Bantu

Hundreds of related languages from Cameroon to the Cape inherited one word for 'people', from Proto-Bantu *bàntʊ̀: abantu in Zulu, watu in Swahili, bato in Lingala. The linguist Wilhelm Bleek made it the name of the whole family, and scholars everywhere took up his term.

Weakest linkCertain

The road to English

From Proto-Bantu to Xhosa

From Proto-Bantu to Tswana

From Proto-Bantu to Kikongo

From Proto-Bantu to Swahili

From Proto-Bantu to Lingala

From English to German

From English to French

From English to Portuguese

From English to Spanish

From English to Russian

3000 BCEProto-Bantu

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.

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