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==Pronouns== |
==Pronouns== |
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Güldemann's (2018) Proto-Niger–Congo pronoun reconstructions, for the first and second person pronouns (singular and plural), are given below.<ref name="Guldemann">{{Cite book|title=The Languages and Linguistics of Africa|last=Güldemann|first=Tom|editor-last=Güldemann|editor-first=Tom|publisher=De Gruyter Mouton|chapter=Historical linguistics and genealogical language classification in Africa|year=2018|isbn=978-3-11-042606-9|doi=10.1515/9783110421668-002|location=Berlin|pages=58–444|series=The World of Linguistics series|volume=11}}</ref> |
Güldemann's (2018) Proto-Niger–Congo pronoun reconstructions, for the first and second person pronouns (singular and plural), are given below.<ref name="Guldemann">{{Cite book|title=The Languages and Linguistics of Africa|last=Güldemann|first=Tom|editor-last=Güldemann|editor-first=Tom|publisher=De Gruyter Mouton|chapter=Historical linguistics and genealogical language classification in Africa|year=2018|isbn=978-3-11-042606-9|doi=10.1515/9783110421668-002|location=Berlin|pages=58–444|series=The World of Linguistics series|volume=11|s2cid=133888593 }}</ref> |
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| #mar(d)a || [[pearl millet]] || ''[[Pennisetum glaucum]]'' || also widespread in [[West Chadic languages|West Chadic]] |
| #mar(d)a || [[pearl millet]] || ''[[Pennisetum glaucum]]'' || also widespread in [[West Chadic languages|West Chadic]] |
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| #fundi<ref name="BlenchAfricanMillets">{{cite journal|last1=Blench|first1=Roger M.|title=Vernacular names for African millets and other minor cereals and their significance for agricultural history|journal=Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences|volume=8|issue=1|year=2012|pages=1–8|issn=1866-9557|doi=10.1007/s12520-012-0104-5}}</ref> || [[fonio]] || ''[[Digitaria exilis]]'' || in Mande, Atlantic, Gur, etc. |
| #fundi<ref name="BlenchAfricanMillets">{{cite journal|last1=Blench|first1=Roger M.|title=Vernacular names for African millets and other minor cereals and their significance for agricultural history|journal=Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences|volume=8|issue=1|year=2012|pages=1–8|issn=1866-9557|doi=10.1007/s12520-012-0104-5|s2cid=128906570 }}</ref> || [[fonio]] || ''[[Digitaria exilis]]'' || in Mande, Atlantic, Gur, etc. |
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| #ku; #ji<ref name="BlenchAfricanPast"/> || yam || ''[[Dioscorea]]'' spp. || |
| #ku; #ji<ref name="BlenchAfricanPast"/> || yam || ''[[Dioscorea]]'' spp. || |
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==Bibliography== |
==Bibliography== |
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*{{cite |
*{{cite book|last1=Güldemann|first1=Tom|title=Geographical Typology and Linguistic Areas |chapter=Proto-Bantu and Proto-Niger-Congo: Macro-areal Typology and Linguistic Reconstruction|series=Tokyo University of Foreign Studies |volume=2|year=2011|pages=109|issn=1877-6248|doi=10.1075/tufs.2.09gul|isbn=978-90-272-0769-2 }} |
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*{{cite journal|last1=Sim|first1=Galina|title=Towards Proto-Niger-Congo: Comparison and Reconstruction, Paris, LLACAN, September 1–3, 2016|journal=Journal of Language Relationship|volume=14|issue= |
*{{cite journal|last1=Sim|first1=Galina|title=Towards Proto-Niger-Congo: Comparison and Reconstruction, Paris, LLACAN, September 1–3, 2016|journal=Journal of Language Relationship|volume=14|issue=3–4|year=2017|pages=207–210|issn=2219-4029|doi=10.31826/jlr-2017-143-408|doi-access=free}} |
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*Grollemund, Rebecca, Simon Branford, Jean-Marie Hombert & Mark Pagel. 2016. ''[https://llacan.cnrs.fr/nigercongo2/abstracts/Grollemund_Hombert_Pagel-Genetic%20Unity%20of%20the%20Niger-Congo%20family.pdf Genetic unity of the Niger-Congo family]''. Paper presented for the 2nd International Congress "[https://llacan.cnrs.fr/nigercongo2/index.html Towards Proto-Niger-Congo: Comparison and Reconstruction]", Paris, 1-3 September, 2016. |
*Grollemund, Rebecca, Simon Branford, Jean-Marie Hombert & Mark Pagel. 2016. ''[https://llacan.cnrs.fr/nigercongo2/abstracts/Grollemund_Hombert_Pagel-Genetic%20Unity%20of%20the%20Niger-Congo%20family.pdf Genetic unity of the Niger-Congo family]''. Paper presented for the 2nd International Congress "[https://llacan.cnrs.fr/nigercongo2/index.html Towards Proto-Niger-Congo: Comparison and Reconstruction]", Paris, 1-3 September, 2016. |
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Proto-Niger–Congo | |
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(hypothetical) | |
Reconstruction of | Niger–Congo languages |
Region | Africa |
Era | ca. 10,000 BP |
Lower-order reconstructions |
Proto-Niger–Congo is the hypothetical reconstructed proto-language of the proposed Niger–Congo language family.
