When ‘father’ means ‘husband’ and ‘sister’ means ‘cattle’: lexicalization of kinship terms and address forms in Tanzanian Bantu languages

Abstract

We articulate the lexicalization and extension of the meaning of kinship terms in Bantu languages spoken in Tanzania. We draw linguistic conclusion from proto-forms reconstructed in comparison with the maternal kin terms and affinal address forms in matrilineal and patrilineal societies. We assume that since societies (e.g. Luguru, Mwera, Ndendeule, Swahili) changed from matrilineal to patrilineal, the kin terms and address forms were altered to fit this transformation. Findings indicated that matrilineal societies (e.g. Luguru and Zigula) maintain the prominence of mtumba ‘paternal uncle’ irrespective of the socio-economic and political transformations which undermined the protagonist mother and elevated patriarchal relations. Findings also indicate that patrilineal societies (e.g. Ruuri and Sukuma) coin labels which indicate women as cattle and/or women as sources of children. While research in social sciences show diminishing matrilineal societies (e.g. Mwera and Sambaa), we argue in this paper that linguistically, this phenomenon unravels even societies whose matrilineal features appear to have been eroded by Islam, colonization and ujamaa policies.

Keywords:

• Address forms
• kinship terms
• lexicalization
• matrilineal
• patrilineal
• Tanzanian Bantu

REVIEWING EDITOR:

• Jeroen van de Weijer, College of International Studies, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China

SUBJECTS:

• Grammar, Syntax & Linguistic Structure
• Historical & Comparative Linguistics
• Linguistic Theory
• Semantics
• Sociolinguistics

1. Introduction

Our general aim for writing this paper is to account for the lexicalization of kinship terms and forms of address in the Bantu languages spoken in Tanzania. We understand that the theory of lexicalization of words is developed to account for introduction, expansion and narrowing of lexical entries in natural languages (Lehmann, 2002; Lightfoot, 2011; Traugott & Dasher, 2002). Speakers of a given language tend to extend the meaning of a lexical entry to cover a sense or senses for another phenomenon (Bloomfield, 1933; Traugott & Dasher, 2002). With regard to kinship terms, African languages developed a system that recognizes the ancestry relations as opposed to affinal affiliation. In this paper, we invoke the theory of lexicalization to account for the kinship system among the Bantu speaking people.

Our specific aim is two-fold. The first specific aim surrounds the comparative investigation of the lexicalization of kinship terms in matrilineal and patrilineal societies of Tanzania. Previous publications focused on socio-economic and cultural matters arising from kinship system in Africa (see Beidelman, 1967; Murdock, 1981; Phiri, 1983; Radcliffe-Brown & Forde, 1950). For instance, Murdock (1981) examined kinship relations based on socio-economic and political organizations of communities. In the current paper, we build on Murdock (1981) by looking at five parameters: mode of marriage (absence or presence of substantial amount of bride-price), family organization (independent or extended families), marital residence (stay with mother’s or father’s kinsmen), community organization (absence or presence of clans), and nature of patrilineal or matrilineal kin groups. While Murdock (1981, p. 106) characterize only Luguru and Yao as matrilineal societies, the literature shows that other matrilineal societies in Tanzania include Kagulu, Matumbi, Mwera, Ndonde, Ngindo, Nguu and Zaramo (Beidelman, 1967; Dondeyne et al., 2003; Sakamoto, 2008). Also, Murdock (1981, p. 106) identified many societies speaking Bena, Chagga, Digo, Hehe, Nyakyusa and Sukuma as patrilineal. But Sakamoto (2008) criticized that the demarcation between matrilineality and patrilineality is not a clear cut. In fact, some societies exhibit the features of both matrilineality and patrilineality in different aspects. For instance, it is argued by Swantz (1986, p. 110) that the matrilineal Zaramo recognizes that the biological descent follows the line of the mother, while the spiritual descent follows the line of the father. A similar situation is reported by Beidelman (1967, p. 60) that in Ngulu (matrilineal) humans are considered to be related to their matrilineal kin through blood and to their patrilineal kin through bones of the body. According to Beidelman, the absence of demarcation made it easy to shift from matrilineal to patrilineal especially with the coming of Islam religion.

Research has shown that the lexicalization of the kinship terms and address forms depend on whether the society is patrilineal or matrilineal (see Beidelman, 1974; Hammond-Tooke, 2004; Murdock George, 1965). Also, research has shown that the kinship terms exhibit a close relationship to address forms in Bantu languages (Lusekelo, 2021; Mbiti, 1975; Porter, 2004). In this line, we presume that patrilineal societies might have underscored terms relating to male descent, while matrilineal societies might have developed terms praising female descent. Given the foregoing discussion, we investigate the pairing of the lexical entries of the kinship terms in (1) and address forms in (2).

• (1) Kin terms

•   a. father and mother

•   b. full brother and full sister

•   c. grandfather and grandmother

•   d. maternal uncle and paternal aunt

• (2) Affinal terms

•   a. husband and wife

•   b. wife’s sister and husband’s brother

The second specific aim surrounds the transformation from matrilineal societies (mainly Luguru, Mwera, Makonde, Ndendeule and Swahili) to patrilineal societies due to the impact of Islamic culture, invasion of the patrilineal Ngoni, and establishment of Ujamaa policies which all underscored that property be owned by male heads of households (Babere & Mbeya, 2022; Dondeyne et al., 2003; Gallagher, 1973; Holden & Mace, 2003; Kongela, 2020; Nurse & Spear, 1986; Porter, 2004; Sakamoto, 2008; Sippel, 1998). Wember-Rashid (1975) argues that matrilineal societies of Makua, Yao, Makonde and Mwera lived matrilocally by clans with family clan heads called mwenye. In the new Ujamaa villages, the government guidelines for inheritance, custody to children, and succession to political office favoured patriliny over matriliny. The Ujamaa policy therefore contributed to social change which in turn influenced the transformation from matrilineal to patrilineal societies. Also changes of the status in each society occurred due to change in socio-economic status of the members of the society. This is exemplified by Swahili society. For instance, it is claimed that in most cases the relative strength of the patrilineal mode increases with the status of the individual in the society (Nurse & Spear, 1986, p. 92). It is our assumption that the change from matrilineal to patrilineal society may have been accompanied with the alteration of address forms. We therefore trace the changes of address forms from the angle of historical linguistics based on reconstructed lexical entries in Proto-Bantu (Guthrie, 1971).

