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 Periodical article |
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| Title: | On the reconstruction of bantu technology and its vocabulary |
| Author: | Bennett, P.R. |
| Year: | 1985 |
| Periodical: | Muntu: revue scientifique et culturelle du CICIBA |
| Issue: | 3 |
| Pages: | 121-135 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | Subsaharan Africa |
| Subjects: | technical terminology Bantu languages |
| Abstract: | Reconstructions of Proto-Bantu vocabulary contain a remarkably low proportion of items reflecting Proto-Bantu life and culture. Whatever the area of Bantu technical vocabulary examined, one finds a small number of more or less convincing reconstructions, which in no case approximates the range of terms found in one of the modern languages. The terms that can be reconstructed, such as 'boat', 'house', 'pot', 'sew', 'trap', 'fishhook', often imply the presence of a craft or industry which must have required the use of a larger range of nominal and verbal vocabulary. There are several reasons why these terms cannot be reconstructed: the dearth of data in some areas; the inaccessibility of data which are available; the mutability of technical terminology; the origins of many of the terms, with derivation, semantic extension, and borrowing as important sources for most subsets of Bantu technical vocabulary, suggesting a significant proportion of localized and untraceable innovations. It is clear that constant and spontaneous replacement has been occurring in the Bantu languages since earliest times. This has obvious implications for the Bantu languages of today and for those involved in official attempts to 'standardize', 'purify', 'preserve' or 'modernize' them. Bibliogr., sum. in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. |