Unlike Nilo-Saharan, the Niger–Congo language phylum is accepted by mainstream linguists and Africanists.[1] Atlantic–Congo (roughly, Niger–Congo but excluding the Mande, Kru, Siamou, Kordofanian, Dogon and Ijoid languages) is accepted by Glottolog 4.4
Blench (2006,[2] 2016[3]) proposes that Proto-Niger-Congo originated about 10,000 years before present in the "Green Sahara" of Africa (roughly the Sahel and southern Sahara), and that its dispersal can be correlated with the spread of the bow and arrow by migrating hunter-gatherers.
Larry Hyman (2016) reconstructs two contrastive level tones for Proto-Niger–Congo, which are:[4][5]
Proto-Niger–Congo is traditionally assumed to have had a disyllabic root structure similar to that of Proto-Bantu, namely (C)V-CVCV[6] (Williamson 2000,[7] etc.). However, Roger Blench (2016) proposes a trisyllabic (CVCVCV) syllabic structure for Proto-Niger–Congo roots,[6] while Konstantin Pozdniakov (2016) suggests that the main prototypical structure of Proto-Niger–Congo roots is *CVC, along with disyllabic, trisyllabic, and other variations.[8]
Noun classes can be reconstructed for Proto-Niger–Congo. Noun class prefixes in Proto-Niger–Congo include:[1]
Below are some Niger-Congo noun class markers (Good 2020:145,[9] from Schadeberg 1989:72[10]):
Branch | 1 | 1 (semantic category) | 3 | 4 | 4 (semantic category) | 5 | 6 | 6 (semantic categories) | 6a | 6a (semantic category) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kordofanian | *gu- | humans | *gu- | *j- | ‘tree’ | *li- | *ŋu- | ‘egg’ | *ŋ- | liquids |
Atlantic | *gu- | humans | *gʊ- | *Ci- | ‘trees’ | *de- | *ga- | ‘head, name’ | *ma- | liquids |
Oti–Volta (Gur) | *-ʊ | humans | *-bʊ | *-Ci | ‘tree’ | *-ɖɪ | *-a | ‘egg, head’ | *-ma | liquids |
Ghana–Togo (Kwa) | *o- | humans | *o- | *i- | ‘firewood’ | *li- | *a- | ‘egg, head, name’ | *N- | liquids |
Benue–Congo | *u- | humans | *u- | *(t)i- | ‘tree’ | *li- | *a- | ‘egg, head, name’ | *ma- | liquids |
Bantu (noun) | *mu- | humans | *mu- | *mi- | ‘tree’ | *i̧- | *ma- | ‘egg, name’ | *ma- | liquids |
Bantu (pronoun) | *ju- | *gu- | *gi- | *di- | *ga- | *ga- |
Below are some Proto-Niger-Congo, Proto-Bantu, and Proto-Atlantic verbal extensions (Good 2020:146,[9] from Hyman 2007:157[11]):
Type of suffix | Proto-Niger-Congo | Proto-Bantu | Proto-Atlantic |
---|---|---|---|
applicative | *-de | *-ɪd | *-ed |
causative | *-ci, *-ti | *-ic-i | *-an |
passive | *-o | *-ɪb-ʊ | *-V[+back] |
reciprocal | *-na | *-an | *-ad |
reversive | *-to | *-ʊd | *-ɪt |
For example, in Swahili:
Güldemann's (2018) Proto-Niger–Congo pronoun reconstructions, for the first and second person pronouns (singular and plural), are given below.[1]
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
1st person | *mVfront | *TVclose |
2nd person | *mVback | *NVclose |
Babaev (2013) is a detailed survey of pronouns in Niger–Congo languages, along with detailed reconstructions.[12]
