Modern Bantu

Modern Bantu is an attempt to revive Proto-Bantu for modern use. Instead of attempting to fit the typology of modern Bantu languages or act as an auxiliary language, Modern Bantu is like other proto-language revival attempts.

Modern Bantu does not try to be exactly what Proto-Bantu was, for this task is impossible. As with any reconstructed proto-language, we do not know many of the characteristics that were present in Proto-Bantu, and we likely retain only a fraction of its vocabulary. Therefore, Proto-Bantu is not what Modern Bantu strives to be. Instead, Modern Bantu attempts to be what Proto-Bantu would have be like if it still existed in a form similar to its ancient counterpart. Modern Bantu is set out as a highly conservative language that accepts only a scant few borrowings, but still has much of the terms necessary to be spoken in the modern world.

Vowels
Modern Bantu has a 7 vowel system. Note that Modern Bantu does not have vowel length; if two of the same vowel are placed occur next to each other, each is treated as a separate syllable.

Consonants
Modern Bantu has 12 basic consonant sounds, with an additional 8 prenasalized sounds.
 * /d/ is realized as [d] before high vowels and when prenasalized, and [l] in all other environments. Although they are the same phoneme, the difference is expressed in writing.
 * /s/ is realized as an alveolar fricative in all environments, but it is placed in the palatal column for historical and morphophonological reasons (e.g. the alteration between muyájú "yawn" and -yásama "to yawn").
 * /ɟ ~ d͡ʒ/ and its prenasalised counterpart may can be pronounced as a plosive or an affricate.
 * /j/ and /ɟ ~ d͡ʒ/ are made separate phonemes, despite not being separate in many reconstructions of Proto-Bantu. This is because there are many modern reflexes in many Bantu languages that are difficult to explain without this split. However, there are no minimal pairs for these two sounds.
 * Although it is phonetically a palatal nasal, from a phonemic perspective /ɲ/ can be considered a prenasalised version of /j/, as it appears whenever /j/ is prenasalised.

Tone
Modern Bantu has two tones: high and low.

Orthography
The orthography of Modern Bantu mostly reflects the protoforms. Aside from the prenasalised sounds, there is one digraph: ⟨ny⟩ for /ɲ/. It is considered a separate letter in Modern Bantu. The one redundancy is with the phoneme /d/: it is written as ⟨d⟩ when realized as [d] and ⟨l⟩ when realised as [l]. The vowels are also represented slightly strangely, in modern terms: /i/ and /u/ are written as ⟨i̧⟩ and ⟨u̧⟩ with cedillas, while /ɪ/ and /ʊ/ are written as regular ⟨i⟩ and ⟨u⟩; this is done for historical reasons. Tone is written with an acute above the vowel, and the low tone is left unmarked.

Grammar
Note that nearly all of this section is applicable to Proto-Bantu as well as Modern Bantu; despite deviating from Proto-Bantu in terms of vocabulary, Modern Bantu attempts to stick as close as possible to what can be reconstructed for Proto-Bantu grammar. As a language, Modern Bantu is generally head-initial. The basic word order is SVO, and all descriptors follow what they modify. Modern Bantu is prepositional, though it only has one true preposition. There are two main structures that define the grammar of Modern Bantu: the noun class system, and the verb system.

Noun Classes
Modern Bantu nouns are built from noun roots with the addition of the noun class prefixes. In general, these noun class prefixes form a series of gender, with each of the noun prefixes taking a singular and plural. Although there many schemes have been devised to define the semantics of the noun classes, it is generally accepted that the noun class system is somewhat arbitrary. The classes will be detailed by their prefixes, and some of the most likely Proto-Bantu forms will be listed:

Mu-Ba Class
The mu-ba class, known numerically as class 1 in the singular and class 2 in the plural, is the most semantically coherent class in Modern Bantu. It refers exclusively to people, though not all nouns that have human referents are placed in this class: There are also derived agent words in this class, and this is usually done by the addition of the suffix -i to a verb: There is also a subset of nouns in this class known as class 1a. They do not take the normal mu- prefix but they do take the same agreements as the mu class and the ba- prefix in the plural. Almost all of these are kinship terms:

Mu-Mi class
The mu-mi class is one of the most semantically varied classes in Modern Bantu, and is class 3/4 numerically. Though it's prototypical meaning is listed as "trees", its primary semantic field is long objects: Trees also fall into this category. Though there are few reconstructable roots for trees, roots for trees and other plants can be regularly derived from fruits by changing their class to the mu-mi class. Because very few fruits are reconstructable for Proto-Bantu proper, this rule is mostly applied to loans: Intangible or diffuse substances are another primary semantic field that falls into the mu-mi class: Finally, there are several miscellaneous nouns that fall into this class:

