Ciokwe
/tʃiˈɔːkweɪ/noun
A Bantu language spoken chiefly in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, also known as Chokwe or Cokwe.
Did you know?Ciokwe is the self-name or an indigenous name associated with the Chokwe language and people, while spellings such as Chokwe, Cokwe, and Tchokwe reflect different European attempts to represent its sounds.
Etymological Timeline
Precolonial period
Bantu
Ciokwe
“Indigenous name associated with the Chokwe language and its speakers; the deeper internal etymology is uncertain.”
19th Century
Portuguese records
Quioco
“Colonial Portuguese spelling used for the Chokwe people and language.”
19th–20th Century
European usage
Tchokwe
“Variant spelling created to represent the language name in European orthographies.”
20th Century
English
Chokwe
“Standard English ethnonym and language name in much modern scholarship.”
Modern English
English
Ciokwe
“A recognized alternate name for the Chokwe language, especially in linguistic and Africanist contexts.”