Proto-WChadic: *ʔVm-
Meaning: 'friend'
Kulere: ʔamà- [JgR]
Notes: Cf. sura-ang gr. *(n)yem '(group of ) people' [TAS:414]> Angas nyam 'clan name', Mupun nyēm fwō 'peer group', Sura yɛ̀m mɔ́ 'people', Goemay yiem 'name of a small tribe', Gerka nì-yìwòm 'Mensch' ['vowels obscure; back formation from the collective pl.' GT]. However, Mupun is definately related to (if not derived from) nyè mó 'mates, fellows' (mo is a pl. marker) [FrM]. Sura yénan 'old people' (nan 'big, great') [JgS] also points to original *yV. Given that Gerka and Yiwom is one and the same language, nì-yìwòm 'Mensh' is simly the tribe-name preceded by the 3rd sg. demonstr. (ni). Thus, nyam, yiem, yiwom are names of different tribes only, but not the sura-angas word for 'people'.
