The Zande languages are half a dozen closely related languages of the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and South Sudan. The most populous language is Zande proper, with over a million speakers.
Languages Per Boyd (1988), the structure of the family is as follows: Barambo–Pambia: Barambu, Pambia, Ngala Zande–Nzakara: Geme, Nzakara, Zande
Classification Zande is traditionally included among the Ubangian languages, although Moñino (2010) does not group it within Ubangian.Moñino Y., The position of Gbaya-Manza-Ngbaka group among the Niger-Congo languages // Genealogical classification in Africa beyond Greenberg. - Berlin: Humboldt Universität, 2010 February 21–22 It is not clear if it is a member of the Niger–Congo family, or where it might be in that family.
Morphology
The Verb Verbs often change tense by adding the corresponding tense marker. For instance:
mi na manga = I am doing (tense marker, temple auxiliary) mi a manga = I do (tense marker, temple auxiliary)
Besides, the verb will not change with their subject nouns. For instance
mi na manga = I am doing mo na manga = Thou are doing ko na manga = He (she) is doing ani na manga = We are doing oni na manga = You are doing i na manga = They are doing
The Adjective Zande language has adjectives. The adjectives are always placed after the word they modify.
The Noun Pluralising a noun in Zande language is often done by adding "a" before a singular noun. For instance:
boro=a person aboro=people nya=a beast anya=beasts e=a thing ae=things
The Number The Zande have a more limited method of counting, never exceeding the numbers 20 and 40. Usually Zande people count by counting fingers and toes. Therefore when a number over twenty is counted another person must count the number beyond twenty and so on. So all the numbers over twenty or over ten are not separate numbers but are described in a sentence.
The system of 1-5 sa=1 ue=2 biata=3 biama=4 bisue=5
References
External links Zande materials from Raymond Boyd