Moreover, we examine the outcome of the contact of major official languages of Tanzania, namely Swahili and English, with the small Bantu languages spoken in Tanzania (Batibo, 2005). The language policy of Tanzania allows both Swahili and English to be used in formal settings and forbids usage of other Bantu languages in schools, campaigns, newspapers etc. (Muzale & Rugemalira, 2008; Petzell, 2012). Due to the exposure to official languages, many Bantu languages incorporate Swahili and English words. Given the fact that kinship terms are rarely borrowed except in prolonged contact situation (Haspelmath & Tadmor, 2009; Lusekelo, 2019), we want to look at the integration of kinship terms from Swahili into Tanzanian Bantu. In a way, we want to evaluate whether language endangerment occurs because kinship terms are rarely borrowed (Haspelmath & Tadmor, 2009). If we find there occurs penetration of kinship terms from Swahili into Bantu languages of Tanzania, then we will predict occurrence of endangerment.

In the course of examining the kinship terms, we want also to look at the terms used by earlier speakers of Bantu languages. In many cases, retention of the proto-forms substantiates the preservation of a specific culture. In the course of presentation of data, we will show retention of Guthrie’s (1971) kinship terms. This alone does not offer any fascinating data for discussion. However, semantic extensions do occur (Bloomfield, 1933), which provide an avenue to compare reflexes in the daughter Bantu languages. For instance, based on the reconstructions from Guthrie (1971) showed in (3), there are appears to be extensions of its meaning to “father”, “elder brother” and “husband” on the one hand, and “uncle” and “aunt” in Ruhaya and Runyambo.

• (3) a. *-bààbá  ‘father’            (Proto-Bantu, Guthrie, 1971)

•   b. *-taata    ‘father, my father’

•   c. *-taate   ‘father, my father’

• (4)  a. báába    ‘my father’            (Haya, Muzale, 2018)

•   b. báába   ‘my elder brother’

•   c. báaba    ‘my husband’

•   d. bâro     ‘your husband’

•   e. íba      ‘her husband’

•   f. ibáanye   ‘my husband’

•   g. táata     ‘my father’

•   h. táata     ‘my grandfather’

• (5)  a. iiba     ‘husband’            (Nyambo, Rugemalira, 2002)

•   b. táata    ‘father’

•   c. táata    ‘my father’

•   d. tatênto    ‘paternal uncle’

•   e. tatenkazi  ‘paternal aunt’

Based on the data in (4–5), we make three introduction remarks. The first remark concerns the semantic extension of the reconstructed paternal kinship term of *-bààbá ‘father’. The reflexes in the daughter languages extended some paternal senses to affinal address forms. This is the case of Ruhaya that contains the kinship terms bàaba ‘my husband’ and íba ‘my husband’. Similarly, Runyambo comprises of the term iiba ‘husband’ (Muzale, 2018; Rugemalira, 2002). In both languages, the maternal kinship term of “father” is being used as affinal address form for “husband”. From such semantic change, we coin the title of the paper as “father means husband”. Furthermore, Mbiti (1975, p. 105) argues that “marriage provides for new social relationships to be established between the families and relatives involved. It extends the web of kinship socially.” Since we already shown changes of kinship terms, and in line with Mbiti, we offer an outcome of a detailed examination of the semantic extension of the kinship terms so as to reveal the current situation in Tanzania.

The second remark also concerns the notion “father” that is a retention of the Proto-Form *-taata ‘father’. Although the sense of the origin term is pervasive across Tanzanian Bantu, semantic extension occurred with the outcomes of “grandfather”, “uncle” and “aunt”. The paper is devoted to analyse the semantic extensions and offer results of the extensions.

The third remark surrounds the contact situation in Tanzania that involves Swahili, English and many ethnic community languages (Batibo, 2005; Muzale & Rugemalira 2008; Myers-Scotton, 2006; Petzell, 2012). In the data-sets above, the reconstruction by Guthrie (1971) contains the proto-form *-bààbá ‘father’. We argue in this paper that in the daughter language Ruhaya, the Swahili loanword of baba ‘father’ is incorporated in the lexicon for the purpose of setting apart the other maternal term of taata ‘grandfather’ that also exist in the lexicon of Ruhaya. The paper provides evidence to substantiate the penetration of Swahili terms into the Tanzanian Bantu.

In the course of the presentation in the paper, we offer an inventory of kinship terms and address forms in Tanzanian Bantu which will help us to have a better understanding of the retention of the proto-forms. Also, we examine the semantic extension of kinship terms so as to evaluate whether maintenance of culture occurred or not. We show that semantic extension occurred.

2. Methodology

Murdock (1981) outlined the features of the matrilineal and patrilineal societies in the world. Based on these parameters, Tanzania is inhabited by both matrilineal and patrilineal societies. As we said above, in this paper, we concentrate on five parameters from Murdock (1981), namely marriage, family structure, residence, clan organization, and kin groups that are used to characterize the matrilineal and patrilineal peoples. To these parameters, we focus on linguistic evidence to substantiate whether a group is matrilineal, patrilineal or both.

Given that maternal kinsmen obtain high priority in matrilineal societies as opposed to male relatives in patrilineal societies, we presume that communities lexicalized, albeit differently, the kinship terms emanating from ancestry relations as opposed to address forms arising from marriage. The intent of the paper is to offer a comparative investigation of the kinship terms and address forms in these matrilineal societies: Kagulu, Luguru, Makonde, Makua, Mwera, Ndendeule, Ngindo, Nguu, Swahili, Yao, Zaramo and Zigua (BAKITA, 2017; Beidelman, 1967; Dondeyne et al., 2003; Gallagher, 1973; Murdock, 1981; Nurse & Spear, 1986; Porter, 2004; Sakamoto, 2008). We also examine the terms in patrilineal communities: Digo, Gogo, Hehe, Haya, Kahe, Kurya, Mashami, Nyakyusa, Nyambo, Ngoni, Ruuri, Sambaa, Simbiti, and Sukuma (Huber, 1968; Manji, 2000; Murdock, 1981; Rigby, 1966, 1967). In fact, the choice of languages to be included in the investigation had been purposeful.

