| Proto-Niger–Congo | |
|---|---|
| (hypothetical) | |
| Reconstruction of | Niger–Congo languages |
| Region | Africa |
| Era | Early 8th millennium BC |
| Lower-order reconstructions | |
Proto-Niger–Congo is the hypothetical reconstructed proto-language of the proposed Niger–Congo language family.
Validity
Unlike Nilo-Saharan, the Niger–Congo language phylum is accepted by mainstream linguists and Africanists. [1] Atlantic–Congo (roughly, Niger–Congo but excluding the Mande, Kru, Siamou, Kordofanian, Dogon and Ijoid languages) is accepted by Glottolog 4.4.
Origin
Blench (2006, [2] 2016 [3]) proposes that Proto-Niger–Congo originated about 11-10,000 years before present in the western part of the " Green Sahara" of Africa (roughly the Sahel and southern Sahara), and that its dispersal can be correlated with the spread of the bow and arrow by migrating hunter-gatherers.
Phonology
Tones
Larry Hyman (2016) reconstructs two contrastive level tones for Proto-Niger–Congo, which are: [4] [5]
- *H (high tone)
- *L (low tone)
Syllabic structure
Proto-Niger–Congo is traditionally assumed to have had a disyllabic root structure similar to that of Proto-Bantu, namely (C)V-CVCV [6] ( Williamson 2000, [7] etc.). However, Roger Blench (2016) proposes a trisyllabic (CVCVCV) syllabic structure for Proto-Niger–Congo roots, [6] while Konstantin Pozdniakov (2016) suggests that the main prototypical structure of Proto-Niger–Congo roots is *CVC, along with disyllabic, trisyllabic, and other variations. [8]
Morphology
Noun classes
Noun classes can be reconstructed for Proto-Niger–Congo. Noun class prefixes in Proto-Niger–Congo include: [1]
- noun class 1: prefix for human singular
- noun class 2: prefix for human plural
- noun class 6A: prefix for liquid and mass nouns ("uncountables")
Below are some Niger–Congo noun class markers (Good 2020:145, [9] from Schadeberg 1989:72 [10]):
| Branch | 1 | 1 (semantic category) | 3 | 4 | 4 (semantic category) | 5 | 6 | 6 (semantic categories) | 6a | 6a (semantic category) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kordofanian | *gu- | humans | *gu- | *j- | ‘tree’ | *li- | *ŋu- | ‘egg’ | *ŋ- | liquids |
| Atlantic | *gu- | humans | *gʊ- | *Ci- | ‘trees’ | *de- | *ga- | ‘head, name’ | *ma- | liquids |
| Oti–Volta ( Gur) | *-ʊ | humans | *-bʊ | *-Ci | ‘tree’ | *-ɖɪ | *-a | ‘egg, head’ | *-ma | liquids |
| Ghana–Togo ( Kwa) | *o- | humans | *o- | *i- | ‘firewood’ | *li- | *a- | ‘egg, head, name’ | *N- | liquids |
| Benue–Congo | *u- | humans | *u- | *(t)i- | ‘tree’ | *li- | *a- | ‘egg, head, name’ | *ma- | liquids |
| Bantu (noun) | *mu- | humans | *mu- | *mi- | ‘tree’ | *i̧- | *ma- | ‘egg, name’ | *ma- | liquids |
| Bantu (pronoun) | *ju- | *gu- | *gi- | *di- | *ga- | *ga- |
Verbal extensions
Below are some Proto-Niger–Congo, Proto-Bantu, and Proto- Atlantic verbal extensions (Good 2020:146, [9] from Hyman 2007:157 [11]):
| Type of suffix | Proto-Niger–Congo | Proto-Bantu | Proto-Atlantic |
|---|---|---|---|
| applicative | *-de | *-ɪd | *-ed |
| causative | *-ci, *-ti | *-ic-i | *-an |
| passive | *-o | *-ɪb-ʊ | *-V[+back] |
| reciprocal | *-na | *-an | *-ad |
| reversive | *-to | *-ʊd | *-ɪt |
For example, in Swahili:
- verb root: penda 'to love'
- reciprocal: pendana 'to love each other'
- applicative: pendea 'to love for'
- causative: pendeza 'to please'
Pronouns
Güldemann's (2018) Proto-Niger–Congo pronoun reconstructions, for the first and second person pronouns (singular and plural), are given below. [1]
