Kuvale

While taking a closer look at the classification of Kuvale [olu] and related languages, I noticed there is a major difference between the way Narrow Bantu classification is presented in Ethnologue and Glottolog. Specifically, Ethnologue seems to follow Maho (2009) for classifying the Bantu Zone R languages, while Glottolog seems to follow Vansina (2004). Maho provides a useful update of Guthrie's (1971) original list, but comparative studies have been done that are not restricted by the framework of the Guthrie zones, which were geographically defined. For the languages with which I'm familiar, Vansina's classification scheme makes more sense linguistically and appears to be more current in the literature among Bantuists. It might be helpful to revisit Ethnologue's classification of Narrow Bantu languages in general.