The Relevance Of Bantoid For The Reconstruction Of Proto-Bantu Verbal Extensions

Abstract

In this chapter the relevance of Bantoid for the reconstruction of verbal extensions in Proto-Bantu (PB) is assessed. The Bantoid or Wide Bantu languages are a body of some 150–200 languages positioned geographically between Nigeria and Cameroon. They do not form a genetic subgroup, but all are in some way related to Narrow Bantu, i.e. Bantu as referentially classified by Guthrie (1948; 1967–71), more closely than other branches within Benue-Congo. The most well-known subgroups are Dakoid, Mambiloid, Tivoid, Beboid, Grassfields, and Mbe-Ekoid. The chapter discusses the characteristics of verbal extensions in Bantoid and their possible relation to extensions attested in Narrow Bantu on the one hand, and in other branches of Benue-Congo on the other hand. Based on a review of the literature on verbal extensions in the various branches of Bantoid and on case studies of individual languages, the chapter concludes that a rich system similar to Narrow Bantu can be reconstructed for Proto-Grassfields, while in other Bantoid subgroups, it is now lost or much reduced. Only the causative -si is attested in a substantial number of subgroups. Some Bantoid extensions show significant segmental similarities to certain extensions in Narrow Bantu zone A languages, which have never been reconstructed for PB. It is argued that these extensions shared between the highest branches of the Bantu family tree warrant a revision of PB verb derivation suffixes.