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person | *mVfront | *TVclose |
| 2nd person | *mVback | *NVclose |
Babaev (2013) is a detailed survey of pronouns in Niger–Congo languages, along with detailed reconstructions. [12]
Numerals
Konstantin Pozdniakov (2018) has published a detailed reconstruction of Proto-Niger–Congo numerals, as well as comprehensive reconstructions for the lower-order branches of the Niger–Congo phylum. Pozdniakov (2018: 293) [13] and Güldemann (2018: 147) reconstruct the following numerals for Proto-Niger–Congo. [1]
| Numeral | Proto-Niger–Congo (Pozdniakov 2018) |
Proto-Niger–Congo (Güldemann 2018) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | *ku-(n)-di (> ni/-in), *do, *gbo/*kpo | |
| 2 | *ba-di | *Ri |
| 3 | *tat / *tath | *ta(C) |
| 4 | *na(h)i | *na(C) |
| 5 | *tan, *nu(n) | *nU |
| 6 | 5+1 | |
| 7 | 5+2 | |
| 8 | *na(i)nai (< 4 reduplicated) | |
| 9 | 5+4 | |
| 10 | *pu / *fu | |
| 20 | < ‘person’ |
The numerals 6-9 are formed by combining lower numerals, while ‘20’ is derived from ‘person’.
Lexicon
There is currently no comprehensive, systematic reconstruction for Proto-Niger–Congo lexical roots. Nevertheless, quasi-reconstructions (preliminary, tentative reconstructions, which are marked using the number sign #) have been attempted by Roger Blench, who is currently compiling a Niger–Congo etymological dictionary. Some examples from Blench (2016): [6]
| Proto-Niger–Congo | Gloss |
|---|---|
| *keɗeri | to split, cut, break |
| *suŋguri | to wash ( transitive) |
| #tokori | chew |
| *siŋguri | rub, smear |
| *ɗumigbi | bury, dig, grave, plant |
| #tɪ́gbʊ́rɪ́ | head |
| #gbukuru | tortoise, turtle |
| #goŋgboro | chest |
| #kpagara | leg, foot |
| #ku(n)duŋo | knee |
| #-bugbulu | hole |
| #kVnV | one |
| *tunuru | five |
Hans Günther Mukarovsky's reconstruction of Proto-Western Nigritic (roughly equivalent to Proto- Atlantic–Congo [14]) was published in 2 volumes in 1976 and 1977. [15]
Plants
Blench (2009) lists various Niger–Congo quasi-reconstructions for plants with important economic uses (note that not all of them necessarily reconstruct to Proto-Niger–Congo). These roots are generally widespread areal forms ( Wanderworts), with some of them also found in Afroasiatic and Nilo-Saharan languages. [16] A few forms are also added from some of Blench's other works (2006, 2012, 2016).
| Niger–Congo form | Common name | Scientific name(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| #-bal- | palm spp. | Raphia sudanica; Elaeis guineensis | |
| #-kundi- | dryzone palm | Phoenix reclinata; Borassus aethiopum; Raphia sp. | |
| #-bila- | oil-palm (?) | Elaeis guineensis | |
| #-eli- | oil-palm | Elaeis guineensis | |
| #-ten- | oil-palm | Elaeis guineensis | |
| #(n)gbaŋ- | fan-palm | Borassus aethiopum | |
| #lona [17] | locust bean tree | Parkia biglobosa | |
| #-(g)be | cola nut | Cola nitida, Cola acuminata | |
| #goro | cola nut | Cola nitida, Cola acuminata | |
| #kum | silk-cotton tree | Ceiba pentandra | |
| #kom- | African mahogany | Khaya senegalensis | |
| #ŋ-kpunu | shea tree; ‘oil, fat’ | Vitellaria paradoxa | |
| #-par | African olive, bush-candle | Canarium schweinfurthii | |
| #kVN- | sorghum, guinea-corn | Sorghum bicolor | |
| #mar(d)a | pearl millet | Pennisetum glaucum | also widespread in West Chadic |
| #fundi [18] | fonio | Digitaria exilis | in Mande, Atlantic, Gur, etc. |
