▁Niger – C ongo ▁languages , ▁but ▁more ▁recently ▁have ▁been ▁class ified ▁as ▁Vol ta – N iger ▁languages . ▁They ▁include ▁five ▁major ▁dialect ▁clusters : ▁E we , ▁Fon , ▁A ja , ▁Gen ▁( M ina ), ▁and ▁Ph la – P her á . ▁ ▁Most ▁of ▁the ▁G be ▁pe op les ▁came ▁from ▁the ▁east ▁to ▁their ▁present ▁dwell ing - p laces ▁in ▁several ▁migr ations ▁between ▁the ▁t enth ▁and ▁the ▁fif teenth ▁century . ▁Some ▁of ▁the ▁Ph la – P her á ▁pe op les ▁however ▁are ▁thought ▁to ▁be ▁the ▁original ▁inhabitants ▁of ▁the ▁area ▁who ▁have ▁inter ming led ▁with ▁the ▁G be ▁imm igr ants , ▁and ▁the ▁Gen ▁people ▁probably ▁origin ate ▁from ▁the ▁Ga - Ad ang be ▁people ▁in ▁Gh ana . ▁In ▁the ▁late ▁eigh teenth ▁century , ▁many ▁speak ers ▁of ▁G be ▁were ▁ens la ved ▁and ▁transport ed ▁to ▁the ▁New ▁World : ▁it ▁is ▁believed ▁that ▁G be ▁languages ▁played ▁some ▁role ▁in ▁the ▁gen esis ▁of ▁several ▁Car ib bean ▁cre ole ▁languages , ▁especially ▁H ait ian ▁Cre ole . ▁ ▁Ar ound ▁ 1 8 4 0 , ▁German ▁mission aries ▁started ▁lingu istic ▁research ▁into ▁the ▁G be ▁languages . ▁In ▁the ▁first ▁half ▁of ▁the ▁tw enti eth ▁century , ▁the ▁African ist ▁D ied rich ▁Hermann ▁West ermann ▁was ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁most ▁pro l ific ▁contrib utors ▁to ▁the ▁study ▁of ▁G be .