Thoughts on Persistence and Stability in isiNguni

I’ve just been reading a journal article: Basque Language: History and Origin by John D. Bengtson.  

It is a labyrinthine exploration of the intricate and sometime alien language that is Basque. Something caught my eye, though, on the third page:

“According to George Starostin (Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow) the 50 most basic and persistent words are:

we, hand, one, mouth, leaf, two, what, tooth, ear, kill, I, die, new, bird, foot, eye, heart, dry, bone, horn, thou, drink, eat, sun, hear, who, dog, tail, smoke, meat (as food), fire, louse (head), hair (of head), tree, egg, tongue, moon, water, ashes, black, stone, fingernail, nose, rain, head, name, blood, not, star, night

(G. Starostin 2010).”

This got me thinking – what are these words in isiZulu, and how persistent are they in the other isiNguni languages (as well as Bantu languages in general)?

1. we = si- / thina
2. hand = isandla
3. one = -nye / -dwa
4. mouth = umlomo
5. leaf = i(li)khasi
6. two = -bili
7. what = yini?
8. tooth = i(li)zinyo
9. ear = indlebe
10. kill = -bulala
11. I = ngi- / mina
12. die = -fa
13. new = -sha
14. bird = inyoni
15. foot = unyawo / izinyawo
16. eye = i(li)so / amehlo
17. heart = inhliziyo
18. dry = -omile
19. bone = i(li)thambo
20. horn = impondo
21. thou = u- / wena
22. drink = -phuza
23. eat = -dla
24. sun = i(li)langa
25. hear = -lalela
26. who = ubani?
27. dog = inja
28. tail = umsila
29. smoke = inthuthu
30. meat (as food) = inyama
31. fire = umlilo
32. louse (head) = intwala
33. hair (of head) = u(lu)nwele
34. tree = isihlahla / umuthi
35. egg = amaqanda
36. tongue = u(lu)limi
37. moon = inyanga
38. water = amanzi
39. ashes = imilotha
40. black = -mnyama
41. stone = i(li)tshe
42. fingernail = u(lu)zipho
43. nose = i(li)khala
44. rain = imvula
45. head = i(li)khanda
46. name = i(li)gama
47. blood = i(li)gazi
48. not = a-STEM-i
49. star = inkanyezi
50. night = ubusuku

Please feel free to comment and add to the list from the Bantu languages that you know – I’m hoping to create an online reference of shifts between the families.