1. ‘Expansion’ is the term used today for the process of the diffusion of the Bantu languages and also for the presumed movements of their speakers. Before about a decade ago, a variety of terms was used.

2. Doke, C.M. and Cole, D.T., Contributions to the History of Bantu Linguistics (Johannesburg, 1961)Google Scholar; Cole, D.T., Bantu Linguistics in South Africa (Johannesburg, 1958)Google Scholar; Fivaz, D., Toward Explanation in African Linguistics (Grahamstown, 1974)Google Scholar; Cole, D.T., “The History of African Linguistics to 1945” in Current Trends in Linguistics, VII, Linguistics in Sub-Saharan Africa (Hague, 1971), pp. 1–29.Google ScholarKöhler, O., “Geschichte und Probleme der Gliederung der Sprachen Afrikas” in Die Völker Afrikas und ihre Traditionellen Kulturen, ed. Baumann, H. (2 vols.: Wiesbaden, 1975), 1:pp. 135–373Google Scholar, has the most complete bibliography of the subject. See also Bulck, G. Van, Les recherches linguistiques au Congo Belge (Brussels, 1948), pp. 11–142Google Scholar; idem, Manuel de linguistique bantoue (Brussels, 1949); Guthrie, Malcolm, Comparative Bantu (4 vols.: Farnborough, 1967–1971), 2:112–15.Google Scholar All comparative work done before 1960 is listed in Meeussen, A.E., “Bibliografia del Protobantu,” unpublished typescript (Tervuren, 1960)Google Scholar, while an updated bibliography appears in Bastin, Y., Bibliographie bantoue sélective (Tervuren, 1975), pp. 37–51.Google Scholar

3. The similarity among Bantu languages is so pronounced that when Da Gama landed at the mouth of the Limpopo in 1498, one of his sailors, who could speak several languages “of the western coast,” was able to make himself understood by some of the inhabitants. Theal, G.M., The Yellow and Dark-Skinned People of Africa South of the Zambesi (London, 1910), pp. 160–61.Google Scholar

4. (2 vols.: Cape Town and London, 1862-69). The first volume dealt with phonology, the second with the noun.

5. (London, 1891).

6. Homburger, Lilias, Etude sur la phonétique historique du Bantoue (Paris, 1914).Google Scholar

7. (Leipzig, 1899). Cf. Schleicher, A., Comparative Grammar of the Indo-European Languages (London, 1874).Google Scholar

8. Meinhof, Carl, Grundzüge einer vergleichenden Grammatik (Berlin, 1906)Google Scholar, vorwort.

9. Edmiston, A. Brown, Grammar and Dictionary of the Bushonga or Bukuba Language ([Luebo, 1929]), p. viii.Google Scholar

10. See note 8.

11. Alice Werner, Introductory sketch and dedication to Meinhof, Introduction.

12. The bibliography of Proto-Bantu compiled by Meeussen allows us to give some quantitative information about the growth of the field. The first study listed is Bleek's dissertation in 1851. From then through 1959 there were 103 entries. Granted that this is in a sense a selective bibliography and all may not agree with every item included or excluded, the impact of such disagreements on the numbers given below should be insignificant.

(i) Number of Publications

Since 1959 the number has been climbing rapidly. The halving of the rate between 1920 and 1945 confirms other indications such as the impressions of linguists and the decrease of the amount of space given to “Bantu languages” in the Encyclopaedia Britannica in editions after the eleventh. The public of victorious colonial powers was less concerned with the tongues of their subjects than they had been when Bantu speakers were still adversaries of note. It is tempting to correlate the increase after 1945 with the rise of nationalist movements but certainly the general expansion of research must be noted too.

(ii) Nationality of Authors

Almost half of the publications are German. Cross checking with periods shows German publications in the lead before 1940 and a short Belgian dominance from 1945 onwards. Since 1960 publications in English dominate. For South Africa see Fivaz, , Explanation, pp. 30–31Google Scholar, who brings the situation up to 1971.

No listing by occupation of the authors has been attempted because of some uncertainties. Before 1945 all but two were clergy and most of them missionaries. After 1945 the situation changed and today clergy are in the minority.

(iii) Kinds of Studies

numbers in brackets are an alternate calculation

Syntax obviously was neglected. Emphasis on phonology was consistent with the comparative method. The study of verbs was neglected compared to nouns, especially when it is known that Meinhof's grammar was deficient in its treatment of the verbals.

