Kavango – Southwest Bantu languages
Encyclopedia
The Kavango – Southwest Bantu languages are a group of Bantu languages
Bantu languages
The Bantu languages constitute a traditional sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages. There are about 250 Bantu languages by the criterion of mutual intelligibility, though the distinction between language and dialect is often unclear, and Ethnologue counts 535 languages...

 established by Anita Pfouts (2003). The Southwest Bantu languages constitute most of Guthrie's Zone R. The languages, or clusters, along with their Guthrie identifications, are:
  • Kavango (K30)
    • Kwangali
      Kwangali language
      Kwangali, also known as RuKwangali and SiKwangali, is a Bantu language spoken by 85,000 people along the Okavango River in Namibia, where it is a national language, and in Angola...

    • Gciriku
      Gciriku language
      Gciriku or Dciriku , officially Rumanyo, is a Bantu language spoken by 305,000 people along the Okavango River in Namibia, where it is a national language, in Botswana, and in Angola. It was first known in the west via the Vagciriku, who had migrated from the main Vamanyo area and spoke Rugciriku,...

       (Manyo)
    • ? Mbowe, Mashi, Simaa
  • Southwest Bantu
    • Ovambo (R20): Kwanyama, Ndonga, Kwambi
      Kwambi dialect
      Kwambi or Otshikwambi is a dialect of the Ovambo language spoken by the Kwambi tribe in Northern Namibia. Unlike Ndonga and Kwanyama it does not have a standardized written form in schools but is used and written in the Roman Catholic Church in Namibia....

      , Ngandyera, Mbalanhu
    • Khumbi (Ngumbi, R10)
    • Nyaneka
      Nyaneka language
      Nyaneka is a Bantu language of Angola. The Ngambwe "dialect" is now considered a distinct language....

       (R10)
    • Ngambwe
      Ngambwe language
      Ngambwe is a Bantu language of Angola. Until perhaps Anita Pfouts , it was considered a dialect of Nyaneka....

       (ex-Nyaneka dialect)
    • Hakaona
      Hakaona language
      Hakaona is a Bantu language of Angola and Namibia. Until perhaps Anita Pfouts , it was considered a dialect of Herero....

       (ex-Herero dialect)
    • Herero (R30): Herero
      Herero language
      The Herero language is a language of the Bantu family . It is spoken by the Herero people in Namibia and Botswana...

       (Kuvale), Zemba
      Zemba language
      Zemba is a Bantu language spoken mainly in Angola where the language has about 18,000 speakers, and also in Namibia with some 4,000. It is closely related to Herero, and is often considered a dialect of that language, especially as the Zemba are ethnically Herero.There are various spellings and...

      , Twa

Though not explicitly classified, Ndombe (R10) is presumably SW Bantu, and Mbowe, Mashi, Simaa (K30) Kavango. However, Mbukushu
Mbukushu language
Mbukushu or Thimbukushu is a Bantu language spoken by 45,000 people along the Okavango River in Namibia, where it is a national language; in Botswana; in Angola; and in Zambia, where it is an official regional language. It appears to be an divergent lineage of Bantu.Mbukushu is one of several...

, Luyana
Luyana language
Luyana is a Bantu language spoken by almost half a million people in Zambia and in discontinuous areas of Nambia and Angola. It appears to be an divergent lineage of Bantu....

, and Yeyi
Yeyi language
Yeyi is an endangered Bantu language spoken by many of the approximately 50,000 Yeyi people along the Okavango River in Namibia and Botswana. Yeyi, influenced by Juu languages, is one of several Bantu languages along the Okavango with clicks...

, sometimes included with these languages, appear to be more divergent lineages of Bantu.

Previous, and more extensive, versions (Nurse 2003) included K10 Chokwe–Luchazi, L10 Pende, L50 Lunda, L60 Nkoya, H21 Kimbundu, the rest of R (Umbundu, Yeyi), and perhaps L21 Kete, L22 Lwalu, H13b Suundi.
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