Sorting out Proto-Bantu *j

Abstract

The most problematic of the consonants that Meeussen reconstructed for Proto-Bantu (PB) phonology is *j, for which Guthrie used both *j and *y. Earlier generations had also sometimes omitted either in favour of vowel-initial roots. Recent progress in establishing a solid family tree of the Bantu languages allows the evidence to be re-evaluated based on phylogenetic significance, especially with the help of more data from the North-Western Bantu branches. It has long been recognised that Meeussen’s *j has various outcomes throughout the Bantu area based on phonological or morphological environments. The primary method of this chapter is to sort out the evidence for PB *j into different phonological and morphological environments, and then consider possible scenarios for reconstruction of those categories. In most roots with initial *j, there is no support for a PB stop and an initial vowel or glide should be reconstructed. That includes common verbs like *(y)àd ‘spread’ and *(y)ʊ́m ‘be dry’, and nouns like *ícò ‘eye’ or *ʊ́bà ‘sun’. Most modern reflexes in /z/ or /j/ are the result of developments at morpheme boundaries after the PB stage. Both *ny and *nj/nz are reconstructed as distinct phonemes.