Niger-Congo

English

Etymology

Coined in the 1950s by Joseph Greenberg, from the name of the two principal rivers in the area in which this language family is spoken, the Niger River and the Congo River.

Proper noun

Niger-Congo

1. (linguistics) A major language family of sub-Saharan Africa noted for the use of a noun class system.

   Synonym: Niger-Kordofanian

Noun

Niger-Congo (plural Niger-Congos)

1. A speaker of any Niger-Congo language, or a member of a Niger-Congo culture by ancestry or other affinity.
2. (by extension) An African descendant of the transatlantic middle passage in the Americas.

Adjective

Niger-Congo (not comparable)

1. Belonging to the Niger-Congo language family, or pertaining to its associated peoples.

Translations

the language family

• Finnish: niger-kongolaiset kielet pl
• Galician: níxer-congo m