The Language of Tanzania Project (LoT) published numerous dictionaries for the Bantu languages of Tanzania. It is unfortunate that only three matrilineal societies have been represented, namely Makonde (Rugemalira, 2013), Yao (Taji, 2017) and Zigula (Mochiwa, 2008). We extracted kinship terms for matrilineal societies from these sources¹. The rest of the LoT publications comprised patrilineal societies of the Gogo (Rugemalira, 2009), Jita (Mdee, 2008), Ngoni (Mapunda, 2016), Ruuri (Massamba, 2005), Ikiizo (Sewangi, 2008), Kahe (Kahigi, 2008), Zinza (Rubanza, 2008), Mashami (Rugemalira, 2008), Haya (Muzale, 2018), Nyambo (Rugemalira, 2002) and Simbiti (Mreta, 2008). Other available dictionaries also cover patrilineal societies of the Digo (Nicolle et al., 2008), Ndali (Botne, 2008), Daiso (Rugemalira et al., 2019), and Nyakyusa (Felberg, 1996), except Mbila and Reuster-Jahn (2016) who cover matrilineal Mwera.

In order to enrich the obtained list of kinship terms, we also worked with native speakers² of the Bantu languages of Tanzania. The matrilineal Luguru, Nguu and Zigula and patrilineal Hehe, Kurya, Nilamba, Safwa, Sambaa, Sukuma and Vunjo-Chagga had been purposefully selected. Also, purposeful sampling of the speakers was adopted for the Tanzanian linguists speaking these Bantu languages.

3. Lexicalization of the kinship terms

3.1. Terms for ancestry and grandparents

In most African societies, kinship is associated with ancestry. The affiliation of a member of the family involves households, families and clans (Mbiti, 1969, 1975). Specifically, Mbiti (1969, p. 137) pointed out that “it is also on genealogical basis that organizational divisions have evolved among different peoples, demarcating the larger society into clans, gates, families, households and finally individuals.” In addition, Mbiti (1975, p. 100) pointed out that “in every African society, people know how they are related to others through blood kinship and marriage relationships.” Therefore, the notion kinship or ancestry affiliation is conceptualized in Bantu languages. Our examination focused on the Guthrie’s (1971) reconstructed lexical entries of *-doŋgo ‘kinship’, *-dʊŋgo ‘tribe’, *-kodo ‘kinship; ancestry’ and *-tʊndʊ ‘tribe; group’.

Two points arise out of the lexicalization of these terms in Tanzanian Bantu, as illustrated in (6). The first point concerns two proto-forms of *-doŋgo and *-kodo which had been retained as the term kinship in Tanzanian Bantu. The data-sets show that the proto-form *-kodo is abundantly retained as -kolo or -koo ‘kinship’, while the proto-form *-doŋgo manifests as -(n)dugu or -longo ‘kinship; relative’.

Table

(6)	Zone and languages	Ancestry	Primary terms	Alternative terms
	Lake Victoria Bantu
	Ruuri	patrilineal	obuyiiri	—
	Ikiizo	patrilineal	ubuhiiri	—
	Jita	patrilineal	ubwibulwa	—
	Kurya	patrilineal	endoko	—
	Zinza	patrilineal	obudugu	—
	Haya	patrilineal	obuzaale	obukwatane
	Nyambo	patrilineal	obuzáare	obukwátani
	Simbiti	patrilineal	abebesáku	—
	Mount Kilimanjaro Bantu
	Mashami	patrilineal	ukoo ‘clan’	ibee ‘children of one mother’
	Lake Corridor Bantu
	Ndali	patrilineal	ubukamu ‘ancestry’	ichikolo
	Hehe	patrilineal	lukolo	—
	Nyakyusa	patrilineal	ikikolo	ubukamu ‘ancestry’
	Ngoni	patrilineal	ulongo	—
	Coastal Bantu
	Digo	patrilineal	ukoo	—
	Makonde	matrilineal	litawa ‘clan’	uhoo
	Yao	matrilineal	lukosyo ‘clan’	—
	Daiso	matrilineal	ukoo	—
	Swahili	matrilineal	ukoo	undugu
	Zigula	matrilineal	lukolo	—
	Central Tanzania Bantu
	Gogo	patrilineal	itúmbi ‘village’	mulongo ‘clan’
	Sukuma	patrilineal	bukoo	—
	Kagulu	matrilineal	lukolo	ikungugo
	Nilamba	patrilineal	muntua	—

Some claims from anthropologists need be linguistically corrected. For instance, with regard to -kolo, Beidelman (1971) thought matrilineal Kagulu has several terms for clan, which included lukolo, ikolo and kolo. In fact, only one root for all these entries is -kolo ‘clan’ hence the society has only a single term for clan. An alternative term is ikungugo, which has reference to descent.

The second point is on innovations which also unfold in an inventory of the terms for kinship in Tanzanian Bantu that is provided in (6). Some patrilineal societies of Lake Victoria area (e.g. Haya, Nyambo and Simbiti) lexicalized the concept of birth to refer to kinship or clan. For instance, the verb stems zaala or zaara has reference to place of birth in Haya and Nyambo. Therefore, place of birth is given priority in the identification of one’s descent.

Other societies innovated the name of a clan and/or village for kinship. This is the case of itumba innovated from itumbi ‘village’ in patrilineal Gogo and litawa in matrilineal Makonde. It appears that the Gogo might have developed from matrilineal society before the introduction of cattle to patrilineal one after the adoption of pastoralism. As a result, both terms of the native Bantu occur in the lexicon.

The matrilineal Makonde comprises of two terms. The term litawa originates from village land. But speakers may have adopted the word uhoo after the influence of the Islamic civilization and Ujamaa policies. Here the influence of Swahili occurred in societies settling in the coast of Tanzania. Therefore, the inherent form is litawa with uhoo as an alternative term believed to have been adopted from ukoo in Kiswahili.

The Guthrie’s (1971) reconstructed forms also provide meaning related to ancestry in relation to the kin term great-grandparents. Since Africans specifically most Bantu speaking communities worship ancestry (Mbiti, 1969), the best way to link ancestry with kinship is through the term for great-grandparents. This is achieved through reconstructed lexical entries for grandparents: *-kaaka, *-kooko and *-kodo (Guthrie, 1971). As the proto-form *-kodo has already been discussed, we will focus on the remaining two forms, while also discussing further the proto-form *-kodo. In fact, all three proto-forms manifest in the lexicons of Tanzanian Bantu as illustrated in the inventory of the kinship terms of grandparents in (7). Nonetheless, Tanzanian Bantu adopted these forms in different ways as discussed below.

