The Nilo-Saharan Language Group

The Nilo-Saharan Language group is one of the four major language groups in Africa as identified by anthropologists and linguistic historians. The group was originally defined in 1963 by the American linguist and anthropologist Joseph Greenberg but debate continues today as to whether it is actually a language group in its own right, or a sub-group of the wider spread Niger-Congo group. Of the four language groups it exhibits the largest linguistic drift, and is often used to perpetuate the Euro-centric explanation for the spread of iron working from north Africa through trade rather than independent development by sub-Saharan cultures. Find out more about the Nilo-Saharan Language Group.