Bongo–Baka languages

Bongo
Bongo–Baka
Geographic distribution:	South Sudan
Linguistic classification:	Nilo-Saharan? Central Sudanic Bongo–Bagirmi Bongo
Glottolog:	bong1285  (Bongo)[1] moro1282  (Baka–Beli)[2]

The Bongo languages, or Bongo–Baka, comprise six languages spoken in South Sudan. They are members of the Central Sudanic language family.

The most populous Bongo language is Jur Modo, spoken by a hundred thousand people. The languages are:

• Bongo
• Baka
• Morokodo–Beli
  • Jur Modo
  • Morokodo (Nyamusa-Molo, Mo’da)
  • Jur Beli (Beli)
  • Mittu (extinct)

In various classifications, Bongo is sometimes split off from the rest of the family, so the phrase Bongo–Baka may be less ambiguous than simply Bongo.^[3]

References

1. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Bongo". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Baka–Beli". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
3. For example, Ethnologue places Bongo in its own branch of Bongo–Baka, but then comments that it is similar to Jur Beli in the main branch.

• Roger Blench (n.d.) Nilo-Saharan language listing