Reconstruction:Proto-Bantu/kɪ̀kʊ̀á

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

Etymology

Cognate with the Lower Cross River word for Dioscorea dumetorum.

Noun

*kɪ̀kʊ̀á class 7 (plural *bìkʊ̀á class 8)

1. yam, probably Dioscorea cayennensis

Descendants

• Northwest Bantu
  • Myene (B11): egwa
• Central-Western Bantu
  • Nzadi (B865): okpa
• East Bantu
  • Northeast Savanna Bantu
    • Thagiicu
      • Kamba (E55): kikwa
      • Kikuyu (E51): gĩkwa

References

• Bostoen, Koen (2014), "Wild trees in the subsistence economy of early Bantu speech communities: a historical-linguistic approach", in Dorian Q. Fuller and Mary Anne Murray (eds.), African Flora, Past Cultures and Archaeobotany. Proceedings of the Fifth International Workshop for African Archaeobotany, London, 3–5 July, 2006 (Walnut Creek: Left Coast Press), 129–140.