The people the bantu can erroneously be defined as an ethnic group or group of people. Did the bantus expand from the nile valley, or east africa as their haplogroup e1b1a suggests. The bantu expansion is the name for a postulated millennialong series of migrations of speakers of the original protobantu language group. Available formats pdf please select a format to send. The primary evidence for this expansion has been linguistic, namely that the languages spoken in subequatorial africa are remarkably similar to each other. Bantu growth was carried out by small groups that made a series of short journies over time in response to economic or environmental circumstances. Molecular perspectives on the bantu expansion royal museum for. The bantu expansion stands for the concurrent dispersal of bantu languages and bantu speaking people from an ancestral homeland situated in the grassfields region in the borderland between currentday nigeria and cameroon. Bantu expansion bantu migration was the expansion of bantu speaking people in africa, resulting in the subgroup being the most widely spoken language in the southern half of the continent. How the bantus permanently changed the face of africa. Dispersion and settlement spread of bantu speaking peoples across subsaharan africa. Who are the bantu peoples of africa, and how did they permanently change the face of africa in the past. It is probably the origin of rap and has its own origin in the.
Archaeologies of the bantu expansion oxford handbooks. Western bantu expansion the journal of african history. However, bantu is a language family that is a derivative of the nigercongo language group. If this is the sort of analogy which we have to seek in investigating the bantu expansion, then the mind obviously travels first to the supersession of hunting and gathering cultures by foodproducing cultures in africa. The bantu expansion is a postulated series of major migrations of the supposed original.
Bantu expansion happened southwards from here, with the area to. Bantu peoples, the approximately 85 million speakers of the more than 500 distinct languages of the bantu subgroup of the nigercongo language family, occupying almost the entire southern projection of the african continent. The bantu expansion an overview for college students the word bantu the word bantu which means people in many bantu languages refers to a group of about 500 african languages and to their speakers, today numbering about 90 million people. The classification is primarily linguistic, for the cultural patterns of. Modelling the spread of farming in the bantuspeaking. The expansion of bantu languages, which started around 5,000 years before present in westcentral africa and spread all throughout. Bantu languages are theorised to derive from the proto bantu reconstructed language, estimated to have been spoken about 4,000 to 3,000 years ago in westcentral africa the area of modernday cameroon. Anthropologists speculate that bantu and semibantu peoples migrated east and intermingled with sudanese blacks. They were supposedly spread across central, eastern and southern africa in the socalled bantu expansion, a rapid dissemination during the 1st millennium bc, in one wave moving across the congo basin towards east africa, in another moving south along the african coast and the congo river system towards angola. It gave rise to swahili civilization, great zimbabwe, and the zulus.
Bantu words in american english montclair state university. Was the expansion into somalia bantu, or was it swahili. They were supposedly spread across central, eastern and southern africa in the socalled bantu expansion, a rapid dissemination during the 1st millennium bc, in one wave moving across the congo. In general, studies on the bantu expansion have been geographically uneven in the populations sampled and limited in scope. After the bantu migration, their culture and language spread through africa. The bantu expansion somali spot forum, news, videos. Bantu migrations the bantu migration was one of the first major events in african history. The bantu inhabit most of the continent s of the congo river except the extreme southwest. It is people of this ancestry that comprised the bulk. Bantu, west african people speaking the protobantu language group, begin to migrate into central and southern africa. The hypothesized bantu expansion pushed out or assimilated the hunterforager protokhoisan, who had formerly inhabited southern africa. In the process, the proto bantu speaking settlers displaced or absorbed preexisting hunte.
The classification is primarily linguistic, and there are almost a hundred bantu languages, including luganda, zulu, and swahili. The bantu speakers were one of the earliest africans, skilled at farming, hunting, and gathering, who probably began their migrations from the rain forest near what is now the nigeriacameroon border. Linguistic studies are now advanced enough to allow us to sketch how central africa was settled by farmers who spoke western bantu languages. Wilhelm bleek was the first person to define the term bantu in his 1862 book a comparative grammar of south african languages.
