| 释义 |
Bantu, a. and n.|ˈbæntuː, bænˈtuː, -ɑː-|
[In certain Bantu dialects, pl. (also abantu, etc.) of -ntu man.]
A. adj. Of or pertaining to an extensive group of negroid peoples inhabiting the equatorial and southern regions of Africa, and of the languages spoken by them; originally given to the family of languages by W. H. I. Bleek.
B. n.
1. ellipt. as pl. Bantu people.
2. Any of the languages spoken by them.
1862Bleek Compar. Gram. S. Afr. Lang. i. 4 The South African division of the Bâ-ntu family of languages consists of one large middle body, occupying almost the whole known territory between the tropic of Capricorn and the equator. Ibid. 11 The abandonment in the Bâ-ntu languages of such syllabic elements as are more difficult of pronunciation. 1880Encycl. Brit. XIII. 820/2. 1884 Ibid. XVII. 319/1. 1926 Contemp. Rev. Mar. 298 The Bantu, or Native races, numbering 4,698,000. 1948M. Guthrie Classif. Bantu Lang. 19 Although languages of this kind cannot be called Bantu owing to their not having the complete prefix system we have described as a criterion, their relationship to the Bantu languages is sufficiently close for them to be taken into account. We shall therefore call them ‘Sub-Bantu’. 1951R. Firth Elem. Social Organization i. 8 In parts of Bantu Africa, to give a person an ancestor's name means that he is believed to reincarnate that ancestor's spirit. |