Reconstruction:Proto-Bantu/ngàdí

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This Proto-Bantu entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Bantu

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Etymology

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Evidently a Bantu innovation, as no cognates outside of Narrow Bantu are known.

Noun

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*ngàdí class 9 (plural *ngàdí class 10)[1]

  1. palm nut or palm oil (exact referent uncertain)

Usage notes

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The sense "blood" (likely in class 6) may be an innovation in Proto-Eastern Bantu; the proposed semantic motivation is the reddish colour of palm oil, which would be an ideal target for taboo replacement of an earlier word for "blood".

See also

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Descendants

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From an Eastern Bantu sense "blood":

Possibly related, although the sound change to the initial consonant of the stem would be highly irregular:

References

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  • Bostoen, Koen (2005), "A diachronic onomasiological approach to early Bantu oil palm vocabulary." Studies in African Linguistics 34 (2): 143–188.