| #ku; #ji [2] | yam | Dioscorea spp. | |
| #-tom | aerial yam | Dioscorea bulbifera | widespread in Nigeria and western Cameroon [17] |
| #koko | cocoyam, taro | Colocasia esculenta | |
| #zo(ko) | cowpea | Vigna unguiculata | in Central Nigeria; Benue-Congo has *kón (Proto- Manenguba) and *-kʊ́ndè ( Proto-Bantu) [2] |
| #-kpa [2] | Bambara groundnut | Vigna subterranea | West Benue-Congo |
| #-gunu [2] | Bambara groundnut | Vigna subterranea | East Benue-Congo |
| #-wi | Bambara groundnut | Vigna subterranea | Plateau languages |
| #-kora | calabash, gourd | Lagenaria siceraria; Cucurbita spp. | |
| #kom- | enset, banana | Musa spp. | |
| #konde | plantain | Musa paradisiaca | |
| #màaló (?) | rice | Oryza glaberrima | Proto- Manding reconstruction; widespread form across West Africa [2] |
Other plant names with widespread areal distributions in West Africa:
- Milicia excelsa: odum, iroko (in Ghana and Nigeria) [2]
- Funtumia elastica (bush rubber tree): o-fruntum (in Ghana) [2]
- Sesamum indicum (sesame): #-sVwa (Benue-Congo) [2]
- Abelmoschus esculentus (okra): ɔ́kʊrʊ, ɪkɪabʊ, akɛnɛta (in southern Nigeria) [17]
Animals
Below are some quasi-reconstructions of Niger–Congo areal forms for animal names given by Blench (2007 [19]), with some reconstructions also based on Blench (2006). [2]
| Niger–Congo form | Common name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|
| #jata | lion | Mande-Congo |
| #guni | lion | areal form |
| #-bungu | hyena | Volta-Congo |
| #-biti | hyena | Proto-Benue-Kwa |
| #murum | hyena | Central Nigeria |
| #gbali | elephant | Mande-Congo |
| #-nyi | elephant | Benue-Kwa ?; also means 'tusk' |
| #-solu | elephant | Volta-Congo |
| #-bu | dog | Proto-Niger–Congo |
| #kuru [2] | crocodile | Niger-Congo ( Proto-Bantu has #-gandu) [2] |
| #budi [2] | goat | Niger-Congo (Afroasiatic and Nilo-Saharan have #k-r-) [2] |
| #-ga [2] | village weaver | Benue-Congo [2] |
See also
Bibliography
- Güldemann, Tom (2011). "Proto-Bantu and Proto-Niger-Congo: Macro-areal Typology and Linguistic Reconstruction". Geographical Typology and Linguistic Areas. Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. Vol. 2. p. 109. doi: 10.1075/tufs.2.09gul. ISBN 978-90-272-0769-2. ISSN 1877-6248.
- Sim, Galina (2017). "Towards Proto-Niger–Congo: Comparison and Reconstruction, Paris, LLACAN, September 1–3, 2016". Journal of Language Relationship. 14 (3–4): 207–210. doi: 10.31826/jlr-2017-143-408. ISSN 2219-4029.
- Grollemund, Rebecca, Simon Branford, Jean-Marie Hombert & Mark Pagel. 2016. Genetic unity of the Niger-Congo family. Paper presented for the 2nd International Congress " Towards Proto-Niger-Congo: Comparison and Reconstruction", Paris, 1-3 September, 2016.
References
- ^ a b c d Güldemann, Tom (2018). "Historical linguistics and genealogical language classification in Africa". In Güldemann, Tom (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of Africa. The World of Linguistics series. Vol. 11. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 58–444. doi: 10.1515/9783110421668-002. ISBN 978-3-11-042606-9. S2CID 133888593.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Blench, Roger (2006). Archaeology, language, and the African past. AltaMira Press. ISBN 9780759104655.
- ^ Blench, Roger. 2016. Can we visit the graves of the first Niger–Congo speakers?. Paper presented for the 2nd International Congress " Towards Proto-Niger–Congo: Comparison and Reconstruction", Paris, 1-3 September, 2016.
