bnu

bnu

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Bentong.

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Bentong terms

Perhaps borrowed from Moroccan Arabic بنى (bnā, “to build”), though inheritance from Proto-Berber *β-n (“to build, to construct”) remains possible. Compare Tuareg éhăn (“tent”), Tetserret in (“house”), and Zenaga īn (“tent, dwelling”).

Compare Northern Saharan Berber bna (“to build”), Tarifit bna (“to build”), Awjila avə́n, abə́n (“to build”), Senhaja de Srair bnu (“to build”), Siwi abnú (“to build”), Tuareg ə̀bnu (“to establish oneself (in a place), to begin construction on”), Numidian bny (“to build”), and Proto-Chadic *bVn- (“to build”)^[1].

• IPA^(key): /bnu/

bnu (intensive aorist bnnu, preterite bni or bna, verbal noun lbnna or lbniya, Tifinagh spelling ⴱⵏⵓ, Arabic spelling بنو)

1. to build

   Synonym: ṣku

   آر بنّون س وژرو. ― ar bnnun s uẓṛu. ― they build using stones.

• Stroomer, Harry (2025), Dictionnaire berbère tachelḥiyt-français — Tome 1 a—e (Handbook of Oriental Studies – Handbuch der Orientalistik; 188/1) (in French), Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, →DOI, →ISBN, page 617b