Table

(7)	Zone and languages	Ancestry	grandfather	grandmother
	Lake Victoria Bantu
	Ruuri	patrilineal	jaji	kaka
	Ikiizo	patrilineal	sokoro	kooko
	Jita	patrilineal	saaja	kaaka
	Kurya	patrilineal	sokoro	guuku
	Zinza	patrilineal	guuku	kaaka
	Haya	patrilineal	ishenkuru	nyinenkuru
	Nyambo	patrilineal	swénkúru	mkáaka
	Mount Kilimanjaro Bantu
	Kahe	patrilineal	akwii	koko
	Mashami	patrilineal	sâ	kyeku
	Lake Corridor Bantu
	Chindali	patrilineal	usekulu	usekulu
	Ngoni	patrilineal	gogo-bambu	mbuya
	Kinyakyusa	patrilineal	umwisukulu, ubabu	umwisukulu, ubibi
	Coastal Bantu
	Digo	patrilineal	tsawe, babu	wawa, bibi
	Digo	patrilineal	babu	bibi
	Makonde	matrilineal	anambuye	vivi
	Yao	matrilineal	ambuje	—
	Daiso	matrilineal	chaawe	wawa
	Swahili	matrilineal	babu	bibi
	Zigula	matrilineal	baba	—
	Central Tanzania Bantu
	Gogo	patrilineal	kuku	mama
	Nilamba	patrilineal	shekulu	nokokulu
	Nguu	matrilineal	babu	bibi

The lexicalization of the terms exhibit binary division between grandmother and grandfather. We presume here that gender differentiation had been a central key in the division. On the one hand, some Tanzanian Bantu languages (e.g. patrilineal Zinza) adopted the term -ka(a)ka for grandmother, while taking -ku(u)ku for grandfather. On the other hand, other patrilineal Tanzanian Bantu (e.g. Ikiizo and Kurya) adopted the term -kuru for grandfather, while taking -ku(u)ku for grandmother.

In other Tanzanian Bantu, lexicalization process ignored gender differences of the grandparents. This happens in a number of patrilineal Tanzanian Bantu (e.g. Ndali, Nyakyusa, Nilamba and Ruhaya) which lexicalized the notion -kuru or -kulu for both grandmother and grandfather.

The matrilineal Swahili words of babu ‘grandfather’ and bibi ‘grandmother’, which unfold in coastal Bantu (e.g. patrilineal Digo, matrilineal Makonde and matrilineal Swahili), are oriental loanwords. Krumm (1940) pointed out that the word babu is a common address form for grandfather, while bibi is a respective address form for women. In Makonde, the term vivi ‘grandmother’ is borrowed to distinguish it from anambuye ‘grandfather’.

The great grandparents³ are taken as the source of family, kinship or clan. Research have shown that Bantu peoples trace their descent to grandparents, and rarely beyond that level (Biedelman, 1971; Mbiti, 1975; Murdock, 1981). That means, the relationship beyond great grandparents is rarely considered a family. Family ties fade away as generations pass.

3.2. Motherhood, fatherhood and parenthood

We already presented the proto-forms for father in (3) above. Here we add the terms for mother. Guthrie (1971) reconstructed the forms *-maa(yi) ‘mother’, *-yina ‘mother’ and *-yiya ‘mother’. Each of these forms appear in the daughter languages (8). The lexicalization of these two binary kin terms does not provide any fascinating point because most of the daughter languages retained one of these forms.

Table

(8)	Zone and languages	Ancestry	Mother	Father
	Lake Victoria Bantu
	Ruuri	patrilineal	maai	raata
	Ikiizo	patrilineal	yiya	baba
	Jita	patrilineal	maayi	laata
	Kurya	patrilineal	baba	tata
	Zinza	patrilineal	mawe	otata
	Nyambo	patrilineal	mááwe	táata
	Simbiti	patrilineal	máyo
	Mount Kilimanjaro Bantu
	Sambaa	patrilineal	mnaa	tate
	Vunjo	patrilineal	wama	awu
	Kahe	patrilineal	jejo	papa
	Lake Corridor Bantu
	Ndali	patrilineal	umaayi	utata
	Hehe	patrilineal	yuva	muvaha, daada
	Nyakyusa	patrilineal	juuba, mama	tata, baba
	Safwa	patrilineal	umayi	udaadi, ubaba
	Ngoni	patrilineal	nyina, mawu	dadi
	Coastal Bantu
	Digo	patrilineal	mayo	baba
	Daiso	matrilineal	mayo	papa
	Makonde	matrilineal	amama	atata, baba
	Yao	matrilineal	—	atati, baba
	Swahili	matrilineal	mama	baba
	Zigula	matrilineal	mame	—
	Central Tanzania Bantu
	Gogo	patrilineal	nyoko	sogo, baba
	Luguru	matrilineal	mai	aba, tata
	Sukuma	patrilineal	mayu	baba
	Nguu	matrilineal	wahu	taate
	Nilamba	patrilineal	mau	tata

Gender differentiation appears to be exchanged during the lexicalization process. For instance, data in (8) show that the patrilineal Kurya appears to have strangely adopted baba for mother, while the patrilineal Vunjo appears to have adopted awu for father.

Another partially interesting point for the datum in (8) concerns the Proto-Bantu form of *-bààbá ‘father’ that resembles in structure the Swahili word baba ‘father’. Given the contact situation in Tanzania and the influence of Swahili over Tanzanian Bantu, it appears the sound system of the word in Swahili penetrated into Tanzanian Bantu.

3.3. Sisterhood and brotherhood

Now we turn to kinship terms and address forms that may differentiate matrilineal and patrilineal societies, as illustrated in (9). In both matrilineal and patrilineal societies, reflexes of the Guthrie’s (1971) reconstructed proto-forms of *-dʊmbʊ ‘sister’ and *-kʊdʊ ‘older sister, older brother’ are abundantly lexicalized, except in Tanzanian Bantu societies of Lake Victoria area. In both matrilineal and patrilineal societies, these kin terms for sister and brother offer six interesting points discussed below.

