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributari ...

or Niger–Kordofanian families. It is assumed that Pygmies once spoke their own language(s), but that, through living in symbiosis with other Africans in prehistorical times, they adopted languages belonging to these two families." The linguistic evidence that such languages existed include Mbenga forest vocabulary which is shared by the neighbouring Ubangian-speaking Baka and Bantu-speaking Aka (though not by the

Mbuti The Mbuti people, or Bambuti, are one of several indigenous pygmy groups in the Congo region of Africa. Their languages are Central Sudanic languages and Bantu languages. Subgroups Bambuti are pygmy hunter-gatherers, and are one of the oldest ...

, and this connection is not ancient) and the Rimba dialect of Punu which may contain a core of non-Bantu vocabulary. It has been postulated that ancestral speakers may have been part of a complex of non-Pygmoid languages of hunter-gatherer populations in Africa whose only surviving descendants today mostly ring the rainforest. A common hypothesis is that African Pygmies are the direct descendants of the

Late Stone Age The Later Stone Age (LSA) is a period in African prehistory that follows the Middle Stone Age. The Later Stone Age is associated with the advent of modern human behavior in Africa, although definitions of this concept and means of studyi ...

peoples of the central African rainforest who were partially absorbed or displaced by later immigration of agricultural peoples and adopted their

Central Sudanic Central Sudanic is a family of about sixty languages that have been included in the proposed Nilo-Saharan language family. Central Sudanic languages are spoken in the Central African Republic, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda, Congo (DRC), Nige ...

, Ubangian and

Bantu languages The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu language, Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀), or Ntu languages are a language family of about 600 languages of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern, East Africa, Eastern and Southeast Africa, South ...

. While there is a scarcity of excavated archaeological sites in Central Africa that could support this hypothesis, genetic studies have shown that Pygmy populations possess ancient divergent Y-DNA lineages (especially haplogroups A and B) in high frequencies in contrast to their neighbours (who possess mostly haplogroup E). Some 30% of the Aka language is not Bantu, and a similar percentage of the Baka language is not Ubangian. Much of this vocabulary is botanical, and deals with honey-collecting or is otherwise specialized for the forest, and much of it is shared between the two western Pygmy groups. It has been proposed that this is the remnant of an independent western Pygmy (Mbenga or "Baaka") language. However, this split was only reconstructed to the 15th century, so there is no reason to think that it is ancient.

Peoples and languages

There are over a dozen attested Pygmy peoplesThere are other, undocumented hunter-gatherer forest peoples such as the Mbati and Bolimba of the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

, and there are thought to be more in the two Congos and in

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

. numbering at least 350,000 in the

Congo Basin The Congo Basin () is the sedimentary basin of the Congo River. The Congo Basin is located in Central Africa, in a region known as west equatorial Africa. The Congo Basin region is sometimes known simply as the Congo. It contains some of the larg ...

. The best known are the Mbenga (Aka and Baka) of the western Congo Basin who speak Bantu and

Ubangian languages The Ubangian languages form a diverse linkage of some seventy languages centered on the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They are the predominant languages of the CAR, spoken by 2–3 million people, including ...

; the

(Efe ''et al.'') of the

Ituri Rainforest The Ituri Rainforest ( French: ''Forêt tropicale de l’Ituri'') is a rainforest located in the Ituri Province of northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The forest's name derives from the nearby Ituri River which flows through the ra ...

, who speak Bantu and

Central Sudanic languages Central Sudanic is a family of about sixty languages that have been included in the proposed Nilo-Saharan language family. Central Sudanic languages are spoken in the Central African Republic, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda, Congo (DRC), N ...

, and the Twa of the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

, who speak Bantu

Rwanda-Rundi Rwanda-Rundi or West Highlands Kivu is a group of Bantu languages, specifically a dialect continuum, spoken in Central Africa. Two dialects, Kirundi and Kinyarwanda, have been standardized as the national languages of Burundi and Rwanda respec ...

. All attested Pygmy peoples speak languages from these three language families, and only three peoples, the Aka, Baka, and Asua, have their own language.

Bedzan

Medzan (Bedzan) live in Cameroon not far from the Nigerian border. They speak a dialect of

Tikar The Tikar (formally known as Tikari, Tigar, Tigari, and Tigre throughout their history) are a Central African ethnic group in Cameroon. They are known to be great artists, artisans and storytellers. Once a nomadic people, some oral traditions t ...

, a Bantoid language. ::Population: 400

Mbenga

*The Aka of the

and the

Republic of Congo The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...

speak Aka (Yaka) which is a Bantu language close to

Lingala Lingala (or Ngala, Lingala: ) is a Bantu languages, Bantu language spoken in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the northern half of the Republic of the Congo, in their capitals, Kinshasa and Brazzaville, and to a lesser de ...

. The ''Benzele Aka'' are well known for their music. ::Population: 30–50,000 ::''Miyaka (N Gabon, Bantu), Luma (N Gabon, Bantu)'' appear to be Aka (Benzele) groups. *The Baka ( Ngombe) of Cameroon and

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

speak closely related

of the Ngbaka branch: Baka proper, Ganzi, and

Gundi Gundis or comb rats are a group of small, stocky, African rodents in the family Ctenodactylidae. They live in rocky deserts across Northern Africa. The family comprises four living genera and five species ( Speke's gundi, Felou gundi, Val's or ...

