| Proto-Niger–Congo | |
| Acceptance: | hypothetical |
| Familycolor: | Niger–Congo |
| Region: | Africa |
| Era: | Early |
| Target: | Niger–Congo languages |
| Child1: | Proto-Bantu |
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. Atlantic–Congo (roughly, Niger–Congo but excluding the Mande, Kru, Siamou, Kordofanian, Dogon and Ijoid languages) is accepted by Glottolog 4.4.
See also: Haplogroup E-V38, Haplogroup E-M2 and Bantu expansion. Blench (2006,[1] 2016[2]) proposes that Proto-Niger–Congo originated about 11-10,000 years before present in the western part of 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:[3] [4]
Proto-Niger–Congo is traditionally assumed to have had a disyllabic root structure similar to that of Proto-Bantu, namely (C)V-CVCV (Williamson 2000,[5] 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.[7]
Noun classes can be reconstructed for Proto-Niger–Congo. Noun class prefixes in Proto-Niger–Congo include:
Below are some Niger–Congo noun class markers (Good 2020:145,[8] from Schadeberg 1989:72[9]):
| Branch | 1 | 1 (semantic category) | 3 | 4 | 4 (semantic category) | 5 | 6 | 6 (semantic categories) | 6a | 6a (semantic category) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| humans |
|
| ‘tree’ |
|
| ‘egg’ |
| liquids | ||
| humans |
|
| ‘trees’ |
|
| ‘head, name’ |
| liquids | ||
| Oti–Volta (Gur) |
| humans |
|
| ‘tree’ |
|
| ‘egg, head’ |
| liquids | |
| Ghana–Togo (Kwa) |
| humans |
|
| ‘firewood’ |
|
| ‘egg, head, name’ |
| liquids | |
| humans |
|
| ‘tree’ |
|
| ‘egg, head, name’ |
| liquids | ||
| Bantu (noun) |
| humans |
|
| ‘tree’ |
|
| ‘egg, name’ |
| liquids | |
| Bantu (pronoun) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Below are some Proto-Niger–Congo, Proto-Bantu, and Proto-Atlantic verbal extensions (Good 2020:146,[8] from Hyman 2007:157[10]):
| Type of suffix | Proto-Niger–Congo | Proto-Bantu | Proto-Atlantic | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| applicative |
|
|
| |
| causative |
|
|
| |
| passive |
|
|
| |
| reciprocal |
|
|
| |
| reversive |
|
|
|
For example, in Swahili:
pendana 'to love each other'
pendeza 'to please'
Güldemann's (2018) Proto-Niger–Congo pronoun reconstructions, for the first and second person pronouns (singular and plural), are given below.[11]
| singular | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person |
|
| |
| 2nd person |
|
|
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.[11]
| Numeral | Proto-Niger–Congo (Pozdniakov 2018) | Proto-Niger–Congo (Güldemann 2018) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
| ||
| 2 |
|
| |
| 3 |
|
| |
| 4 |
|
| |
| 5 |
|
| |
| 6 | 5+1 | ||
| 7 | 5+2 | ||
| 8 |
| ||
| 9 | 5+4 | ||
| 10 |
| ||
| 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, who is currently compiling a Niger–Congo etymological dictionary. Some examples from Blench (2016):[6]
| Proto-Niger–Congo | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|
| to split, cut, break | |
| to wash (transitive) | |
| chew | |
| rub, smear | |
| bury, dig, grave, plant | |
| head | |
| tortoise, turtle | |
| chest | |
| leg, foot | |
| knee | |
| hole | |
| one | |
| five |
's reconstruction of Proto-Western Nigritic (roughly equivalent to Proto-Atlantic–Congo[14]) was published in 2 volumes in 1976 and 1977.[15]
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.[16] A few forms are also added from some of Blench's other works (2006, 2012, 2016).
| Niger–Congo form | Common name | Scientific name(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| palm spp. | Raphia sudanica | ||
| dryzone palm | Phoenix reclinata
| ||
| oil-palm (?) | Elaeis guineensis | ||
| oil-palm | Elaeis guineensis | ||
| oil-palm | Elaeis guineensis | ||
| fan-palm | Borassus aethiopum | ||
| Parkia biglobosa | |||
| Cola nitida, Cola acuminata | |||
| Cola nitida, Cola acuminata | |||
| silk-cotton tree | Ceiba pentandra | ||
| Khaya senegalensis | |||
| shea tree
| Vitellaria paradoxa | ||
| African olive, bush-candle | Canarium schweinfurthii | ||
| sorghum, guinea-corn | Sorghum bicolor | ||
| Pennisetum glaucum | also widespread in West Chadic | ||
| Digitaria exilis | in Mande, Atlantic, Gur, etc. | ||
| yam | Dioscorea spp. | ||
| Dioscorea bulbifera | widespread in Nigeria and western Cameroon | ||
| Colocasia esculenta | |||
| Vigna unguiculata | in Central Nigeria; Benue-Congo has *kón (Proto-Manenguba) and *-kʊ́ndè (Proto-Bantu) | ||
| Vigna subterranea | West Benue-Congo | ||
| Vigna subterranea | East Benue-Congo | ||
| Vigna subterranea | Plateau languages | ||
| calabash, gourd | Lagenaria siceraria
| ||
| Musa spp. | |||
| Musa paradisiaca | |||
| rice | Oryza glaberrima | Proto-Manding reconstruction; widespread form across West Africa |
Other plant names with widespread areal distributions in West Africa:
odum, iroko (in Ghana and Nigeria)[1]
Below are some quasi-reconstructions of Niger–Congo areal forms for animal names given by Blench (2007[19]), with some reconstructions also based on Blench (2006).[1]
| Niger–Congo form | Common name | Distribution | |
|---|---|---|---|
| lion | Mande-Congo | |
| lion | areal form | |
| hyena | Volta-Congo | |
| hyena | Proto-Benue-Kwa | |
| hyena | Central Nigeria | |
| elephant | Mande-Congo | |
| elephant | Benue-Kwa ?; also means 'tusk' | |
| elephant | Volta-Congo | |
| dog | Proto-Niger–Congo | |
| crocodile | Niger-Congo (Proto-Bantu has #-gandu) | |
| goat | Niger-Congo (Afroasiatic and Nilo-Saharan have #k-r-) | |
| Benue-Congo |