I̧-Ma Class
Known as classes 5 and 6. Although the traditional semantic field of this class is stated to be fruits, this is slightly misleading. Only two fruits can be truly reconstructed for Proto-Bantu: i̧konde "banana" and i̧tanga "melon", and they are both indeed in this class (this is somewhat complicated by the fact that the word for fruit itself, kibu̧má, is in the ki-bi class). However, the primary semantic field of this class is much more broad, and generally comprises objects that are rounded or protruded in some way: There are many liquids which are plurale tantum in the ma class: Like the mu-mi class, there are many miscellaneous nouns:

Ki-Bi̧ Class
Although the semantic field of classes 7 and 8, the ki-bi̧ class, is said to be inanimates, most inanimate objects in Modern Bantu do not fall into this class. Though its primary semantic field is utilitarian objects, it also includes words for despised objects or people: A more modern use is to derive new inanimate objects from verbs. Though some of these are attested in a few Bantu zones, many of these are calqued from modern Bantu languages:

N Class
The N Class, known as classes 9 and 10, is the largest class in Modern Bantu. Its prefix is a homorganic nasal, realized as m, n, or ny depending on the first consonant of the root. It is unique in that its prefix does not change for singular and plural, though verbs and other parts of speech do inflect differently.

The primary semantic field of this class is animals. The vast majority of animals are in this class, and much of this class is composed of animals: Other than animals, this class appears to be the default class for nouns not assigned to other classes, and as such there are numerous miscellaneous nouns in this class:

Vocabulary Building
The vast majority of the vocabulary of Modern Bantu is derived directly from Proto-Bantu. Vocabulary that is spread through at least 3 of Guthrie's Bantu regions is prioritized, though on occasion items present in a lower amount of regions is used. However, there are several strategies that allow for the creation of words that are not directly attested in Proto-Bantu:

Borrowing
There are already some words considered Proto-Bantu that likely have a foreign origin: i̧baata "duck" from Arabic baṭṭ, mpi̧di̧pi̧di̧ "pepper" from Persian ''pelpel. ''Therefore, some more words have selectively been loaned into Modern Bantu. These loanwords have mostly originated in Arabic and spread by means of Swahili, and are few and far between. All loanwords can in fact be listed here: As can be seen, these words generally refer to food, crops, or goods. All other words in Modern Bantu are derived from Proto-Bantu in some fashion.
 * mukási̧ "scissors" from Arabic maqaṣ
 * musu̧madi̧ "nail" from Arabic mismār
 * i̧nanási̧ "pineapple" from Portuguese ananás
 * i̧soko "market" from Arabic sūq
 * i̧tála "lamp" from Swahili taa
 * i̧yéma "tent" from Arabic ḵayma
 * i̧yembe "mango" from an Indo-Iranian language
 * madí̧ "money" from Arabic māl
 * kitábu "book" from Arabic kitāb
 * mésá "table" from Omani Arabic mēz
 * mbatata "sweet potato" from Portuguese batata
 * ngadi̧ "vehicle" from Hindi gāṛī
 * ngamí̧la "camel" from Arabic jamal
 * nsabú̧ni̧ "soap" from Arabic ṣābūn
 * nsáni "plate" from Arabic ṣaḥn
 * nsu̧kadi̧ "sugar" from Arabic sukkar
 * kabati̧ "cupboard" from English cupboard
 * kapi "coffee" from English coffee
 * kapu̧tu̧la "shorts" possibly from Chichewa kubutula
 * bundú̧ki̧ "gun" from Omani Arabic bunduq

Calquing
Calquing can be used to derive new words. These words are most often calqued from existing Bantu languages, or from European languages.

Repurposing
Redundant words that existed in Proto-Bantu can be repurposed to serve new functions. While kayuni is the most common general word for bird, the redundant word, ndege can be repurposed to mean "airplane", despite the fact that it had no such meaning in Proto-Bantu. Often, a word can keep both its ancient meaning and a more modern meaning. The word mupi̧la, for example, meant rubber in Proto-Bantu, and it still means rubber in Modern Bantu. However, like in many modern Bantu languages, mupi̧la can also refer to a ball used for sports.

Derivation
While many derivations do go back to Proto-Bantu, derivations from other Bantu languages can be freely taken into modern Bantu, even if the equivalent Proto-Bantu derivation was not widespread.

Vocabulary
For a dictionary, see: here.