Ngondi. ::Population: 30–40,000 *In the Central African Republic north of the Aka are a group who speak the language of their neighbors, Bofi, which is a language of the Gbaya branch. ::Population: 3,000 *The Gyele (a.k.a. Kola or Koya) are the westernmost Pygmies, living in southern Cameroon near the coast, and in

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

on the coast. They speak two dialects of the Bantu Mvumbo language. ::Population: 4,000 *The

Kola unit was the big kola int eh Kola may refer to: People * Koła, a Polish noble family * Kola (name), people with the given name/surname Kola * Kola (singer), Ukrainian singer, songwriter and performer of her own songs * Kola people, Gabonese p ...

(a.k.a. Koya) of Congo and northwestern Gabon speak a Bantu language, Ngom. ::Population: 2,600 * Bongo, or Akoa, of southern Gabon speak several Bantu languages, including Tsogo, Nzebi, West Teke, Punu, Lumbu, Myene, Kaningi, and perhaps others such as Yasa. The Punu dialect of the Irimba, however, may have a non-Bantu core. ::Population: 3,000

Mbuti

*The Efé speak the Central Sudanic language Lese. ::Population: 10,000? *The Asoa speak their own Central Sudanic language ( Asoa), related to Mangbetu, the language of one of their patrons. ::Population: 10,000? *The

Kango Kango is a town in the Estuaire Province of Gabon, Central Africa, lying on the Komo River and the N1 road. It has a station near the Trans-Gabon Railway, where the railway bridges the Gabon Estuary. Kango is a small town with a population ...

(a.k.a. Sua) speak the Bantu language Bila. ::Population: 26,000?

Twa

The various Twa populations all speak Bantu languages. *The Nsua of

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

speak Bantu. ::Population: 1,000 *The

Great Lakes Twa The Great Lakes Twa, also known as Batwa (singular Mutwa), Abatwa or Ge-Sera, are a Bantu speaking group native to the African Great Lakes region on the border of Central and East Africa. As an indigenous pygmy people, the Twa are generally a ...

of the Great Lakes (Rwanda, Burundi, eastern D.R. Congo, southern Uganda) speak Rundi and Kiga. ::Population: 10,000 *The Mongo Twa or Ntomba Twa (locally ''Cwa'', pronounced approximately ) of Lake Tumba and

Lake Mai-Ndombe Lake Mai-Ndombe (, ) is a large freshwater lake in Mai-Ndombe province in western Democratic Republic of the Congo. The lake is within the Tumba-Ngiri-Maindombe area, the largest Wetland of International Importance recognized by the Ramsar Con ...

of western D.R. Congo, speak several varieties of Mongo (Konda, Ntomba, and Lia), which are either divergent dialects or closely related languages. ::Population: 14,000 *The

Kasai Twa The Twa, often referred to as Batwa or Mutwa (singular), are indigenous hunter-gatherer peoples of the Great Lakes Region in Central Africa, recognized as some of the earliest inhabitants of the area. Historically and academically, the term � ...

or Kuba Twa (''Cwa'') of Kasai (central D.R. Congo) speak Bushong. *The Mbote Twa (Bambote) northwest of

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika ( ; ) is an African Great Lakes, African Great Lake. It is the world's List of lakes by volume, second-largest freshwater lake by volume and the List of lakes by depth, second deepest, in both cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. ...

speak a D20 language. Holoholo is in approximately the right location *The Upemba Twa or Luba Twa (''Cwa'') of the

Upemba Depression The Upemba Depression (or Kamalondo Depression) is a large marshy bowl area (Depression (geology), depression) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo comprising some fifty lakes, including 22 of relatively large size including Lake Upemba (530&nbs ...

speak Luba-Katanga, Hemba, Songe, and Taabwa. *The Bangweulu Twa of Bangweulu Swamps, Zambia, speak Bemba. *The Lukanga Twa of the Lukanga Swamp, Zambia, speak Lenje. *The

Kafwe 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 terr ...

of the

Kafue Flats The Kafue Flats (locally called Butwa) are a vast area of swamp, open lagoon and seasonally inundated flood-plain on the Kafue River in the Southern, Central and Lusaka provinces of Zambia. They are a shallow flood plain long and about wide,< ...

, Zambia, speak

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

. *The Twa of Angola live among the Ngambwe, Havakona, Zimba and Himba, and presumably speak their languages. Physically, these southern Twa do not differ from their Bantu neighbors, but have a similar subservient position to their agricultural neighbors as the forest Pygmies. They may be remnant

Khoisan Khoisan ( ) or () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for the various Indigenous peoples of Africa, indigenous peoples of Southern Africa who traditionally speak non-Bantu languages, combining the Khoekhoen and the San people, Sān peo ...

populations; the Ila,

, and Lenje of Zambia, and the Chewa of Malawi, for example, believe them to be aboriginal peoples, and trace sacred places to them, but Blench suggests that they may have instead migrated from the forest with the Bantu, and were later conflated with aboriginal populations in legend.Blench, Roger. 2004
Genetics and linguistics in sub-Saharan Africa
Presented at SAfA 2004.

Bibliography

The most complete account of Pygmy languages is found in Serge Bahuchet (1993) ''Histoire d'une civilisation forestière'', volume 2.

Notes

References

*Serge Bahuchet, 2006. "Languages of the African Rainforest « Pygmy » Hunter-Gatherers: Language Shifts without Cultural Admixture

In ''Historical linguistics and hunter-gatherers populations in global perspective''. Leipzig. *Hewlett & Fancher, 2011. "Central African Hunter-Gatherer Research Traditions". In Cummings, Jordan, & Zvelebil, eds, ''Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology and Anthropology of Hunter-Gatherers.'' Oxford University Press {{Pygmy languages Pygmy languages Classification of African languages Indigenous languages fr:Pygmée#Langue