ABSTRACT
The earliest descriptions of Bantu languages date from the mid-seventeenth century - e.g. Giacinto Brusciotto’s Latin grammar of Kongo, published in 1659. The task of providing an internal classification of the Bantu languages based on scientific criteria, was first undertaken by W.H.J. Bleek (1862-9), who coined the name Bantu to designate the people and their languages. The word is a plural form meaning ‘people’, and functions as such in many Bantu languages; cf.