- ^ Hyman, Larry M. (2016). "On Reconstructing Tone in Proto-Niger–Congo". UC Berkeley Phonology Lab Annual Reports. 12. doi: 10.5070/P7121040722. ISSN 2768-5047.
- ^ Hyman, Larry. 2016. Can we visit the graves of the first Niger-Congo speakers?. Paper presented for the 2nd International Congress " On Reconstructing Tone in Proto-Niger-Congo", Paris, 1-3 September, 2016.
- ^ a b c Blench, Roger. 2016. Supposing we have been completely wrong about the shape of early Niger-Congo roots?. Paper presented for the 2nd International Congress " Towards Proto-Niger-Congo: Comparison and Reconstruction", Paris, 1-3 September, 2016.
- ^ Williamson, Kay. 2000. Proto-Niger-Congo. In: H. Ekkehard Wolff, Orin D. Gensler (eds). Proceedings of the 2nd World Congress of African Linguistics, Leipzig 1997, pp.49-70. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe. ISBN 9783896451248.
- ^ Pozdniakov, Konstantin. 2016. Proto-Niger-Congo root structures. Paper presented for the 2nd International Congress " On Reconstructing Tone in Proto-Niger-Congo", Paris, 1-3 September, 2016.
- ^ a b Good, Jeff. 2020. Niger-Congo, with a special focus on Benue-Congo. In: Vossen, Rainer and Gerrit J. Dimmendaal (eds.). 2020. The Oxford Handbook of African Languages, pp. 139-160. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- ^ Schadeberg, Thilo C. (1989). ‘Kordofanian’, in J. Bendor-Samuel (ed.). The Niger-Congo Languages: A classification and description of Africa's largest language family, 66-80. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
- ^ Hyman, L. M. (2007). ‘Niger-Congo verb extensions: overview and discussion’, in D. L. Payne and J. Pena (eds.), Selected Proceedings of the 37th Annual Conference on African Linguistics. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla, 149-63.
- ^ Babaev, Kirill Vladimirovich (2013). Нигеро-конголезский праязык: Личные местоимения (in Russian). Moscow: Языки славянской культуры (ЯСК). ISBN 978-5-9551-0642-7. OCLC 861922684.
- ^ Pozdniakov, Konstantin (2018). The numeral system of Proto-Niger-Congo: A step-by-step reconstructio (pdf). Niger-Congo Comparative Studies. Berlin: Language Science Press. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.1311704. ISBN 978-3-96110-098-9.
- ^ Blench, Roger. Kordofanian and Niger-Congo: new and revised lexical evidence. Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
- ^ Mukarovsky, Hans. 1976-1977. A study of Western Nigritic (2 vols). Wien: Institut für Ägyptologie und Afrikanistik, Universität Wien.
- ^ Blench, Roger. 2009. New reconstructions of West African economic plants. In: Jörg Adelberger & Rudolf Leger (eds.): Language, History and Reconstructions. Frankfurter Afrikanistische Blätter 21 (2009) XX-XX. Rüdiger Köppe Verlag, Köln.
- ^ a b c Blench, Roger. 2016. Reconstructing African agrarian prehistory by combining different sources of evidence: methodological considerations and examples for west African economic plants. In: News from the Past; Progress in African Archaeobotany. Proceedings of the 7th International Workshop on African Archaeobotany, Vienna, 2-5th July, 2012. U. Thanheiser ed. 13-26. Groningen: Barkhuis.
- ^ Blench, Roger M. (2012). "Vernacular names for African millets and other minor cereals and their significance for agricultural history". Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. 8 (1): 1–8. doi: 10.1007/s12520-012-0104-5. ISSN 1866-9557. S2CID 128906570.
- ^ Blench, Roger. 2007. Lexical avoidance taboos and the reconstruction of names for large animals in Niger-Congo, an African language phylum. In: Edmond Dounias, Elisabeth Motte-Florac and Margaret Dunham (eds). Le symbolisme des animaux - l’animal “clef de voûte” dans la tradition orale et les interactions homme-nature. 545-569 + unpaginated appendices. Paris: Editions IRD.
