This information is free to use with acknowledgement.

Hello and welcome to Lugha ya Wabantu, which is Kiswahili for ‘Languages of the Bantus.’

The purpose of ‘Lugha ya Wabantu’ is to show people the similarities of certain words in the languages of the Bantu people. The translations were provided by different people, who volunteered to translate words in their respective language(s). This material is only but a small representation of the nations that are mentioned here.

In Sub-Saharan Africa there is a large family of languages known as Bantu languages, spoken by the Bantu people. The Bantu people first migrated from the Niger-Congo basin into Central and Eastern Africa. Some centuries later, the Bantu people migrated from Eastern Africa into Southern Africa. Historically, the Bantu nations are widely known for practicing mixed farming and iron-smelting [1].

In this study, commonly used words are translated for a number of the Bantu languages. The translation was done for both singular and plural form. However, if a word does not have a plural form it has not been pluralised.

Words that are similar have been added to pages known as Comparisons.

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Under the heading ‘LIST OF COUNTRIES IN EACH REGION OF AFRICA’ , names of the countries act as links leading to a new page with a table displaying selected words in the languages of various nations and details of the individuals who did the translations.

LIST OF COUNTRIES IN EACH REGION OF AFRICA

The African continent is made up of 54 countries, 6 of which are Islands. Within the 54 countries are numerous nations. Furthermore, the African continent is divided into 5 regions, including Northern Africa, Western Africa, Central Africa, Eastern Africa and Southern Africa.

Northern Africa comprises of Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia and Western Sahara.

Western Africa comprises of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.

Eastern Africa comprises of Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

Central Africa comprises of Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe.

Southern Africa comprises of Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

References

1. Cartwright M., “Bantu Migration”, https://www.worldhistory.org/Bantu_Migration, Accessed on 23rd of October 2022.