Probably from Kongo lu-baánsi (“rib, side”), from Proto-Bantu *-banja (“ribe, side of body”).[1] Cognate of Kwinti bandya, Aukan bánsa, Sãotomense bansa.
bandya
- side
- ribs
bandya
- beside
- ^ Norval Smith (2015) “A preliminary list of probable Kikongo (KiKoongo) lexical items in the Surinam Creoles”, in P. Muysken, N. Smith, editors, Surviving the Middle Passage: The West Africa-Surinam Sprachbund, Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, →ISBN, page 428