13. Cole, D.T., Bantu Linguistics, pp. 6–8.Google Scholar

14. D. Fivaz, Explanation.

15. Westermann, D. and Ward, I., Practical Phonetics for Students of African Languages (London, 1933).Google Scholar

16. Bulck, V. Van, “Taalstudie op de Bantoetaalgrens (juni 1949 - Jan. 1951),” Kongo Overzee, 18(1952) pp. 35–49.Google Scholar

17. Fodor, I., The Problems in the Classification of the African Languages. Methodological and Theoretical Conclusions Concerning the Classification System of Joseph H. Greenburg. (Budapest, 1966).Google Scholar

18. Cope, A.T., “A Consolidated Classification of Bantu Languages,” African Studies, 30(1971), pp. 213–236CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Cole, D.T., “Doke's Classification of Bantu Languages,” African Studies, 18(1959), pp. 197–213CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Doke, , Bantu: Modern Grammatical, Phonetical, and Lexicographical Studies since 1860 (London, 1945).Google Scholar

19. Guthrie, M., The Classification of the Bantu Languages (London, 1948)Google Scholar; idem, The Bantu Languages of Western Equatorial Africa (London, 1953); Bryan, M.A., The Bantu Languages of Africa (London, 1959).Google Scholar

20. Guthrie, Comparative Bantu.

21. Guthrie, , Classification, p. 27.Google Scholar

22. Ehret, C., “Bantu Origins and History: Critique and Interpretation,” Transafrican Journal of History, 2(1972), pp. 1–10Google Scholar; Meeussen, A.E., “Comparative Bantu: Test Cases for Method,” African Language Studies, 14(1973, pp. 6–18.Google Scholar

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24. Coupez, A., “L'oeuvre de H. Johnston et la linguistique moderne,” Bulletin de l'Académie royale des sciences d'Outre-Mer (1977), pp. 224–239Google Scholar, for a discussion of the similarities.

25. Olmsted, D.L., “Three Tests of Glottochronological Theory,” American Anthropologist, 59(1957), pp. 839–842CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Meeussen, A.E., “Lexicostatistiek van het Bantoe: Bobangi en Zulu,” Kongo Overzee, 22(1956), pp. 86–89.Google Scholar

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27. Bryan, Bantu Languages.

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29. Bennett, P. and Sterk, J., “South Central Niger Congo in Reclassification,” Studies in African Linguistics, 8(1977), pp. 241–273.Google Scholar

30. Kolbe, F.W., A Language Study based on Bantu or an Inquiry into the Laws of Root Formation, the Original Plural, the Sexual Dual and the Principles of Word-Comparison (London, 1888).Google Scholar

31. S.V. “Aryas.”

32. Johnston, Harry H., The Kilima-Njaro Expedition: A Record of Scientific Exploration in Eastern Equatorial Africa (London, 1886), p. 480.Google Scholar

33. See especially Adams, W.Y., Gerven, D.P. Van and Levy, R.S., “The Retreat from Migrationism,” Annual Review of Anthropology, 7(1978), pp. 483–532.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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35. Holden, William C., The Past, Present and Future of the Kaffir Race (London, 1866).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

36. Appleyard, J.W., Grammar of Xhosa (London, 1850).Google Scholar This was the development of speculations printed since 1847 in a set of articles published in The South African Christian Watchman and Missionary Magazine. Bulck, G. Van, Recherches linguistiques, p. 20.Google Scholar

37. Torrend, Jules, A Comparative Grammar of the South African Bantu Languages (London, 1891), pp. xxxiii–xxvii.Google Scholar

38. Ibid, p. xli.

39. Ibid, p. xlviii.

40. Mendelssohn, S., “Judaic or Semitic Legends and Customs Among South African Natives,” Journal of the African Society, 13(1914), pp. 395–406Google Scholar; 14(1914), pp. 24-34.

41. Ibid, pp. 26-29.

42. Werner, Alice, The Language-families of Africa, (2d. ed., London, 1925), p. 81.Google Scholar

43. Oordt, J.F. Van, Origin of the Bantu, (Cape Town, 1907).Google Scholar This was a government-sponsored study.

44. Johnston, , “The Origin of the Bantu,” Journal of the African Society, 6(1907), p. 330.Google Scholar

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46. Ibid, p. 203.

47. Ibid, p. 39.

48. Drexel, A., “Gliederung der afrikanische Sprachen,” Anthropos, 18(1923/1924), pp. 26–39.Google Scholar The whole article runs from 1921 to 1925.

49. Bryant, A.T., Bantu Origins (Cape Town, 1965), pp. 139–151.Google Scholar Wagner and Schulien as cited by Bryant.

50. Homburger, Lilias, The Negro-African Languages (London, 1949), pp. 221–250Google Scholar (Dravidian and Egyptian origin); pp. 30-34 (Bantu), see p. 33 for mention of the Mboshi, the group from which Obenga originates.

