Abstract The systematic comparison of the different types of progressive Vowel Height Harmony (pVHH) attested within the Kikongo Language Cluster (KLC) leads to the conclusion that this common Bantu process of long-distance assimilation cannot be reconstructed to Proto-Kikongo. The ‘(a)symmetric-pVHH’ and ‘back-pVHH’ patterns, the two main and structurally different kinds of pVHH within the KLC, emerged independently and relatively late within two distinct subgroups, viz. South Kikongo and North Kikongo respectively. Moreover, the ‘(a)symmetric-pVHH’ pattern further spread from a South Kikongo focal area coinciding with the heartland of the Kongo kingdom to other parts of the KLC through contact-induced dialectal diffusion. Furthermore, the historical-comparative evidence from the KLC suggests that neither symmetric nor asymmetric pVHH should be reconstructed to Proto-Bantu, the most recent common ancestor of all Bantu languages.

中文翻译：

---

Proto-Kikongo和Proto-Bantu中的逐步元音高度和声

摘要对Kikongo语言集群（KLC）中证明的不同类型的渐进元音高度和声（pVHH）进行了系统比较，得出的结论是，这种常见的长途同化Bantu过程无法重建为Proto-Kikongo。“（a）对称-pVHH”和“后-pVHH”图谱是KLC内两种主要的和结构上不同的pVHH，分别在两个不同的亚组中相对较晚地出现。南基孔戈和北基孔戈分别。此外，“（a）对称-pVHH”模式通过接触诱导的方言扩散，从与Kongo王国心脏地带相吻合的南基孔戈焦点地区进一步扩散到了KLC的其他地区。此外，