Cicokwe
/tʃiˈtʃɔkwe/noun
Cicokwe is a name for the Chokwe language, a Bantu language spoken mainly in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia.
Did you know?The opening element ci- is a widespread Bantu noun-class marker used in names for languages, linking Cicokwe structurally with names such as Chichewa and Chishona.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Bantu
Proto-Bantu
*ki-
“A noun-class prefix associated with things, artifacts, and languages”
Early Bantu
Bantu
*ci-
“A regional reflex of the Proto-Bantu prefix, commonly used in language names”
Precolonial period
Chokwe
Cokwe
“The ethnonym identifying the Chokwe people; its deeper origin is uncertain and disputed”
19th–20th Century
Portuguese/English
Cokwe / Chokwe
“Names used for the people and their language in colonial and scholarly records”
Modern English
English
Cicokwe
“A name for the Chokwe language, formed with the Bantu language prefix ci-”