< Reconstruction:Proto-Nguni
Reconstruction:Proto-Nguni/íli-
Proto-Nguni
Etymology
From Proto-Bantu *dɪ́-, plus augment. Originally the pronominal and verbal concord, it displaced the older Bantu noun prefix *ì-. The tone was lowered by analogy with other noun prefixes.
Prefix
*íli-
- Class 5 noun prefix.
Descendants
- Northern Ndebele: ili-, i-
- Phuthi: li-
- Swazi: li-
- Xhosa: ili-, i-
- Zulu: ili-, i-