Reconstruction:Proto-Yoruboid/á-byá

This Proto-Yoruboid entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Yoruboid

Etymology

From the root *byá. Synonymous forms in Yoruba dialects suggest that there many have been several Proto-Yoruboid terms for dog, from different roots, but this is likely the older term. The Yoruboid root *byá is an altered form of the root present across many West African languages, perhaps from Westerman's reconstructed root Proto-Atlantic-Congo *-bwa or Proto-Atlantic-Congo *-bʊa. See potential cognates Edoid forms, Yekhee agua, Edo awa, (Proto-Edoid *A-bhωa), Oko-Eni-Osayen úwó, maybe Gbagyi emwi and Idoma ewo, Ibibio ewua, Proto-Lower Cross River *é-búá, Proto-Plateau *-bwu, Proto-Oti-Volta *ba, Dagbani baa, Proto-Grassfields *búà, and perhaps Ega ʊ̀ve, Gun àvún. A change from /b/ to /v/ is widespread in many world languages, see Betacism. The Yoruboid term is likely cognate with these terms as the change from /d͡ʒa/ from /ba/ or /bwa/ is attested in Bantu languages, see Proto-Bantu *mbʊ́à and the Nguni branch of Bantu, Xhosa ínjá.

Domestic dogs are exotic to Africa, having first been domesticated from Eurasian gray wolves between 15,000 and 40,000 years ago (Vilà et al. 1997; Germonpré et al. 2009). Little is currently known about the origin of African domestic dogs, genome-wide analyses have estimated that a subset of ancestral dogs migrated toward the Middle East, Europe, and into Africa ∼15 000 years ago. Research data used by comparing the DNA of dogs from Europe, China, and Africa suggested that about 14,800 years ago (between 13,368–14,832 years), dogs migrated to Africa and intro-gressed with African golden wolves, fitting with the linguistic timeline that the Proto-Niger-Congo or Proto-Atlantic-Congo speakers probably had or were familiar with dogs.

This term is an example of the systematic shift from /bʲ/ in Proto-Yoruboid to /d͡ʒ/ in Yoruba and Edekiri lects, and /z/ in Olukumi and Ao Yoruba, with the maintaining of /bʲ/ in Igala.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /á.bʲá/

Noun

*á-byá

1. dog

Descendants

• Igala: ábiá
• Proto-Edekiri: *á-já
  • Proto-Yoruba: *a-já
    • Olukumi: aza
    • Ifè: adzá
    • Yoruba: ajá
    • Ao Yoruba: azá

Related terms

• *gbó (“to bark”)