Reconstruction:Proto-Bantu/ìbèdé

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Reconstruction:Proto-Bantu/ìbèdé

This Proto-Bantu entry contains reconstructed words 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

A borrowing from Western Nilotic, where it referred to sorghum; compare Luo bél (“sorghum”).

Noun

*ìbèdé class 5 (plural *màbèdé class 6)[1]

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”)

See also

• *màcángʊ́

References

1. 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.