External links
- Towards Proto-Niger-Congo: Comparison and Reconstruction
- Niger-Congo Reconstruction Archived 2021-05-09 at the Wayback Machine project at LLACAN
| Proto-Niger–Congo | |
|---|---|
| (hypothetical) | |
| Reconstruction of | Niger–Congo languages |
| Region | Africa |
| Era | Early 8th millennium BC |
| Lower-order reconstructions | |
Proto-Niger–Congo is the hypothetical reconstructed proto-language of the proposed Niger–Congo language family.
Validity
Unlike Nilo-Saharan, the Niger–Congo language phylum is accepted by mainstream linguists and Africanists. [1] Atlantic–Congo (roughly, Niger–Congo but excluding the Mande, Kru, Siamou, Kordofanian, Dogon and Ijoid languages) is accepted by Glottolog 4.4.
Origin
Blench (2006, [2] 2016 [3]) proposes that Proto-Niger–Congo originated about 11-10,000 years before present in the western part of the " Green Sahara" of Africa (roughly the Sahel and southern Sahara), and that its dispersal can be correlated with the spread of the bow and arrow by migrating hunter-gatherers.
Phonology
Tones
Larry Hyman (2016) reconstructs two contrastive level tones for Proto-Niger–Congo, which are: [4] [5]
- *H (high tone)
- *L (low tone)
Syllabic structure
Proto-Niger–Congo is traditionally assumed to have had a disyllabic root structure similar to that of Proto-Bantu, namely (C)V-CVCV [6] ( Williamson 2000, [7] etc.). However, Roger Blench (2016) proposes a trisyllabic (CVCVCV) syllabic structure for Proto-Niger–Congo roots, [6] while Konstantin Pozdniakov (2016) suggests that the main prototypical structure of Proto-Niger–Congo roots is *CVC, along with disyllabic, trisyllabic, and other variations. [8]
Morphology
Noun classes
Noun classes can be reconstructed for Proto-Niger–Congo. Noun class prefixes in Proto-Niger–Congo include: [1]
- noun class 1: prefix for human singular
- noun class 2: prefix for human plural
- noun class 6A: prefix for liquid and mass nouns ("uncountables")
Below are some Niger–Congo noun class markers (Good 2020:145, [9] from Schadeberg 1989:72 [10]):
| Branch | 1 | 1 (semantic category) | 3 | 4 | 4 (semantic category) | 5 | 6 | 6 (semantic categories) | 6a | 6a (semantic category) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kordofanian | *gu- | humans | *gu- | *j- | ‘tree’ | *li- | *ŋu- | ‘egg’ | *ŋ- | liquids |
| Atlantic | *gu- | humans | *gʊ- | *Ci- | ‘trees’ | *de- | *ga- | ‘head, name’ | *ma- | liquids |
| Oti–Volta ( Gur) | *-ʊ | humans | *-bʊ | *-Ci | ‘tree’ | *-ɖɪ | *-a | ‘egg, head’ | *-ma | liquids |
| Ghana–Togo ( Kwa) | *o- | humans | *o- | *i- | ‘firewood’ | *li- | *a- | ‘egg, head, name’ | *N- | liquids |
| Benue–Congo | *u- | humans | *u- | *(t)i- | ‘tree’ | *li- | *a- | ‘egg, head, name’ | *ma- | liquids |
| Bantu (noun) | *mu- | humans | *mu- | *mi- | ‘tree’ | *i̧- | *ma- | ‘egg, name’ | *ma- | liquids |
| Bantu (pronoun) | *ju- | *gu- | *gi- | *di- | *ga- | *ga- |
Verbal extensions
Below are some Proto-Niger–Congo, Proto-Bantu, and Proto- Atlantic verbal extensions (Good 2020:146, [9] from Hyman 2007:157 [11]):
| Type of suffix | Proto-Niger–Congo | Proto-Bantu | Proto-Atlantic |
|---|---|---|---|
| applicative | *-de | *-ɪd | *-ed |
| causative | *-ci, *-ti | *-ic-i | *-an |
| passive | *-o | *-ɪb-ʊ | *-V[+back] |
| reciprocal | *-na | *-an | *-ad |
| reversive | *-to | *-ʊd | *-ɪt |
For example, in Swahili:
- verb root: penda 'to love'
- reciprocal: pendana 'to love each other'
- applicative: pendea 'to love for'
- causative: pendeza 'to please'
Pronouns
