25.3533, Qs: African origin of the word gorilla

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-25-3533. Mon Sep 08 2014. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 25.3533, Qs: African origin of the word gorilla

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Date: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 17:13:57
From: Gordon Hull [gorillafile at gmail.com]
Subject: African origin of the word gorilla

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Professor John E. Cooper and I are collating data on the pathology of gorillas
(Gorilla spp), for a book which will be published by Elsevier (under their
Academic Press imprint). The work (provisionally entitled ''Gorilla Pathology
and Study Resources'') will run to about 300,000 words, and will include
70-100 photographs. The projected date for submission of the completed
manuscript is March 2016.

One of the topics we must cover in the Introduction to the book is Gorilla
taxonomy, and it is already well known that the animal's name (common and
generic) is derived from the word gorillai (plural), which appears in the
Greek translation of the Periplus of Hanno. The earliest available Greek text
is preserved in a single manuscript, known as the Codex Heidelbergensis 398,
held by the Library of the University of Heidelberg. The second version is the
Vatopedinus 655, parts of which are in the British Museum and the Bibliothèque
Nationale in Paris.

It is generally accepted that the voyage took place circa 470 - 520 BC, but
the true extent of the Carthaginians' circumnavigation of the west coast of
Africa is open to dispute, as is the true identity of the gorillai, which are
described in the Greek account as a tribe of hairy people. I suspect that the
gorillai really were gorillas, and although it is impossible to prove this
beyond a reasonable doubt, I am interested in discussing the matter in our
book.

Unfortunately, it is very difficult to ascertain the most likely etymon of the
word ''gorillai'', since it is a Hellenization of a Punic word that was in
turn borrowed from a native West African language. At the moment, I do not
know which African language might have been involved, although Paul Du Chaillu
(1861) reported that the Mpongwe of Gabon call the gorilla ''n'guyla'' --
which if correct, may sound like ''gorilla'' when spoken. The Fang name is
apparently ''n'gil'', and I wonder if there is a plural form of this word. 

Ideally, I should like to seek the opinion of a linguist who works in West
African and/or Semitic languages, who might be able to provide the necessary
etymology. I am particularly keen to find out whether the word n'guyla is
still used anywhere in West Africa, and which other names for the animal are
currently in use in Cameroon, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea.

If, by chance, you could offer any advice on the above matter, or could
recommend someone else who might be able to assist, I really should be most
grateful.
 

Linguistic Field(s): Anthropological Linguistics

Language Family(ies): Niger-Congo






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