AtlanticCongo

Atlantic-Congo is a major branch of the Niger-Congo language family and one of the most expansive groups in the world in terms of both number of languages and geographic spread. It serves as a broad umbrella for a large variety of languages spoken across much of sub-Saharan Africa, from West Africa through Central Africa to parts of East and Southern Africa. The term "Atlantic-Congo" is widely used by linguists to describe languages sharing certain historical linguistic features, though the internal classifications of the group remain an active area of study.

Geographically, Atlantic-Congo languages are spoken by hundreds of millions of people. They include many well-known language families and language clusters, such as the Bantu languages, as well as numerous other groups like Akan, Ewe, Yoruba, and Igbo, among others. The Bantu languages alone form a substantial branch within the broader Atlantic-Congo framework, contributing a large portion of the linguistic diversity within the subregion.

Linguistic features commonly associated with Atlantic-Congo languages include noun-class systems that mark grammatical categories with prefixes or other affixes, prominent tonal systems, and varied verbal morphology that can involve serial verb constructions. While there are common typological tendencies, there is substantial diversity across the subgroup, with some languages exhibiting analytic structures and others combining agglutinative or fusional elements.

Classification within Atlantic-Congo is complex and not fully settled. The most influential sub-branch is Volta-Congo, within which Benue-Congo (and its Bantu core) and Kwa are frequently recognized as major lineages. Ongoing research—including computational phylogenetics and comparative studies—continues to refine the understanding of relationships among these languages.