Cokwe
/ˈtʃɔːkweɪ/noun
Cokwe is an alternative English spelling for the Chokwe people and their Bantu language of Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia.
Did you know?Cokwe is also written Chokwe, Tchokwe, or Kioko; the varying spellings reflect Portuguese and other European attempts to represent an African sound system.
Etymological Timeline
Precolonial period
Cokwe
Cokwe / Chokwe
“Indigenous ethnonym and language name; the deeper lexical origin is not securely established in surviving written sources.”
19th Century
Portuguese
Quioco
“Portuguese form used for the Chokwe people and their language.”
19th–20th Century
Portuguese
Tchokwe
“Colonial-era spelling representing the ethnonym and language name.”
20th Century
English
Chokwe
“Standard English form for the people and language.”
Modern English
English
Cokwe
“Alternative standardized spelling used especially in linguistic and regional contexts.”
Explore more surprising origins