nke

• ye

nke

1. yes

• Borg, Alexander (2004) A Comparative Glossary of Cypriot Maronite Arabic (Arabic–English) (Handbook of Oriental Studies; I.70), Leiden and Boston: Brill, page 191

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

-nke

1. (in the singular) all; all of
2. (in the plural) all; every

It is superficially similar to Proto-Bantu *-ncè (“all”). However, the form of this stem would suggest a Proto-Bantu form *-nkàì, which is in fact a form reconstructed by Meeussen^[1] meaning "alone". It is perhaps from this latter form, with a semantic shift from "alone" to "all".

IPA^(key): /nke/

-nke

1. (in the singular) all; all of; the whole
2. (in the plural) all; every; together; jointly

• C. M. Doke, B. W. Vilakazi (1972) “-nke”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “-nke”