Nkosinathiz/imvelaphi_-south-african-lineage

Imvelaphi (Zulu: "Where do you come from?") is an interactive digital cartography of the Southern African language families, with a focus on the Nguni, Sotho-Tswana, Tsonga, and Venda clusters that make up the rich linguistic tapestry of the region. # Imvelaphi — The Roots **Imvelaphi** (Zulu: "Where do you come from?") is an interactive digital cartography of the Southern African language families, with a focus on the Nguni, Sotho-Tswana, Tsonga, and Venda clusters that make up the rich linguistic tapestry of the region. This visualization maps the historical and linguistic relationships between major Bantu languages spoken in South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Mozambique — showing how they branched from common roots over centuries of migration, contact, and cultural evolution. ## Languages represented - **Xhosa** - **Venda** - **Zulu** - **Tsonga** - **Ndebele** - **Swati** - **Sotho** - **Tswana** Each node is positioned and connected according to linguistic classification and historical divergence (Bantu → Southern Bantu → Nguni / Sotho-Tswana / etc.). ## Live site imvelaphi.vercel.app ## Tech - JavaScript + vite (force-directed graph) - Responsive design - Minimalist dark-mode aesthetic inspired by star maps and ancestral lineage diagrams ## Purpose More than a language tree — this is a reminder. Every time we greet someone in isiZulu, seSotho, xiTsonga, or any of these tongues, we’re speaking branches of the same ancient story that began thousands of years ago on the African continent. Sawubona • Dumela • Avuxeni • Lumela — different leaves, same roots. ## License MIT © 2025 Nkosinathiz --- “Imvelaphi yakho?” A question that opens doors, not just conversations.