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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Cattle and cattle colour terminology in South Africa
Authors:Louwrens, Louis J.ISNI
Taljard, ElsabéISNI
Year:2008
Periodical:Anthropology Southern Africa
Volume:31
Issue:3-4
Pages:95-102
Language:English
Geographic term:South Africa
Subjects:language history
terminology
Khoikhoi languages
Bantu languages
prehistory
Abstract:A comparison between cattle colour terminology found in the Khoikhoi languages and that found in South African Bantu languages brings noticeable similarities to light, leading to the assumption that both the cattle and the terms used to describe their characteristic features were acquired by the southeastern Bantu speakers through contact with Khoikhoi pastoralists. The authors investigate the possibility that these terminological similarities are the result of mutual relatedness to a single progenitor set of terms, rather than of borrowing that took place in a restricted geographical area. To this end, three hypotheses are proposed, respectively termed the East African-link hypothesis, the Northern Botswana-link hypothesis, and the Sudan-link hypothesis. The authors argue that the latter, pointing to a common Nilotic proto source, represents the most plausible explanation for the origin of cattle colour terminology shared by, amongst others, the South African Bantu and Khoikhoi languages. Bibliogr., sum. [Journal abstract]
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