Abstract
Since the general historical background to Bantu may not be familiar to all readers, it is briefly sketched here, then followed by an outline of the linguistic methodology used. (Narrow) Bantu languages are said to form a discrete family within Niger-Congo, the largest linguistic phylum in the world with over 1,500 languages (Gordon 2004). Proto-Niger-Congo was likely spoken at least ten thousand years ago.1 Within Niger-Congo, Bantu is a subpart of a grouping currently called Benue-Congo (Williamson and Blench 2000).