Güldemann's (2018) Proto-Niger–Congo pronoun reconstructions, for the first and second person pronouns (singular and plural), are given below. [1]
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person | *mVfront | *TVclose |
| 2nd person | *mVback | *NVclose |
Babaev (2013) is a detailed survey of pronouns in Niger–Congo languages, along with detailed reconstructions. [12]
Numerals
Konstantin Pozdniakov (2018) has published a detailed reconstruction of Proto-Niger–Congo numerals, as well as comprehensive reconstructions for the lower-order branches of the Niger–Congo phylum. Pozdniakov (2018: 293) [13] and Güldemann (2018: 147) reconstruct the following numerals for Proto-Niger–Congo. [1]
| Numeral | Proto-Niger–Congo (Pozdniakov 2018) |
Proto-Niger–Congo (Güldemann 2018) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | *ku-(n)-di (> ni/-in), *do, *gbo/*kpo | |
| 2 | *ba-di | *Ri |
| 3 | *tat / *tath | *ta(C) |
| 4 | *na(h)i | *na(C) |
| 5 | *tan, *nu(n) | *nU |
| 6 | 5+1 | |
| 7 | 5+2 | |
| 8 | *na(i)nai (< 4 reduplicated) | |
| 9 | 5+4 | |
| 10 | *pu / *fu | |
| 20 | < ‘person’ |
The numerals 6-9 are formed by combining lower numerals, while ‘20’ is derived from ‘person’.
Lexicon
There is currently no comprehensive, systematic reconstruction for Proto-Niger–Congo lexical roots. Nevertheless, quasi-reconstructions (preliminary, tentative reconstructions, which are marked using the number sign #) have been attempted by Roger Blench, who is currently compiling a Niger–Congo etymological dictionary. Some examples from Blench (2016): [6]
| Proto-Niger–Congo | Gloss |
|---|---|
| *keɗeri | to split, cut, break |
| *suŋguri | to wash ( transitive) |
| #tokori | chew |
| *siŋguri | rub, smear |
| *ɗumigbi | bury, dig, grave, plant |
| #tɪ́gbʊ́rɪ́ | head |
| #gbukuru | tortoise, turtle |
| #goŋgboro | chest |
| #kpagara | leg, foot |
| #ku(n)duŋo | knee |
| #-bugbulu | hole |
| #kVnV | one |
| *tunuru | five |
Hans Günther Mukarovsky's reconstruction of Proto-Western Nigritic (roughly equivalent to Proto- Atlantic–Congo [14]) was published in 2 volumes in 1976 and 1977. [15]
Plants
Blench (2009) lists various Niger–Congo quasi-reconstructions for plants with important economic uses (note that not all of them necessarily reconstruct to Proto-Niger–Congo). These roots are generally widespread areal forms ( Wanderworts), with some of them also found in Afroasiatic and Nilo-Saharan languages. [16] A few forms are also added from some of Blench's other works (2006, 2012, 2016).
| Niger–Congo form | Common name | Scientific name(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| #-bal- | palm spp. | Raphia sudanica; Elaeis guineensis | |
| #-kundi- | dryzone palm | Phoenix reclinata; Borassus aethiopum; Raphia sp. | |
| #-bila- | oil-palm (?) | Elaeis guineensis | |
| #-eli- | oil-palm | Elaeis guineensis | |
| #-ten- | oil-palm | Elaeis guineensis | |
| #(n)gbaŋ- | fan-palm | Borassus aethiopum | |
| #lona [17] | locust bean tree | Parkia biglobosa | |
| #-(g)be | cola nut | Cola nitida, Cola acuminata | |
| #goro | cola nut | Cola nitida, Cola acuminata | |
| #kum | silk-cotton tree | Ceiba pentandra | |
| #kom- | African mahogany | Khaya senegalensis | |
| #ŋ-kpunu | shea tree; ‘oil, fat’ | Vitellaria paradoxa | |
| #-par | African olive, bush-candle | Canarium schweinfurthii | |
| #kVN- | sorghum, guinea-corn | Sorghum bicolor | |
| #mar(d)a | pearl millet | Pennisetum glaucum | also widespread in West Chadic |
| #fundi [18] | fonio | Digitaria exilis | in Mande, Atlantic, Gur, etc. |
