The fate of the Benue-Congo velar nasal in Bantoid

Abstract

Proto-Benue-Congo has been reconstructed both with a simple velar nasal *ŋ and with the velar nasal as part of a *ŋg structure. The loss of the simple velar nasal has been noticed as a feature of Bantu languages but has not been studied in other Bantoid groups. This paper considers the lexemes for which this phoneme has been reconstructed and then examines the subsequent development of the velar nasal in several groups. The results vary from preservation in Ekoid to near absence in Bantu. The phonological loss of velar nasals is not surprising, as parallels demonstrate. Rather the question arises of why certain languages only preserve remnants of the original velar nasal, and a partial answer is connected to suffixation and cluster formation.