mabor n. lion lion (5 groups, 9 languages) B syn: lɨvari, zɨjɨl.
This is one of three roots for 'lion'. It is unusual in that the labialisation prosody is present in two groups, and there is a back vowel in the Daba group. Neither the labialisation prosody nor back vowels are reconstructed for Proto-Central Chadic, and any back vowels in reflexes can normally be explained as originating with *w or a labialised velar. In this case, no such explanation is evident. There was no change *r→l, so the root cannot have any great time depth. The root could have been borrowed, though the source is not known, or it could be a comparatively recent coining. *ma- is a common nominalizing prefix, and the word may denote 'a thing that goes bor', for example.
1Proto-Daba *mabor lion lion 1.1) Mbudum (Ndokobaï) mabor lion lion
2Proto-Mafa *mabar lion lion 2.1) Cuvok (Gravina) mabar lion lion
3Proto-Hurza *bɨrbar ʷ lion lion 3.1) Mbuko (Gravina) bərbor animal animal (comme le lion?)
4Proto-Mofu *mabar lion lion 4.1) Moloko (Friesen) mabor brush lion lion_de_la_brousse 4.2) Dugwor (Jubumna) mabor lion lion 4.3) Mofu North (Barreteau) mábàr lion 4.4) Mofu-Gudur (Hollingsworth) mabár lion
5Proto-Maroua *mabar ʷ lion lion 5.1) Giziga Moutourwa (Michielan) mobor lion 5.1.1) Giziga Moutourwa (Michielan) mobor surnom du chef (majesté) 5.2) Giziga Marva (Hamidou) mobor lion lion
This is one of three roots for 'lion'. It is unusual in that the labialisation prosody is present in two groups, and there is a back vowel in the Daba group. Neither the labialisation prosody nor back vowels are reconstructed for Proto-Central Chadic, and any back vowels in reflexes can normally be explained as originating with *w or a labialised velar. In this case, no such explanation is evident. There was no change *r→l, so the root cannot have any great time depth. The root could have been borrowed, though the source is not known, or it could be a comparatively recent coining. *ma- is a common nominalizing prefix, and the word may denote 'a thing that goes bor', for example.
1Proto-Daba *mabor lion lion 1.1) Mbudum (Ndokobaï) mabor lion lion
2Proto-Mafa *mabar lion lion 2.1) Cuvok (Gravina) mabar lion lion
3Proto-Hurza *bɨrbar ʷ lion lion 3.1) Mbuko (Gravina) bərbor animal animal (comme le lion?)
4Proto-Mofu *mabar lion lion 4.1) Moloko (Friesen) mabor brush lion lion_de_la_brousse 4.2) Dugwor (Jubumna) mabor lion lion 4.3) Mofu North (Barreteau) mábàr lion 4.4) Mofu-Gudur (Hollingsworth) mabár lion
5Proto-Maroua *mabar ʷ lion lion 5.1) Giziga Moutourwa (Michielan) mobor lion 5.1.1) Giziga Moutourwa (Michielan) mobor surnom du chef (majesté) 5.2) Giziga Marva (Hamidou) mobor lion lion