| #ku; #ji [2] | yam | Dioscorea spp. | |
| #-tom | aerial yam | Dioscorea bulbifera | widespread in Nigeria and western Cameroon [17] |
| #koko | cocoyam, taro | Colocasia esculenta | |
| #zo(ko) | cowpea | Vigna unguiculata | in Central Nigeria; Benue-Congo has *kón (Proto- Manenguba) and *-kʊ́ndè ( Proto-Bantu) [2] |
| #-kpa [2] | Bambara groundnut | Vigna subterranea | West Benue-Congo |
| #-gunu [2] | Bambara groundnut | Vigna subterranea | East Benue-Congo |
| #-wi | Bambara groundnut | Vigna subterranea | Plateau languages |
| #-kora | calabash, gourd | Lagenaria siceraria; Cucurbita spp. | |
| #kom- | enset, banana | Musa spp. | |
| #konde | plantain | Musa paradisiaca | |
| #màaló (?) | rice | Oryza glaberrima | Proto- Manding reconstruction; widespread form across West Africa [2] |
Other plant names with widespread areal distributions in West Africa:
- Milicia excelsa: odum, iroko (in Ghana and Nigeria) [2]
- Funtumia elastica (bush rubber tree): o-fruntum (in Ghana) [2]
- Sesamum indicum (sesame): #-sVwa (Benue-Congo) [2]
- Abelmoschus esculentus (okra): ɔ́kʊrʊ, ɪkɪabʊ, akɛnɛta (in southern Nigeria) [17]
Animals
Below are some quasi-reconstructions of Niger–Congo areal forms for animal names given by Blench (2007 [19]), with some reconstructions also based on Blench (2006). [2]
| Niger–Congo form | Common name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|
| #jata | lion | Mande-Congo |
| #guni | lion | areal form |
| #-bungu | hyena | Volta-Congo |
| #-biti | hyena | Proto-Benue-Kwa |
| #murum | hyena | Central Nigeria |
| #gbali | elephant | Mande-Congo |
| #-nyi | elephant | Benue-Kwa ?; also means 'tusk' |
| #-solu | elephant | Volta-Congo |
| #-bu | dog | Proto-Niger–Congo |
| #kuru [2] | crocodile | Niger-Congo ( Proto-Bantu has #-gandu) [2] |
| #budi [2] | goat | Niger-Congo (Afroasiatic and Nilo-Saharan have #k-r-) [2] |
| #-ga [2] | village weaver | Benue-Congo [2] |
See also
Bibliography
- Güldemann, Tom (2011). "Proto-Bantu and Proto-Niger-Congo: Macro-areal Typology and Linguistic Reconstruction". Geographical Typology and Linguistic Areas. Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. Vol. 2. p. 109. doi: 10.1075/tufs.2.09gul. ISBN 978-90-272-0769-2. ISSN 1877-6248.
- Sim, Galina (2017). "Towards Proto-Niger–Congo: Comparison and Reconstruction, Paris, LLACAN, September 1–3, 2016". Journal of Language Relationship. 14 (3–4): 207–210. doi: 10.31826/jlr-2017-143-408. ISSN 2219-4029.
- Grollemund, Rebecca, Simon Branford, Jean-Marie Hombert & Mark Pagel. 2016. Genetic unity of the Niger-Congo family. Paper presented for the 2nd International Congress " Towards Proto-Niger-Congo: Comparison and Reconstruction", Paris, 1-3 September, 2016.
References
- ^ a b c d Güldemann, Tom (2018). "Historical linguistics and genealogical language classification in Africa". In Güldemann, Tom (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of Africa. The World of Linguistics series. Vol. 11. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 58–444. doi: 10.1515/9783110421668-002. ISBN 978-3-11-042606-9. S2CID 133888593.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Blench, Roger (2006). Archaeology, language, and the African past. AltaMira Press. ISBN 9780759104655.
- ^ Blench, Roger. 2016. Can we visit the graves of the first Niger–Congo speakers?. Paper presented for the 2nd International Congress " Towards Proto-Niger–Congo: Comparison and Reconstruction", Paris, 1-3 September, 2016.