Table

(9)	Zone and languages	Ancestry	full sister	full brother
	Lake Victoria Bantu
	Ruuri	patrilineal	omusubaati	omumura
	Ikiizo	patrilineal	umusubati	—
	Jita	patrilineal	umusubati	omundulume
	Kurya	patrilineal	omusubati	omura
	Zinza	patrilineal	omunyanyazi	omurumuna
	Haya	patrilineal	omunyaanyazi	baaba
	Nyambo	patrilineal	omunyányazi	mukúru
	Simbiti	patrilineal	—	omura
	Mount Kilimanjaro Bantu
	Sambaa	patrilineal	umbuje, wau	baba
	Vunjo	patrilineal	mshikyi	mshacha
	Lake Corridor Bantu
	Ndali	patrilineal	undada	umulumbu
	Hehe	patrilineal	muhinza	umamo
	Ngoni	patrilineal	mulumbu	mhaja
	Nyakyusa	patrilineal	ilumbu, unkulu	ilumbu, unkulu
	Safwa	patrilineal	yilumbu	yilumbu
	Coastal Bantu
	Digo	patrilineal	enehu, dada	enehu, kaka
	Daiso	matrilineal	—	ndugu
	Makonde	matrilineal	nkululo, dada	nkululo, kaka
	Yao	matrilineal	alumbu, daada	kaaka
	Swahili	matrilineal	dada	kaka
	Zigula	matrilineal	lumbu, dada	lumbu, kaka
	Central Tanzania Bantu
	Gogo	patrilineal	kalumbu	kalumbu
	Luguru	matrilineal	lumbu	lumbu
	Sukuma	patrilineal	nkulu	ilumbuye
	Nguu	matrilineal	dada	kaka
	Nilamba	patrilineal	gyule	mayu

One fascinating point concerns the label -mura that unfolds in the lexicons of the patrilineal societies in Lake Victoria region. The idiom developed with reference to the notion man or male person in Kurya, Jita, Zinza, Ruuri and Simbiti. The label for a female sibling is -subati, which developed from the notion of wedding or marrying away a daughter or female sibling. It is our assumption here that female siblings were equated to dowry or bride-price in these patrilineal societies. This phenomenon accentuates the rise of the patrilineal societies in which wealth is given priority at the expense of kinship relations (Babere & Mbeya, 2022; Dondeyne et al., 2003; Holden & Mace, 2003; Kongela, 2020).

Similarly, the patrilineal Haya, Nyambo and Zinza speaking communities developed the term -nyanyazi ‘sister’ for female siblings. The notion is construed from the marriage discourses in which female siblings are equated to bride-price for male siblings (see Huber, 1968; Manji, 2000)⁴. We postulate that in the patrilineal societies of Lake Victoria in Tanzania, the kinship term sister extended its meaning to cattle or bride-price.

The second interesting point is that in some patrilineal societies of Tanzania (Gogo, Nyakyusa and Safwa) the kin term of -lumbu is lexicalized for both sister and brother. Also, some matrilineal societies of Tanzania (e.g. Makonde) lexicalized the kin term of -kulu for both sister and brother. This is a small corner of indication that siblings receive equal weight irrespective of the gender differences.

The third point is that in some patrilineal societies of Tanzania (e.g. Sukuma) the kin term of -kulu is lexicalized for brother, while -lumbu designates sister. In fact, the notion -kulu bears the meaning elder or older, which is in line with superiority of the male gender over female gender in Sukuma society (Lusekelo & Manyasa 2022). In the patrilineal Nilamba, the proto-form *-kʊdʊ ‘older sister/brother’ semantically denote sister alone as gyule. The idiom mayu is lexicalized for brother.

Fourthly, the kin terms kaka ‘brother’ and dada ‘sister’ attested in Swahili are loans from oriental languages. Krumm (1940) found the words kaka ‘elder brother’ and dada ‘elder sister’ in Persian. The contact between Persian and Swahili Bantu speakers enabled the integration of these kin terms in Swahili. Then the terms transferred to Coastal Bantu namely Makonde, Nguu and Zigula. The contact between Swahili and Persia is traced back to 900 years ago when individuals and groups of people from Persia immigrated to the East African Coast (Osore & Ngugi, 2005). Also, the absence of such terms in Guthrie’s reconstruction evidenses their not being Bantu by origin.

The following fascinating point is that in the matrilineal society of the Yao in Tanzania, the kin term of -lumbu is lexicalized for sister. The kin term for brother is borrowed from Swahili as kaaka. This is one of the small corner of pointing out to the priority of sisterhood. The essence of brother is conceived after the penetration of Islam. Similarly, in the matrilineal Zigula, -lumbu has reference to both elder brother and elder sister. However, to underscore the essence of gender differentiation, they borrowed the term kaka ‘blood brother’ and dada ‘blood sister’ from Swahili. This choice is understandable because the inheritance and descent follow the blood brother of mothers.

Lastly, in the patrilineal Sambaa, the kin term of -lumbu is lexicalized for sister. The kin term for brother is borrowed from Swahili as baba. This is one of the small corners that point out to the priority of sisterhood even for the patrilineal Sambaa. Perhaps changes that occurred over a period of German administration, influence of the patrilineal Pare people and Ujamaa settlement propelled the Sambaa to shift from matrilineal community of Usambara Mountains and Tanga (Beidelman, 1967) to patrilineal society.

3.4. Maternal uncle and paternal aunt

We continue pointing out that societies speaking many Tanzanian Bantu form patrilineal societies which underscore descent from father (e.g. Haya, Hehe, Jita, Kurya, Mashami, Ngoni, Nyakyusa, Sukuma, Vunjo etc.). We identified less than twenty Tanzanian Bantu as matrilineal societies which foregrounds descent from mother (e.g. Kagulu, Luguru, Makonde, Ndengeleko, Nguu, Swahili, Yao, Zigula etc.). Given this division, it follows therefore that “paternal aunt” becomes significant in patrilineal societies, while “maternal uncle” becomes important in matrilineal ones. In fact, in matrilineal societies, maternal uncles make final decisions in social functions (Biedelman, 1971; Otlogetswe, 2020; Phiri, 1983). We presume that each community might have developed lexical terms that reflect the different patterns of addressing kin relations based on the status of the family and/or clan members.

Guthrie (1971) contains the proto-forms *-dʊme ‘brother of a woman’ and *-dʊmbʊ ‘sister’. As illustrated in (10), the former is rare in Tanzanian Bantu as it occurs in patrilineal societies of Lake Victoria as -rumi and matrilineal Yao as -lume. The latter requires detailed attention as elaborated below.

