Bantu

The Bantu languages are spread throughout subsaharan Africa, their speakers having migrated from West Africa to the south and east between 500 BCE and 500 CE. The group got its name because most of the languages have a word similar to bantu meaning "people". Many of the languages are tonal, with each vowel having a high or low tone. They also have an elaborate system of agreement among words in a sentence. The agreement is achieved mostly through prefixes; note in the phrases how each language name is prefixed. Other Bantu languages not yet represented include Luganda, Xhosa, and Zulu.

Kinyarwanda: Notes: Spoken in Rwanda and Zaire. Speaker: Eric Kagabo (N), Mark Kile (S)

Shona: Notes: A wide variety of Shona dialects are spoken in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Most dialects are tonal, with vowels having either a low or high tone. Speaker: (N)

Swahili: Notes: Swahili was originally spoken along the coast and islands of East Africa, and absorbed many Arabic words from Arab traders. Swahili spread inland as a lingua franca as the coastal people became the middlemen in an extensive trade network. Consequently Swahili is the most widely spoken Bantu language, and is a second language for most of its speakers. It has official status in Kenya, Tanzania, and recently Uganda, and is spoken in several surrounding East African countries. Speaker: Bengo Mrema (N), Mark Kile (N)