Reconstruction:Proto-Bantu/ìbídà

This Proto-Bantu entry contains reconstructed terms 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

Potential cognates in Volta-Congo include: Tiv ivile (“oil palm”), Akan abɛ́ (“oil palm”), Edo ivin (“nut”).

Noun

*ìbídà class 5 (plural *màbídà class 6)

1. oil palm (Elaeis guineensis)

See also

• *ìbá
• *mʊ̀téndé
• *ngàdí

Descendants

• Aka (Central Africa) (C104): dibíla (“oil palm; clump of palm nuts”), ebíla (“clump of palm nuts”)
• Babole (C101): dibíla (“oil palm”)
• Benga (A34): mbiya (“black-fruited oil palm”)
• Bube (A31): öbiilá (“date palm”)
• Bwa (C44): mbia (“oil palm”)
• Duala (A24): mbía (“palm nut”)
• Libinza (C321): mbíla (“oil palm”)
• Lingala (C30B): lobíla (“palm nut”), mbíla (“oil palm”)
• Mbonge Oroko (A101): líjá (“oil palm”)
• Mokpwe (A22): mbía (“palm nut”)
• Myene (B11): oyílá (“oil palm”), ezílá (“clump of palm nuts”)
• Nsong (B85d): oyila (“black-fruited oil palm”), ńdzyá (“palm nut”)
• Tunen (A44): nibíl (“oil palm”), umíl (“palm nut”), ibíl (“ripe clump of palm nuts”)

References

• Bostoen, Koen (2005), "A diachronic onomasiological approach to early Bantu oil palm vocabulary." Studies in African Linguistics 34 (2): 143–188.