- ^ Hyman, Larry M. (2016). "On Reconstructing Tone in Proto-Niger–Congo". UC Berkeley Phonology Lab Annual Reports. 12. doi: 10.5070/P7121040722. ISSN 2768-5047.
- ^ Hyman, Larry. 2016. Can we visit the graves of the first Niger-Congo speakers?. Paper presented for the 2nd International Congress " On Reconstructing Tone in Proto-Niger-Congo", Paris, 1-3 September, 2016.
- ^ a b c Blench, Roger. 2016. Supposing we have been completely wrong about the shape of early Niger-Congo roots?. Paper presented for the 2nd International Congress " Towards Proto-Niger-Congo: Comparison and Reconstruction", Paris, 1-3 September, 2016.
- ^ Williamson, Kay. 2000. Proto-Niger-Congo. In: H. Ekkehard Wolff, Orin D. Gensler (eds). Proceedings of the 2nd World Congress of African Linguistics, Leipzig 1997, pp.49-70. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe. ISBN 9783896451248.
- ^ Pozdniakov, Konstantin. 2016. Proto-Niger-Congo root structures. Paper presented for the 2nd International Congress " On Reconstructing Tone in Proto-Niger-Congo", Paris, 1-3 September, 2016.
- ^ a b Good, Jeff. 2020. Niger-Congo, with a special focus on Benue-Congo. In: Vossen, Rainer and Gerrit J. Dimmendaal (eds.). 2020. The Oxford Handbook of African Languages, pp. 139-160. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- ^ Schadeberg, Thilo C. (1989). ‘Kordofanian’, in J. Bendor-Samuel (ed.). The Niger-Congo Languages: A classification and description of Africa's largest language family, 66-80. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
- ^ Hyman, L. M. (2007). ‘Niger-Congo verb extensions: overview and discussion’, in D. L. Payne and J. Pena (eds.), Selected Proceedings of the 37th Annual Conference on African Linguistics. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla, 149-63.
- ^ Babaev, Kirill Vladimirovich (2013). Нигеро-конголезский праязык: Личные местоимения (in Russian). Moscow: Языки славянской культуры (ЯСК). ISBN 978-5-9551-0642-7. OCLC 861922684.
- ^ Pozdniakov, Konstantin (2018). The numeral system of Proto-Niger-Congo: A step-by-step reconstructio (pdf). Niger-Congo Comparative Studies. Berlin: Language Science Press. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.1311704. ISBN 978-3-96110-098-9.
- ^ Blench, Roger. Kordofanian and Niger-Congo: new and revised lexical evidence. Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
- ^ Mukarovsky, Hans. 1976-1977. A study of Western Nigritic (2 vols). Wien: Institut für Ägyptologie und Afrikanistik, Universität Wien.
- ^ Blench, Roger. 2009. New reconstructions of West African economic plants. In: Jörg Adelberger & Rudolf Leger (eds.): Language, History and Reconstructions. Frankfurter Afrikanistische Blätter 21 (2009) XX-XX. Rüdiger Köppe Verlag, Köln.
- ^ a b c Blench, Roger. 2016. Reconstructing African agrarian prehistory by combining different sources of evidence: methodological considerations and examples for west African economic plants. In: News from the Past; Progress in African Archaeobotany. Proceedings of the 7th International Workshop on African Archaeobotany, Vienna, 2-5th July, 2012. U. Thanheiser ed. 13-26. Groningen: Barkhuis.
- ^ Blench, Roger M. (2012). "Vernacular names for African millets and other minor cereals and their significance for agricultural history". Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. 8 (1): 1–8. doi: 10.1007/s12520-012-0104-5. ISSN 1866-9557. S2CID 128906570.
- ^ Blench, Roger. 2007. Lexical avoidance taboos and the reconstruction of names for large animals in Niger-Congo, an African language phylum. In: Edmond Dounias, Elisabeth Motte-Florac and Margaret Dunham (eds). Le symbolisme des animaux - l’animal “clef de voûte” dans la tradition orale et les interactions homme-nature. 545-569 + unpaginated appendices. Paris: Editions IRD.
External links
- Towards Proto-Niger-Congo: Comparison and Reconstruction
- Niger-Congo Reconstruction Archived 2021-05-09 at the Wayback Machine project at LLACAN