The South Bantu Languages are a branch of Eastern Bantu defined by the overlap of several isoglosses:
—a combination of shared preservations and innovations of vocabulary
—lenition and loss of PB *g
—lack of Bantu Spirantization in agent nouns and before the perfect suffix
—widespread Preceding-I Effects accompanying the loss of diphthongs and long vowels
This list of South Bantu languages was grouped by Ehret (1999) under the name of the “Kusi" group.
See also general information on Bantu language groups, where South Bantu consists of clades 16 and 17 on the Bantu family tree.
South Bantu subgroups and languages
Nyanjic group (parts N20-40): N20 Tumbuka, N31a Nyanja, N31b Chewa,
N42 Chikunda, N43 Nyungwe, N44 Sena
Makhuwic group (P30): P31 Makhuwa, P311 Ekoti, P32 Lomwe, P34 Cuwabo
Shonic group (S10):
—Central Shonic: S11 Korekore = Ko, S12 Zezuru = Z, S13 Manyika = M, S14 Karanga = K
—Eastern Shonic: S15 Ndau = Nd
—Western Shonic: S16 Tjikalanga = Tj, Ikalanga = Ik, Nambya = Na
Venda (S21)
Sotho‑Tswana group (S30): S31 Tswana, S311 Kgalagadi, S32 Northern Sotho, S33 Southern Sotho
Nguni group (S40): S41 Xhosa, S42 Zulu, S43 Swati, S44 Zimbabwean Ndebele, S407 South Ndebele
Tsongic group (S50): S51 Tswa, S53 Changana‑Tsonga, S54 Ronga
Copi (S61)
Gitonga (S62)
—a combination of shared preservations and innovations of vocabulary
—lenition and loss of PB *g
—lack of Bantu Spirantization in agent nouns and before the perfect suffix
—widespread Preceding-I Effects accompanying the loss of diphthongs and long vowels
This list of South Bantu languages was grouped by Ehret (1999) under the name of the “Kusi" group.
See also general information on Bantu language groups, where South Bantu consists of clades 16 and 17 on the Bantu family tree.
South Bantu subgroups and languages
Nyanjic group (parts N20-40): N20 Tumbuka, N31a Nyanja, N31b Chewa,
N42 Chikunda, N43 Nyungwe, N44 Sena
Makhuwic group (P30): P31 Makhuwa, P311 Ekoti, P32 Lomwe, P34 Cuwabo
Shonic group (S10):
—Central Shonic: S11 Korekore = Ko, S12 Zezuru = Z, S13 Manyika = M, S14 Karanga = K
—Eastern Shonic: S15 Ndau = Nd
—Western Shonic: S16 Tjikalanga = Tj, Ikalanga = Ik, Nambya = Na
Venda (S21)
Sotho‑Tswana group (S30): S31 Tswana, S311 Kgalagadi, S32 Northern Sotho, S33 Southern Sotho
Nguni group (S40): S41 Xhosa, S42 Zulu, S43 Swati, S44 Zimbabwean Ndebele, S407 South Ndebele
Tsongic group (S50): S51 Tswa, S53 Changana‑Tsonga, S54 Ronga
Copi (S61)
Gitonga (S62)