Table

(10)	Zone and languages	Ancestry	maternal uncle	paternal aunt
	Lake Victoria Bantu
	Ruuri	patrilineal	maama	seenga
	Jita	patrilineal	—	seengi
	Kurya	patrilineal	mamai	gakai
	Zinza	patrilineal	maami, marumi	—
	Haya	patrilineal	maarumi	tatenkazi
	Nyambo	patrilineal	máárimi	swénkazi
	Simbiti	patrilineal	—	sénge
	Mount Kilimanjaro Bantu
	Kahe	patrilineal	aulai	papa
	Sambaa	patrilineal	mtumba	mame, mnaangazi
	Vunjo	patrilineal	shanga	washirzu
	Lake Corridor Bantu
	Ndali	patrilineal	umwipwa	unaseenge
	Hehe	patrilineal	yaya	sangasi
	Ngoni	patrilineal	yaya	hongi
	Nyakyusa	patrilineal	umwipwa	unyasenga
	Safwa	patrilineal	ujomba, ugosi	ushangazi
	Coastal Bantu
	Digo	patrilineal	aphu	shangazi
	Makonde	matrilineal	anang’ala, njomba	mati
	Yao	matrilineal	akwelume, njomba	maati
	Swahili	matrilineal	mjomba, amu, ami	shangazi
	Zigula	matrilineal	mtumba	mamesangazi
	Central Tanzania Bantu
	Gogo	patrilineal	bulayi	nyinahenga, shanga
	Luguru	matrilineal	mtumba	shangatsi
	Sukuma	patrilineal	maamii	seengi
	Nilamba	patrilineal	mupua numba	shangazi
	Nguu	matrilineal	abulai	mameshangazi
	Kagulu	matrilineal	bulai	—

The notion -tumba attested in Luguru, Sambaa and Zigula has also reference to neighbourhood composed of homesteads (Rigby, 1967). For the typical matrilineal Luguru and Zigula, the term -tumba has reference to maternal uncle, which is plausible to have been lexicalized through semantic extension of the notion homestead because marriage in matrilineal societies involves settlement in maternal-land. Similarly, the -tumba that is attested in patrilineal Sambaa can help us deduce transformation from matrilineal Sambaa (similar to Bondei and Zigua neighbours) to patrilineal Sambaa families (similar to Asu or Pare neighbours). Sippel (1998) argues that the amount of bride-wealth among the Bena and Pare increased between 1910 and 1961. This implies that societies changed from traditional matrilineal (with less amount of bride-price) to modern patrilineal organisation (with more amount of bride-price).

The term bulai ‘maternal uncle’ is recorded in the matrilineal Kagulu, Nguu and Zigula peoples and patrilineal Gogo and Kahe peoples. Biedelman (1971) found that the term has reference to the head of matrilineal family in Kagulu. It is plausible to argue that the Gogo people reveals another feature of matrilineality, similar to their Kagulu neighbours. This linguistic evidence corroborates with anthropological findings by Rigby (1967) who found that the Gogo people do not reveal strong patrilineal descent. This claim finds its strongholds in the transformation of linguistic materials from purely matrilineal Gogo before the introduction of the cattle culture. Also, it is not very strange that the term occurs in the lexicon of the patrilineal Kahe people of Mount Kilimanjaro because societies tend to borrow terms across zones⁵.

In patrilineal Digo and Nilamba, the maternal uncle is lexicalized as aphua and mupua respectively. Since both societies lack the lexical term for paternal aunt, it would seem plausible to argue that they reveal some features of predominance of the protagonist head of the clan whose descent is from the mother’s side. This claim finds its support from the existing literature. In other Bantu speaking matrilineal societies in Africa, maternal uncle participates as a protagonist in many social and cultural activities (Otlogetswe, 2020; Phiri, 1983). For instance, Otlogetswe (2020) documents of the participation of maternal uncle in a reception of bride-wealth and organization of traditional wedding at his homestead and his absence may result in postponement of the wedding ceremony.

Lexical borrowing reveals some changes of kinship terms in the societies. Matrilineal societies (e.g. Makonde, Swahili and Yao) integrated the term mjomba ‘maternal uncle, mother’s brother’. Though Krumm (1940) does not discuss the penetration of this word into Swahili, the dictionary indicates that it is an Arabic loanword in the language (BAKITA, 2017) though this word seems not to relate to an Arabic term for maternal uncle which is ‘alkhal’. It is fascinating to note that matrilineal Makonde and matrilineal Yao had maintained an indigene name for maternal uncle, who had remained a protagonist in the matrilineal societies.

The kin term shangazi ‘paternal aunt’ is attested in lexicons of patrilineal Digo, Nilamba, Safwa and Swahili and matrilineal Luguru. Both BAKITA (2017) and Krumm (1940) do not identify the etymology of shangazi in oriental languages. However, the etymology of the term is not completely presented in this paper.

The lexicalization of kinship terms emanates from worship. This is evident in the term -senga or sengera that has reference to traditional worship in patrilineal Ikiizo and Simbiti. In this regard, the kin term for paternal aunt bears reference to the important affiliation related to worship or sacrifice. Since patrilineal societies tend to share sacred places in the land of their paternal descent (Murdock, 1981), the kinship term helps to confirm that these societies practice life under patrilineal organization.

In other patrilineal communities (e.g. Hehe), -senga ‘paternal aunt’ has reference to cattle. Among the Nyakyusa people, ikisenga ‘cow-calf-milk’ is attested. In line with historians, we want to argue that both Hehe and Nyakyusa reveal some features of matrilineal organization in which the wife’s side is given an upper-hand. One corner of evidence for matrilineal organization is providing of labour force on the in-laws farms of the wife’s parents. This occurred mainly before the spread of cattle economy. Holden and Mace (2003) argued that the spread of cattle economy subsidized the matrilineal societies which also adopted substantial amount of bride-wealth in terms of cattle. Hammond-Tooke (2004) pointed out that cattle are not indigene in Bantu societies rather they had been integrated from Nilo-Saharan Maasai. In Tanzania, both Datooga and Maasai had been pointed out to have influenced Bantu speakers (e.g. Gogo and Sukuma) to adopt large scale animal husbandry.

The abundance of the kin term mama ‘mother’ and mami ‘mother’ invites fascinating discussion. On the one hand, Krumm (1940) enlists the oriental words amu ‘father’s brother’ and ami ‘father’s brother’ attested in Swahili. Perhaps the Bantu speakers borrowed these terms from Arabic it also means paternal uncle. On the other hand, Guthrie (1971) enlists the proto-forms *-maa ‘mother’ and *-maayı ‘mother’. Probably Bantu speakers retained the proto-forms.