Konstantin Pozdniakov (2018) has published a detailed reconstruction of Proto-Niger–Congo numerals, as well as comprehensive reconstructions for the lower-order branches of the Niger–Congo phylum. Pozdniakov (2018: 293)[13] and Güldemann (2018: 147) reconstruct the following numerals for Proto-Niger–Congo.[1]
Numeral | Proto-Niger–Congo (Pozdniakov 2018) |
Proto-Niger–Congo (Güldemann 2018) |
---|---|---|
1 | *ku-(n)-di (> ni/-in), *do, *gbo/*kpo | |
2 | *ba-di | *Ri |
3 | *tat / *tath | *ta(C) |
4 | *na(h)i | *na(C) |
5 | *tan, *nu(n) | *nU |
6 | 5+1 | |
7 | 5+2 | |
8 | *na(i)nai (< 4 reduplicated) | |
9 | 5+4 | |
10 | *pu / *fu | |
20 | < ‘person’ |
The numerals 6-9 are formed by combining lower numerals, while ‘20’ is derived from ‘person’.
There is currently no comprehensive, systematic reconstruction for Proto-Niger–Congo lexical roots. Nevertheless, quasi-reconstructions (preliminary, tentative reconstructions, which are marked using the number sign #) have been attempted by Roger Blench. Some examples from Blench (2016):[6]
Proto-Niger–Congo | Gloss |
---|---|
*keɗeri | to split, cut, break |
*suŋguri | to wash (v.t.) |
#tokori | chew |
*siŋguri | rub, smear |
*ɗumigbi | bury, dig, grave, plant |
#tɪ́gbʊ́rɪ́ | head |
#gbukuru | tortoise, turtle |
#goŋgboro | chest |
#kpagara | leg, foot |
#ku(n)duŋo | knee |
#-bugbulu | hole |
#kVnV | one |
*tunuru | five |
Blench (2009) lists various Niger–Congo quasi-reconstructions for plants with important economic uses (note that not all of them necessarily reconstruct to Proto-Niger–Congo). These roots are generally widespread areal forms (Wanderworts), with some of them also found in Afroasiatic and Nilo-Saharan languages.[14] A few forms are also added from some of Blench's other works (2006, 2012, 2016).
Other plant names with widespread areal distributions in West Africa:
Below are some quasi-reconstructions of Niger–Congo areal forms for animal names given by Blench (2007[17]), with some reconstructions also based on Blench (2006).[2]
Niger–Congo form | Common name | Distribution |
---|---|---|
#jata | lion | Mande-Congo |
#guni | lion | areal form |
#-bungu | hyena | Volta-Congo |
#-biti | hyena | Proto-Benue-Kwa |
#murum | hyena | Central Nigeria |
#gbali | elephant | Mande-Congo |
#-nyi | elephant | Benue-Kwa ?; also means 'tusk' |
#-solu | elephant | Volta-Congo |
#-bu | dog | Proto-Niger-Congo |
#kuru[2] | crocodile | Niger-Congo (Proto-Bantu has #-gandu)[2] |
#budi[2] | goat | Niger-Congo (Afroasiatic and Nilo-Saharan have #k-r-)[2] |
#-ga[2] | village weaver | Benue-Congo[2] |
Niger–Congo branches
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Mande |
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Kordofanian |
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Others |
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Isolates |
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Unclassified |
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Proto-languages |
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