1. Climate and Language Families
of Ancient Africa

2. Ancient African Climate
Image from http://www.esd.ornl.gov/projects/qen/afr(pre.gif
c. 18,000 BCE to c. 8,000 BCE
• This was a dry period for Africa,
which grew drier over time through
the Younger Dryas period (aka. The
Big Freeze, roughly 10,300 to 9,000
BCE). This was a swiftly developing
ice age that led to very arid
conditions-drier than the even the
map portrays.
• Humans were hunter-gatherers

3. Ancient African Climate
Image from http://www.esd.ornl.gov/projects/qen/afr(8-7.gif
c. 7,500 BCE to c. 3,000 BCE
• A wet period, known as the
Neolithic Subpluvial or Holocene
Wet Phase followed.
• Deserts, including the Sahara,
became grasslands that supported
more humans than it did before or
than it does now.
• The Neolithic or agricultural
revolution occurred.

4. Ancient African Climate
c. 7,500 BCE to c. 3,500 BCE
• This wet period led to a migrations
of people due to more hospitable
conditions.
• As people migrated, they spread
their culture, languages, and
practices (including agriculture).
• The migrations, as represented on
the map, reflect the dispersal of
language we see represented in
modern Africa.
Image from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096098220902065X

5. Modern African Climate
Image from http://www.esd.ornl.gov/projects/qen/afr(pre.gif
After c. 3,500 BCE
• The wet period came to an end, and
the climate came to resemble what
it does now.
• The Sahara gradually became a
desert again and the peoples is
supported migrated again to its
edges or perished.
• The development of agriculture
continued and allowed for
settlements that led to cities,
kingdoms, and empires.

6. Climate and Language
• Just as scientist believe humans can
tie their origins to Africa, linguists
believe language originated in Sub-
Saharan Africa.
• The theory is that as humans
spread, language spread and
evolved.
• As changes in climate caused the
people of Africa to migrate,
language spread.
Image from http://www.palgrave.com/history/shillington/resources/maps/Map1.2.jpg

7. Language
• Four language families have been
identified:
1. Afroasiatic
2. Nilo-Saharan
3. Khoisan
4. Niger-Korddofanian/Niger-
Congo
• The language families can be traced
from the Late Stone Age
• The language families were heavily
influenced by the migrations, both
of the African people and outsiders,
as represented by the map.
Image from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096098220902065X

8. Language
The language families are associated with subsidence methods of the cultures
who spoke them. The methods of subsidence were in part dictated or
encouraged by the climate of the area they inhabited during the wet period.
Afro-Asiatic
Pastoralists and
agropastoralists
Nilo-Saharan
pastoralists
Khoisan
Hunters and gatherers
Niger-Korddofanian/
Niger-Congo
Agriculturalists
Image from http://starling.rinet.ru/maps/maps1.php?lan=en

9. Language: Afroasiatic
Fun facts about the Afroasiatic language group
• Only African language group to include a language non-African in origin, Arabic
• Arabic currently the most widely spoken language within the group
• Currently has over 200 million speakers
• 371 languages in group
• Earliest written record in ancient Egyptian c. 3400BCE
Image from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hamito-Semitic_languages.jpg

10. Language: Khoisan
Fun facts about the Khoisan language group
• Smallest of the African language families
• 36 languages within group
• Most Khoisan languages are endangered or extinct
• Many languages within the group have no written record
• Currently 200,000 to 300,000 speakers
• Best known for click sounds
Image from http://www.findtripinfo.com/assets/Africa/south_africa/northern-cape/khoisan-kalahari.jpg

11. Language: Nilo-Saharan
Fun facts about the Nilo-Saharan language group
• Roughly 200 languages within group
• Currently approximately 30 million speakers
• One major unifying characteristic of the group is how the languages is how
numbers are used
Image from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lenguas_nilo-saharianas.PNG

12. Language: Niger-Korddofanian/Niger-Congo
Fun facts about the Niger-Korddofanian/Niger-Congo language group
• Largest of the groups
• Over 1,400 languages within group
• Currently over 300 million speakers
• Covers the largest area geographically
Image from http://mapsof.net/uploads/static-maps/niger_congo_language_map.png

13. sources
Adams, Jonathan. “Africa During the Last 150,000 Years.” n.d. Web. 28 April 2013.
<http://www.esd.ornl.gov/projects/qen/nercAFRICA.html>.
Alleyne, Richard. “Language Like People Came Out of Africa.” The Telegraph. 14 April
2011. Web. 28 April 2013.
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/evolution/8451185/Language-like-people-
came-out-of-Africa.html>.
Bosch, Sonja. “African Language Families and Their Structural Properties.” 31 March
2009. Web. 28 April 2013. <http://www.slideshare.net/aflat/tutorial-bosch>.
Herlin, Susan J. “Ancient African Civilizations to ca. 1500.” 2003. Web. 28 April 2013.
<http://wysinger.homestead.com/africanhistory.html>.
“History of Africa.” Wikipedia. n.d. Web 28 April 2013.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Africa>.