Paths in the Rainforests: Toward a History of Political Tradition in Equatorial Africa

Appendix: Comparative Lexical Data

Appendix Comparative Lexical Data This appendix provides a list of selected lexical items of great antiquity found in equatorial Bantu languages. It includes mainly items that have been used in this work, especially in chapter 3. Therefore the appendix constitutes by no means a full inventory of all common items, as even a glance at the semantic index in M. Guthrie's Comparative Bantu (2:17680 ) will show. That index is itself becoming out-of-date as research progresses. The sources for the words compared are disparate. They include published dictionaries and vocabularies listed in Y. Bastin, Bibliographie bantoue selective, dictionaries and vocabularies mostly published after 1974, and items culled from a host of ethnographic and grammatical studies. In this way data for some 147 languages have been assembled, out of an estimated total of fewer than 200. For most words, therefore, one can rely on a fine comparative grid. The entries are arranged by meaning and numbered consecutively. The material is divided into nine rubrics: A. Social units; B. Social status; C. Social activities; D. Food production: Techniques and Tools; E. Domestic plants and animals; F. Industries: Techniques and tools; G. Exchange; H. Spirits and forces; I. Religious experts and activities. The rubrics are subsumed under two parts. In the first part the meaning for each entry is followed by the relevant forms. For each form, class is given where relevant, and the relevant entry in Guthrie cited. The distribution of reflexes is indicated by citing languages in which they occur. All variant meanings are indicated, but often not all the relevant languages are listed, although one or more for each relevant genetic grouping are given. The reflex form for each language is not provided. Skewing is indicated only when it throws light on the history of the form. After this material follow the proposed etymology and a concluding 267 268 Appendix comment. Part 2, dealing with the rubrics 0-1, groups shorter notes in the same order. Linguists may object that the poor transcriptions of so many sources do not really allow one to propose secure reconstructions. However, practice has shown that such sources in fact rarely mislead, as is repeatedly evident in examples from H. A. Johnston's A Comparative Study of the Bantu and Semi-Bantu Languages. Moreover, in almost all cases perfect transcriptions exist for a few languages widely separated in space. PART I. SOCIETY A. Social Units 1. Large social group: *-d:mg;) 5/6, 7/8, CS 665, glossed by Guthrie as "kinship"; *-dong;) 5/6, CS 714, glossed as "tribe." Guthrie gives no cases from the area of study for CS 665 and two for 714, but also cites Tiv. Yet the form is common; see Mpongwe, Nkomi, Londo, Saa, Nen, Kundu, Kosi, Kombe, Fia, Yambassa, Ewondo, Fang, Tsogo, Kele, Kota, Duma, Mongo, Eso, Ngengele, Lega, Pende, Mbuun, Yans, and Burna. Bushong, Lele, and Ndengese have a strongly skewed form, *-donji. Etymology: The meaning is related to CS 664, same form, 3/4, 11/10, "line of objects," and both seem to be derived from CS 657-59 *-d6ng-, "to arrange," "to heap up," "to pack carefully," which is clearly protoBantu . Comment: The term is at least proto-Bantu and meant at that time "large social group," perhaps "ethnic group." The connotation "kinship " is derived, but it establishes that even in those remote times common kinship was the justification for such social groups. 2. House: *-ganda, 5/6, CS 779. Guthrie gives the meaning "clan." Aka, Poto, and Ngombe: "kingroup," "village"; Kako, Nyanga, and Tembo: "patrilineage"; Mbosi, Kongo, Mbala, and Tsong: "matriclan." Etymology: The same form in classes 9/6, CS 780, occurs just as often with the meaning "village"; see Yaa, Yombe, Mbala, Bushong, Ngombe, and Mbuja. In Woyo and Tetela the form in class 9 means "the enclosure of a leader"; in Tio kaana 9 means "quarter of a village" and hence bamukaana, "those from within the quarter X," designates members of a House. And Angba has the meaning "surrounding of the village." The same form as CS 781, 9110, "house" is attested to in Bongiri with that meaning. In addition, *-ganda 9/10 means "camp" in Mbosi, Koyo, Appendix 269 Leka, Bobangi, Ekonda, Ntomba, Lia, Mongo, Lwankamba, and Lalia. Guthrie postulates that the primary meaning was "chief's enclosure." However, the distribution of the meaning "social group" is wider. It is also more central to the whole...