Adamawa-Ubangi is a geographic grouping, and formerly a proposed genetic family, of languages within the Atlantic-Congo branch of Niger-Congo, spoken by about 12 million people across Nigeria, Chad, the Central African Republic, Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan. It was proposed by Joseph Greenberg in his book The Languages of Africa and comprises the Adamawa and Ubangian branches. Mumuye, with about 400,000 speakers, is the largest Adamawa language, while Sango, a Ngbandi-based creole within the Ubangian branch, serves as a major trade and lingua franca language across Central Africa.
Facts
RegionNigeria, Chad, the Central African Republic, Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan 1 Speaker Count Proto-Language StatusA geographic grouping rather than a confirmed genetic family. Proposed by Joseph Greenberg as Adamawa-Eastern, a primary branch of Niger-Congo, but its unity is disputed; Dimmendaal (2008) doubts Ubangian belongs to Niger-Congo at all, and Roger Blench has proposed a rival Savannas family. 1 Sources
1. Wikipedia: Adamawa-Ubangi Languages
Wikimedia FoundationWikipedia Adamawa-Ubangi languages, lead paragraph, countries clause
The Adamawa-Ubangi languages are a geographic grouping and formerly postulated family of languages spoken in Nigeria, Chad, the Central African Republic, Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan, by a total of about 12 million people.
Wikipedia Adamawa-Ubangi languages, History of classification section
Dimmendaal (2008) doubts that Ubangian is a subfamily of Niger-Congo at all, preferring to classify it as an independent family until proven otherwise.
Wikipedia Adamawa-Ubangi languages, lead paragraph, speaker-total clause
by a total of about 12 million people.
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