There are patrilineal societies (e.g. Haya and Nyambo) who have elevated the status of the paternal aunt to the status of female-father, namely tatenkazi and swenkazi nouns formed by tata ‘father’, and so ‘your father’ compounded with enkazi ‘female’ respectively. This is another small corner that indicates the predominance of male descent in these communities. This phenomenon is not unique to Lake Victoria Bantu because Hammond-Tooke (2004) found that Bantu speaking societies in Southern Africa developed kin terms that distinguish between female father (e.g. rrakadi in Setswana) and male mother (e.g. malume in Setswana).

This corner of patrilineal features is not supported by Sambaa people who have the term mnaangazi which translates as mother-aunt. Probably we should argue that this is another small corner that indicates matrilineal features in Sambaa. Their matrilineal neighbours of Nguu and Zigula integrated the term mameshangazi ‘paternal aunt’.

4. Lexicalisation of address forms in affinal relations

4.1. Wife and wifehood

Guthrie’s (1971) reconstructed these proto-forms: *-ka ‘wife’, *-kadi ‘female, woman, wife’, *-kadia ‘woman’ and *-ke ‘wife’. Reflexes in daughter languages include the terms -gasi, -kaji, -kari, -kasi and -kázi for *-kadi ‘woman, wife’, -ja and -ka for *-ka ‘wife’ and -che, -he and -ke for *-ke ‘wife’, as shown in (11). Both patrilineal and matrilineal societies retained native words, except a couple of coinages identified and discussed below.

Table

(11)	Zone and languages	Ancestry	Wife	Wife’s sister
	Lake Victoria Bantu
	Ruuri	patrilineal	omugasi mutwaarwa	omuramu
	Ikiizo	patrilineal	omokari
	Kurya	patrilineal	mokae	mokwe
	Zinza	patrilineal	omukaji
	Haya	patrilineal	omukázi	omurámu
	Nyambo	patrilineal	omukazi	omuramu
	Simbiti	patrilineal	omokae
	Mount Kilimanjaro Bantu
	Sambaa	patrilineal	mkazi, mvyee
	Vunjo	patrilineal	mka	usu
	Kahe	patrilineal	mka
	Lake Corridor Bantu
	Ndali	patrilineal	omukashi	umulaamu
	Hehe	patrilineal	mumama	shemeji
	Nyakyusa	patrilineal	nkasi, nkikulu	semeki
	Safwa	patrilineal	ushii	ushemeji
	Coastal Bantu
	Daiso	matrilineal	moka	—
	Digo	patrilineal	mchetu	—
	Makonde	matrilineal	njangu	—
	Yao	matrilineal	vamkwa	alamu
	Swahili	matrilineal	mke	shemeji
	Zigula	matrilineal	mkaza
	Central Tanzania Bantu
	Gogo	patrilineal	mucekulu	mulamu
	Luguru	matrilineal	mwihe, pinga	mlamu
	Sukuma	patrilineal	nkima	washi
	Nilamba	patrilineal	musungu	shamba
	Nguu	matrilineal	mkazi

Patrilineal societies (e.g. Nyakyusa, Sambaa and Sukuma) coined the term woman as a reference point to wife. This option is understandable because wives remain central in the family.

The patrilineal Ruuri have coined a term related to a relative who is brought to the family through the marriage as in term mutwaarwa. The verbal stem is twaara ‘bring’. Therefore, marriage plays a significant role in the lexicalization of this affinal address form.

The patrilineal Hehe coined the term mumama, which closely related to mother. Our assumption here is that the Hehe relate wife to mother in line with child bearing. Thus, wives are characterized as providers of children.

The sister of the wife is generally called -lamu or -ramu, which is similar to the address form for husband’s brother (see section 4.2). Here both wife’s sister and husband’s brother appear to obtain equal status in matrilineal societies (e.g. Luguru and Yao) and patrilineal ones (e.g. Gogo, Ndali and Ruuri).

Krumm (1940) identified the word shemegi ‘brother-in-law’ being of oriental origin. Data-sets presented in this paper reveal that the word is integrated in Tanzanian Bantu as semeki or shemeji for both sister-/brother-in-law. It is argued by Swantz (1979, p. 98) that the Zaramo chief Pazi Kilama gave his sister as a wife to a shomvi (a person of Shiraz extraction) leading into them calling the shomvi shemeji. This was after the Zaramo had contacts with the Arab-Persian traders. It penetrated into Swahili, and perhaps Yao and Zigula due to prolonged contact with the Persians and Arabs (Nurse & Spear, 1986). It is abundantly used in rural Tanzania in both matrilineal and patrilineal societies.

4.2. Husband and husbandhood

Guthrie (1971) reconstructed the proto-forms *-dʊme ‘male, husband’ and *-dʊmı ‘male, husband’ which are attested as -lume, -dume, -me and -mii in Tanzanian Bantu, as illustrated in (12). This is attested in matrilineal Luguru and Makonde⁶ and patrilineal Digo, Jita, Ruuri, Ndali, Ruuri and Safwa.

Table

(12)	Zone and languages	Ancestry	husband	husband’s brother
	Lake Victoria Bantu
	Ruuri	patrilineal	omurume	omuramu
	Ikiizo	patrilineal	umusube	—
	Jita	patrilineal	omulume	omulamu
	Kurya	patrilineal	mosacha	mokwe
	Zinza	patrilineal	omukwata	—
	Haya	patrilineal	omushaija	omurámu
	Nyambo	patrilineal	omuséija	omurámu
	Simbiti	patrilineal	omushásha	omókwe
	Mount Kilimanjaro Bantu
	Sambaa	patrilineal	muuma, mgoshi	shemeji
	Vunjo	patrilineal	mii	lautani
	Kahe	patrilineal	mii	lautanyi
	Lake Corridor Bantu
	Ndali	patrilineal	umulume	umulamu, semeki
	Hehe	patrilineal	mubaba	shemeji
	Ngoni	patrilineal	mngwana	mulamu
	Nyakyusa	patrilineal	undume	undamu
	Safwa	patrilineal	unume	ushemeji
	Coastal Bantu
	Digo	patrilineal	mlume	—
	Daiso	matrilineal	mrome	mlamu
	Makonde	matrilineal	mnume, nng’anda	—
	Yao	matrilineal	—	alamu
	Swahili	matrilineal	mme	shemeji
	Zigula	matrilineal	mgosi	shemeji
	Central Tanzania Bantu
	Gogo	patrilineal	mulume, mutozi	mulamu
	Luguru	matrilineal	mlume, mmale	mlamu
	Sukuma	patrilineal	ngoshi	washi
	Nilamba	patrilineal	mugosia	mulamwi
	Nguu	matrilineal	mgosi	—

The affinal kin of husband has attracted several address forms. The patrilineal Nilamba and Sukuma and matrilineal Nguu and Zigula lexicalized the term -gosi ‘man’ for the husband. We argue in this paper that address forms had been formed for the affinal terms in Tanzanian Bantu.