The distribution of the various forms for iron, iron ore, to forge, smith and hammer in the area support various. Bantu and batwa in west central africa, early times to c. Because language is an arbitrary and fairly rigid system of communication, it is impossible to replace half of such a system at once by another one because the result would be unintelligible. In southern angola, the cultural and geographical proximity between bantu and khoisan cattle herders poses intriguing questions about the development of the relatively isolated southwest african pastoral scene and the nature of the interactions between the vanguard of the bantu expansions and the nonbantu peoples from the desert. East africa is also the home of direct ancestor e1b1 and e1b1b, associated with the spread of afroasiatic language family south, central and east cushitic, omotic, beja. There is a good argument that bajuni, barwaani, etc. Bantu expansion synonyms, bantu expansion pronunciation, bantu expansion translation, english dictionary definition of bantu expansion. Middle passage bantu languages slang black english africanamerican vernacular english play the dozens. The bantu expansion or the bantu migration was a millennialong series of migrations of speakers of the original bantu language group. In the process, the hypothesised proto bantu speaking settlers displaced or absorbed preexisting huntergatherer and pastoralist groups that. Apr 29, 2008 the bantu expansion the bantu are thought to have originated from the the area of nigeriacameroon, and started their expansion east and south about 5,000 years ago 3,000 bc.
About 30 percent of that, the researchers found, originated near angola, a core area of early bantu expansion. In the process, the protobantuspeaking settlers displaced or absorbed preexisting huntergatherer and pastoralist groups that they encountered. Bantu expansion definition of bantu expansion by the free. Bantu expansion wikimili, the best wikipedia reader. The bantu expansion is a postulated series of major migrations of the supposed original ntuspeaking group, who, under this view, are thought to have spread from an original nucleus around west africacentral africa across much of subsaharan africa. Bantu expansion oxford research encyclopedia of african. In southwestern africa angola and the angolan enclave cabinda there. The bantu expansion is a major series of migrations of the original protobantu language speaking group, who spread from an original nucleus around west africacentral africa across much of subsaharan africa. The bantu people the bantu people are known as the 60 million african americans who speak the bantu language throughout africa. Bantuists believe that the bantu expansion most probably began on the highlands between cameroon and nigeria, and the 60,000 km 2 mambilla region straddling the borderlands here has been identified as containing remnants of the bantu who stayed home, as the bulk of bantu speakers moved away from the region. Jan vansina, new linguistic evidence on the expansion of bantu, journal of african history 36.
Certified bantus only begin arriving in somalia with the omani slave trade about 1825. The expansion of bantu languages, which started around 5,000 years before present in westcentral africa and spread all throughout subsaharan africa, may represent one of the major and most rapid demographic movements in the history of the human species. Bantu expansion oxford research encyclopedia of african history. The bantu expansion is a major series of migrations of the original proto bantu language speaking group, who spread from an original nucleus around west africacentral africa across much of subsaharan africa. The classification is primarily linguistic, for the cultural patterns of bantu speakers are extremely diverse. Bantu languages, a group of some 500 languages belonging to the bantoid subgroup of the benuecongo branch of the nigercongo language family. In the process, the protobantuspeaking settlers displaced or absorbed preexisting hunte. Bantu expansion article about bantu expansion by the. Today, were going to discuss the history of the bantu expansion, and the many empires and. Bantu expansion african studies oxford bibliographies. Using data from a vast genomic analysis of more than 2,000 samples taken from individuals in 57 populations throughout sub. The bantu expansion stands for the concurrent dispersal of bantu. The bantuspeaking peoples migrated from western africa near modernday nigeria southward and eastward, spreading out across all of the southern half of the african continent. May 06, 2017 how the bantu people surged across twothirds of africa.
The bantu expansion that swept out of west central africa beginning. In southwestern africa angola and the angolan enclave cabinda there is. Formerly, according to writers and traditions, pygmy hunters extended further south, being found on the middle kasai and. The bantu speaking peoples migrated from western africa near modernday nigeria southward and eastward, spreading out across all of the southern half of the african continent.
Analysis of linguistic and genetic evidence suggests that groups of bantu speakers, who originated in presentday eastern nigeria and adjoining. New linguistic evidence and the bantu expansion the. The bergdamara and coroka of namibia and angola may have abandoned a bantu language for khoi and san languages over a millennium ago. The bantu expansion first introduced bantu peoples to central, southern, and southeast africa, regions they had previously been absent from. The bantu education act of 1953 would essentially put. The gradual bantu expansion or migration progressed by two routes. The other ran across the strip of thorn forest and grassland south of the sahara and north of the central african jungles, a region known as the sahel originally an arabic term for coast. How the bantu people surged across twothirds of africa. Pdf the problem of the bantu expansion noisette du bresil. During a wave of expansion that began 4,000 to 5,000 years ago, bantuspeaking populations today some 310 million people gradually left their original homeland of westcentral africa and traveled to the eastern and southern regions of the continent.