51. Obenga, , “Parenté linguistique génétique entre l'égyptien (ancien égyptien et copte) et les langues négro-africaines modernes” in Le peuplement de l'Egypte ancienne et le déahiffrement de l'écriture méroïtique (Paris, 1978), pp. 65–71Google Scholar is the statement most recently published. See also ibid, pp. 82-85 for Obenga's rejection of Greenberg's classification in toto. For the general discussion, ibid, pp. 99-100.

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55. The most extreme influence of world view on speculation is probably the case of Torrend, who attempted to show in an unpublished manuscript that the Bantu noun classes corresponded to the sequence of creation by day in Genesis. See Gregorio, G. Di, “Origine significative dei cosidetti prefissi derivati dalle lingue bantu, prendendo per base principale la lingua Chinyungwe,” Studi glottologici italiani, 4(1907), pp. 1–124.Google Scholar The fact that Torrend did not publish his manuscript himself is significant.

56. Torrend, Comparative Grammar, introduction.

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59. Ibid, p. 137. For sources, ibid, pp. 105-137.

60. Ibid, pp. 150-171 for settlement of South Africa by Bantu speakers, and pp. 59-62 for Hottentots.

61. Werner, , Introductory Sketch of the Bantu Languages (London, 1919), pp. vi–vii.Google Scholar

62. (Berlin, 1910).

63. Meinhof, , Introduction to the Study of the African Languages, pp. 46, 100, 150–151.Google Scholar

64. Ibid, pp. 93-102.

65. Ibid, p. 96.

66. Ibid, pp. 96-97.

67. Meinhof, , “Die Entstehung der Bantu Sprachen,” Zeifschrift für Ethnologie (1938), p. 144.Google Scholar See also Greenberg, Joseph, The Languages of Africa (Bloomington, 1963) [Part 2 of International Journal of American Linguistics, volume 29, 1], pp. 49–51Google Scholar for a celebrated stricture on the Hamitic theory.

68. Meinhof, , “Das Ful in seiner Bedeutung für die Sprachen der Hamiten, Semiten und Bantu,” Zeitschrift der deutsche Morgenlandische Gesellschaft, 65(1911), pp. 210–219.Google Scholar

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72. Meinhof, “Entstehung.”

73. Ibid, p. 146.

74. Oliver, Roland, Sir Harry Johnston and the Scramble for Africa (London, 1957)Google Scholar is the standard biography. It stresses Johnston's political role. For an indication of Johnston's energy and eclecticism see Casada, James A., Sir Harry Hamilton Johnston: A Biobibliographical Study (Basel, 1977).Google Scholar

75. Oliver, , Sir Harry Johnston, p. vii.Google Scholar

76. Bulck, Van, Recherches linguistiques, p. 71.Google Scholar

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78. Guthrie, , Comparative Bantu, 2:113a.Google Scholar

79. Coupez, , “L'oeuvre de H. Johnston,” pp. 224–239.Google Scholar

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82. Ibid, p. 480.

83. Ibid, p. 481.

84. Ibid, p. 489. For linguists “archaic” means that a language has retained features of its ancestral language which sister languages have lost.

85. Ibid, p. 483n3. It is ironic that the most important finding appeared in footnote.

86. Johnston, , British Central Africa (London, 1897), p. 479.Google Scholar

87. Ibid, p. 480-481.

88. Ibid, opp, p. 4.

89. Johnston, , “The Origin of the Bantu,” Journal of the African Society, 6(1906/1907), pp. 329–340.Google Scholar

90. Ibid, pp. 331, 335.

91. (2 vols.: London, 1908), 2: pp. 826-831.

92. Oliver, , Sir Harry Johnston, p. 354.Google Scholar

93. Johnston, , George Grenfell, 2: pp. 828–29.Google Scholar

94. Ibid, p. 830.

95. Ibid, p. 831.

96. Johnston, , Views and Reviews (London, 1912), pp. 203–242.Google Scholar

97. Ibid, pp. 205-206.

98. Ibid, pp. 206-208.

99. Ibid, pp. 211, 216-220, 232-242.

100. Nevertheless, no author of the time used this argument, which became common only in the 1950s and 1960s, especially with regard to Zimbabwe.

101. Johnston, , Opening Up of Africa, p. 37.Google Scholar

102. Ibid, p. 129.

103. Ibid, pp. 17, 133-134.

104. Johnston, , “A Survey of the Ethnography of Africa, and the former racial and tribal migrations in that continent,” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 43(1913), pp. 375–414.Google Scholar

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106. Ibid, pp. 394-395.

107. Ibid, p. 414.

108. Johnston, , “The Bantu and semi-Bantu Languages,” p. 109.Google Scholar

109. Johnston, , Comparative Study, 1: pp. 22–29Google Scholar; 2: map, opp, p. 1.

110. Ibid, 1: p. 27. Cf. Anttila, , Introduction, pp. 395–398.Google Scholar

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113. Ibid, p. 102.

