Reconstruction:Proto-Bantu/nkʊ́ndè

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

Noun

*nkʊ́ndè class 9 (plural *nkʊ́ndè class 10)

1. cowpea, Vigna unguiculata

Usage notes

Some references gloss this word as "bean" (Phaseolus), but that plant is native to the Americas and was introduced later than Proto-Bantu times.

Descendants

• Nzadi (B865): ŋkwɔ̂n (“bean”)
• Herero (R30): ekunde (“bean”)
• Luyana (K31): likunde (“bean”)
• Swahili (G42): kunde (“cowpea”)
• Tumbuka (N21): nkhunde (“cowpea”)
• Zigula (G31): nkhunde (“bean”)

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.