Patrilineal societies of Gogo and Kurya lexicalized the essence of marriage (by bride-wealth) as the name of the husband. Gogo has the verb toza ‘marry’ while Kurya has the verb sacha ‘marry’. The semantic extension points towards the payment of substantial amount of wealth by the paternal family.

Some patrilineal societies did not lexicalize the kinship term for husband, rather they developed an address form. Our data has three cases. In patrilineal Zinza, the verb kwata ‘catch’ derives the address form for husband. In patrilineal Haya, an adjective shaija ‘male’ derives the address form for husband. In patrilineal Ikiizo, an adjective sube ‘male’ derives the address form for husband.

The address form of lautani ‘husband’s brother’ and lautanyi ‘husband’s brother’ in Mount Kilimanjaro Bantu appears to have been borrowed from Nilo-Saharan languages. It occurs as sintaani ‘wife of brother’ in Akie (Dorobo)⁷.

5. Conclusion

The findings of our investigation collaborated with the postulation that matrilineal societies shifted to patrilineal ones. Both Beidelman (1967) and Murdock (1965, 1981) identified the belt of matrilineal societies in Tanzania to include the coastal area (e.g. the habitation of the Mwera, Ngindo, Swahili, Zaramo and Zigula), the River Ruvuma area (e.g. the habitation of Makonde, Makua, Ndendeule and Yao), and Uluguru Mountains and Morogoro area (e.g. the homesteads of the Kagulu, Luguru and Nguu). Literature have shown changes from matrilineal Ndendeule, Mwera and Luguru to patrilineal societies (Gallagher, 1973; Holden & Mace, 2003; Sakamoto, 2008). Changes in organization structures have implications to property ownership in rural Tanzania because patrilineal societies allow husbands (male descent) to own land and wealth in households (Babere & Mbeya, 2022; Kongela, 2020). As a result, matrilineal societies reveal a shift in ownership of property, which have direct influence on the kinship terms and address forms adopted in the communities.

One angle of linguistic evidence substantiates that the Gogo people lexicalized matrilineal terms of (a)bula(y)i ‘maternal uncle’, which is common in matrilineal Kagulu, Nguu and Zigula. The term -tumba ‘maternal uncle’, common in matrilineal people, is attested in patrilineal Sambaa. We want to establish that Gogo and Sambaa exhibited change from matrilineal to patrilineal societies. The Gogo acquired both cattle and patrilineal features from the Nilo-Saharan groups (Datooga and Maasai). The Sambaa who did not pay substantial amount of bride-wealth acquired patrilineal features from their Pare (Asu) neighbours. Today, these two patrilineal societies retain a few kinship terms and address forms which point to their matrilineal origin.

The nexus between kinship terms and address forms surround the terms husband and wife. In each term, the native kin word with semantic notion husband (i.e. -lume) or wife (i.e. -kasi) is lexicalized. Alternatively, address forms have been extended the meaning to mean husband (i.e. -gosi ‘man’) and wife (i.e. -kikulu ‘woman’). This kind of semantic extensions has not been discussed in previous publications. Therefore, the discussion in this paper contributes to semantic extension of kinship and affinal terms across Tanzanian Bantu. In turn, this shows some signs of change from matrilineal to patrilineal societies.

The penetrations of the oriental terms of bibi ‘grandmother’ and babu ‘grandfather’ for grandparents, kaka ‘elder brother’ and dada ‘elder sister’ for siblings, and shangazi ‘paternal aunt’ and mjomba ‘maternal uncle’ help to understand the outcome of the contact of people with Islamic culture (Arabs and Persians) with local matrilineal people in Tanzania. Swahili Bantu had been matrilineal but changed to patrilineal due to Islamic culture (Nurse & Spear, 1986). Since Swahili enjoys prestige and impacts upon Tanzanian Bantu, the penetration of the oriental words through Swahili into Tanzanian Bantu perpetuated the influence of Islamic culture on the kinship system in Tanzania.

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Additional information

Notes on contributors

Amani Lusekelo

Amani Lusekelo, Associate Professor of Linguistics – University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), holds a PhD (African Languages and Literature) from University of Botswana. He teaches contact linguistics, linguistic field methods, linguistic morphology, African languages, and syntax. He researches morphosyntax, Bantu noun phrase, lexical borrowing, ethnobotany, and linguistic landscapes. Over the last decade, he supervised to completion ten doctoral students, and currently has six students.

Lea Mpobela

Lea Mpobela, Senior Lecturer of Linguistics – St. Augustine University of Mwanza (Tanzania), holds a PhD (Linguistics) from University of Dar es Salaam. She coordinates graduate course in the university. Currently, she researches morphosyntax of Bantu languages mainly Runyambo. Her publications include properties of lexical categories, sound patterns of Runyambo, and pragmatics.

Notes

1 Since most of the linguistic materials presented in the paper come from LoT publications and other dictionaries, for economy of space we will avoid repeating the references when providing kinship terms and address forms.

2 We are grateful to the following linguists who supplied kinship terms and forms of address in their mother tongues provided in brackets: Claudio Kisake and Simon Msovela (Kihehe), Loveluck Muro (Machame-Chagga), Luinasia Kombe (Vunjo-Chagga), Mary Charwi and Resani Mnata (Kurya), Micky Mgeja (Sukuma), Stella Kiula (Nilamba), Pendo Mashota (Safwa), and Salehe Kaoneka (Sambaa). Nyakyusa data were given by first author, while Nyambo data-sets were provided by second author.

3 We recorded the terms sa, tsawe and jaji for grandfather in Digo, Jita, Mashami and Ruuri and mbuya or mbuja for both grandmother and grandfather. However, we have not yet traced the etymologies of these kinship terms.

4 Further scrutiny of the kinship term is required because it contains some pragmatic use based on the speakers’ context of marriage.

5 Further investigation of the Bantu to Bantu borrowing is required.

6 Makonde reveals another term nng’anda ‘husband’ that derives from homestead. Its etymology is not completely exhausted.

7 Further research is required for this term.