For James Newman: Would you propose a new classification system for
such languages? On what basis would you classify them? Would it be
according to (a) geographical location and/or (b) discrete
linguistic features?
I had thought that the word Bantu was linked historically to Swahili
which is a creole language: a combination of classical Arabic and
one or more East African languages. I think that the root of Bantu
is taken from the classical Arabic word, aba (But, hey, don't quote
me on it. I am a doctoral student and this will probably not be on
my comps. Nonetheless, I oughta know it, huh!)
There is no Niger-Congo tribe per se, but there are Niger-Congo
languages. In similar fashion, there is no Romance people in Europe;
however, a romance languages, as you are probably aware, is a label
given to certain languages in Europe.
As an applied linguist, I would be curious to know what
neo-linguistic classification status you would give to these
languages and why.