Reconstruction:Proto-Bantu/njʊ̀gʊ́

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

An innovation in Proto-Bantu, of unknown origin.

Noun

*njʊ̀gʊ́ class 9 (plural *njʊ̀gʊ́ class 10)

1. Bambara groundnut, Vigna subterranea

Descendants

• Boma-Dzing:
  • Nzadi (B865): edzuu
• Northeast Bantu:
  • Thagiicu:
    • Kamba (E55): nzuu
    • Kikuyu (E51): njũgũ
  • Great Lakes Bantu:
    • Ikizu (J402): ɨnzʉgʉ
    • Kabwa (J405): enjugu
  • Northeast Coast Bantu:
    • Swahili (G42): njugu
• Shona (S10): nzungu (irregular)

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.