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115. Cf. Homburger, Les langues Bantoues and Meillet, A. and Cohen, M., Les langues du monde (Paris, 1924), pp. 561–589Google Scholar, to be compared with Bulck, G. Van, “Les langues bantoues,” and Meillet, A. and Cohen, M., Les langues du monde, (2d ed.: Paris, 1952).Google Scholar Homburger also reflected the views of Maurice Delafosse, the leader of French africanists.

116. Warmelo, N.J. Van, “Early Bantu Ethnography from a Philological Point of View,” Africa, 3(1930), p. 41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

117. Doke, and Cole, , Contributions, p. 74.Google Scholar

118. Meinhof, , “Methoden der Sprachvergleichung in Africa,” in Beiträge zur Kolonialforschung, ed. Wolff, G. (Berlin, 1943), pp. 103–104.Google Scholar

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121. Bryant, , Bantu Origins: The People and their Language (Cape Town, 1965).Google Scholar

122. Ibid, pp. 178-181.

123. Ibid, pp. 183-188.

124. Ibid, pp. 188-190.

125. Ibid, pp. 273-291.

126. Ibid, p. 313.

127. Personal communication.

128. Westermann, , “African Linguistic Classification,” Africa, 22(1952), pp. 250–256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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130. Köhler, O., “Die afrikanischen Völkerwanderungen,” Afrika Heute, vol. 1(1958), pp. 78–79.Google Scholar

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134. Cf. Germann, P., Die Grundlagen der afrikanischen Kultur, (Leipzig, 1948), pp. 26–29Google Scholar, mentioned the Bantu as a mixed race and showed a huge migration from the Horn of Africa to Natal with a branch to Angola, but did not label it Bantu; pp. 31-34 discussion of Bantu languages; pp. 36-51 had a cultural classification which followed Baumann, H. and Westermann, D., Volkerkunde von Afrika, (Essen, 1940)Google Scholar but the Bantu appear at pp. 63-77 under the heading “population.” excluding East Africa and the “semi-Bantu.” There was no simple account for the Bantu language area in the Kulturkreise theory.

135. Herskovits, M., “A Preliminary Consideration of the Cultural Areas of Africa,” American Anthropologist, 26(1924), pp. 50–63CrossRefGoogle Scholar, passim. Idem, “The Culture Areas of Africa,” Africa, 3(1930), pp. 59-76 essentially repeats the earlier article with minor changes.

136. Collins, Robert, ed., Problems in African History (Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1968), pp. 57–58Google Scholar puts the situation clearly.

137. Hartland, , “Bantu and South Africa,” Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, ed. Hastings, J., (New York, 1910), 2:pp. 350–367.Google Scholar

138. Ibid, p. 351.

139. In the Heart of Bantuland (London, 1921).Google Scholar

140. Willoughby, W.C., The Soul of the Bantu: A Sympathetic Study of the Magico-Religious Practices and Beliefs of the Bantu Tribes of Africa (New York, 1928), pp. viii–x.Google Scholar

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142. Haddon, Alfred C., Races of Man (New York, 1925), pp. 52–53Google Scholaret passim; idem, Wanderings of Peoples (Cambridge, 1919), p. 62.

143. S.V., “Bantu” with emphasis added.

144. S.V. “African Peoples.”

145. Cureau, Adolphe, Les sociétés primitives de l'Afrique équatoriale (Paris, 1912), pp. 15–20.Google Scholar

146. Bruel, , La France équatoriale africaine (Paris, 1935).Google Scholar

147. Kerken, G. Van Der, Les sociétés bantoues du Congo Belge (Brussels, 1920), pp. 8–9.Google Scholar

148. Ibid, pp. 14-41.

149. Ibid, pp. 40-41.

150. Ibid, p. 38.

151. Partly because of his association with the policies of the Minister Louis Franck, who came from the same city, belonged to the same party, and, like Van der Kerken, was a francophone Fleming. Franck used Van der Kerken's data in his Congo: Land en volk (Bruges, 1926).Google Scholar

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153. Idem, “Les populations africaines du Congo belge et du Ruanda Urundi” in Encyclopedie du Congo Belge et du Ruanda Urundi (Brussels, n.d. [c. 1950]), pp. 87-103; Kerken, G. Van der, De afrikaanse bevolking van Belgisch-Kongo en van Ruanda-Urundi. Haar Verleden en haar Toekomst (Ghent, 1952), pp. 22–36Google Scholar; Le Congo Belge (Brussels, 1958), 1: pp. 64–65Google Scholar; 2: maps.