< Reconstruction:Proto-Bantu
Reconstruction:Proto-Bantu/ìbèdé
Proto-Bantu
Etymology
A borrowing from Western Nilotic, where it referred to sorghum; compare Luo bél (“sorghum”).
Noun
*ìbèdé class 5 (plural *màbèdé class 6)[1]
- (Common Bantu) pearl millet
Usage notes
This term is shared between many Bantu languages, but a single form cannot be formally reconstructed to the level of Proto-Bantu because of historical or linguistic considerations. Bostoen states that it can be reconstructed to Proto-Eastern Bantu with the meaning "pearl millet".
Descendants
- Northeastern Bantu:
- Kikuyu: mwere
- Swahili: mwele, uwele
- Nyanja:
- Chichewa: maŵere (“finger millet”)
- Southern Bantu:
- Nguni:
- Phuthi: emabele (“sorghum”)
- Zulu: amabele (“sorghum”)
- Sotho-Tswana:
- Northern Sotho: mabele (“sorghum”)
- Tswana: mabêlê (“sorghum”)
- Sotho: mabele (“sorghum”)
- Nguni:
See also
- *màcángʊ́
References
- Entry 122 at Bantu Lexical Reconstructions 3
- Bostoen, Koen (2006–2007), "Pearl millet in early Bantu speech communities in Central Africa: A reconsideration of the lexical evidence." Afrika und Übersee: 89, 183–213.