The influence of the bantu language and its cultural impacts in africa are astronomical. Pdf the expansion of bantuspeaking peoples over large parts of. Pdf the problem of the bantu expansion noisette du. Even though many reasons for the expansion remain inconclusive, the bantu speaking people are believed to have migrated because of their agricultural lifestyle especially with the discovery of yams and bananas. Using data from a vast genomic analysis of more than 2,000 samples taken from individuals in 57 populations throughout subsaharan africa. Encompassing a series of changes and movements that took place during several millennia over one of the largest continental masses on earth, the bantu phenomenon cannot be accounted. He proposed the hypothesis that a vast number of languages spread across central, southern, eastern, and even western africa shared so many characteristics that they must be part of a single language group. The bantu language most often taught in american universities is swahili, but there are many others. The linguistic core of the bantu language can be traced from the nigeria and cameroon region.
During a wave of expansion that began 4,000 to 5,000 years ago, bantu speaking populations today some 310 million people gradually left their original homeland of westcentral africa and traveled to the eastern and southern regions of the continent. The bantu are the dominant ethnic group in angola divided often widely into nine different tribal units with changing allegiances and each claiming soverignty over specific areas and political. At present the san do not range further north than southern angola and southwesternmost zambia. The bantu expansion is usually put 3000 years ago, also around bc. The problem of the bantu expansion so rapidly that the aboriginal inhabitants were soon left behind as unimportant minorities. Bantu is a subgroup of the nigercongo languages, with the. In eastern and southern africa, bantu speakers may have adopted livestock husbandry from other unrelated cushitic and nilotic speaking peoples they encountered.
Scott maceachern, genetics and african archaeology, in field manual for african. Bantu expansion article about bantu expansion by the free. Bantu speaking people can be found in rwanda, angola, burundi, zimbabwe, and south africa, among other nations in the southern part of africa. During their initial migration across most of central, eastern, and southern africa, which took place between approximately 5,000 and 1,500 years ago, bantu speech. Bantu words in american english terms you should know for week 11 part 02 are. Western bantu expansion volume 25 issue 2 jan vansina. The bantu migration refers to the movement across the african continent of the various speakers of bantu languages.
Apr 11, 2019 bantu dialects and aspects of bantu culture were adopted, although the migrants, it is important to note, also learnt from the indigenous peoples, especially in areas like the cultivation of some grain crops or fishing techniques which had been perfected over centuries to get the best from the specific local environmental conditions. Linguistic evidence for the bantu expansion the genealogical unity of the bantu languages was already established in the 19th century, by wilhelm bleek around 1850. They reached the equatorial rain forest 3500 years ago, entering what is now uganda, 3000 years ago. In the light of this, a need arises to revisit the position and place of bantu education in the current contested interpretation of its legacy. Genetic and demographic implications of the bantu expansion. Bantukhoisan interactions at the edge of the bantu. Pdf bantu expansion shows that habitat alters the route and pace. This article examines the bantu languages and their classification and provides archaeological background of the bantu migration on western and central africa and great lakes africa. The protobantu migrants in the process assimilated andor displaced a number of earlier inhabitants that they came across, including pygmy and khoisan populations in the center and south, respectively. Over several millennia, the bantu have migrated in all directions, carrying the iron age into many areas of africa. The bantu expansion is the name for a postulated millennialong series of migrations of speakers of the original proto bantu language group. The primary evidence for this great expansion, one of the largest in human history, has been primarily linguistic, that is that the languages spoken in subequatorial africa are.
This paper outlines four stages of the bantu expansion. A synthesis article pdf available in language dynamics and change 11. An entry in the oxford online bibliography for african studies. How the bantu people surged across twothirds of africa ars. Pdf unlike most other biological species, humans can use cultural innovations to. Other sampled bantu groups from southern angola that are not as cattle dependent as the kuvale exhibit much lower levels of khoesan lineage assimilation figure figure2, 2, table table2 2 and additional file 1, suggesting that most gene flow occurred between the herding khoe peoples and the herding bantu, probably due to the similarity of. One ran down the atlantic coastal grasslands into what is today angola. And the mbundus of angola who in turn were the first recorded black people brought to the thirteen colonies. New linguistic evidence and the bantu expansion 175 mixed languages with two ancestors are judged to be impossible. Bantu definition is a family of nigercongo languages spoken in central and southern africa.
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