non-Bantu languages of central Tanzania
A genetic study has shown that the oldest known human DNA lineages are those of East Africans. The most ancient populations include the Sandawe, Burungi, Gorowa and Datoga people who live in Tanzania.
see here
These maps I compiled myself from information from different sources.
alternative names for languages
| group | alternative names |
|---|
| Khoisan |
Hatsa Hadza Hadzapi Tindiga Kindiga Kindega Tindiga Tindega Watindiga Watindega Kangeju Hezabi |
| Khoisan |
Sandawe Wassandaui |
| Southern Nilotic |
Datooga Datoga Datog Tatoga Tatog Barabaig Mangati Tatura |
| Southern Cushitic |
Gorowa Gorowaa Goroa Gorumo Fiome |
| Southern Cushitic |
Burunge Burungi Mbulunge + Alawa Alagwa Uassi Wasi (Ngomvia?) |
| Southern Cushitic |
Iraqw Iraku Erokh Mbulu (Irakuu?) |
Prehistory of eastern and southern Africa
It seems likely that the aboriginal people of eastern Africa were people who spoke Khoisan languages. The Hadza and the Sandawe are remnants of these people. The Dorobo are another people who we know little about.
People from Ethiopia moved into the area. They had cattle and perhaps crops too. They spoke Southern Cushitic languages, part of the Afro-Asiatic language family.
Later other peoples moved down from the north, several Nilo-Saharan speaking peoples. Kuliak, Nilotic (Southern, Eastern and Western) and Central Sudanic were the language groups. They were herders.
Finally came the Bantu. Originally they were yam and oil-palm cultivators from west Africa, but they acquired other crops like sorghum and millet. They obtained some new crops from the Indian Ocean coast, originally from south-east Asia. These were banana, taro, and two new types of yam. They also had iron.
Bantu languages are all quite similar, showing a recent expansion within the last few thousand years. The languages of the herders and especially the hunter-gatherer peoples are very diverse. Bantu languages were influenced by Arabic in the east alond the Indian Ocean coast. Swahili has lost the tonal system which is typical of languages of the Niger-Kordofanian group. In the south, Bantu languages like Zulu acquired a few of the click sounds typical of languages of the Khoisan group.
Some Nilo-Saharan and some Khoisan languages in East Africa may have been influenced by the Southern Cushitic languages. Southern Cushitic languages are part of the Afro-Asiatic family of languages and have similarities to Asiatic languages especially the Dravidian group. The male/female gender system may have found its way into some other African language groups.