reflect
The term βjazzβ, now synonymous with the musical genre pioneered by African-descended people in New Orleans, Louisiana, traces its etymology to West African languagesβespecially from the Senegambia/Senegal region, reflecting the ancestral origins of many in Louisiana (along with influences from Kongo and Haitian/Benin areas). The word derives from a root signifying βto danceβ or βmake danceβ, with a core theme of βto speed up, excite, exaggerate, act in an unrestricted or extreme wayβ (see Africanism in American Culture, 2nd Edition, pg. 98).The musical form of jazz itself draws from further west, as evidenced by Bantu languages where the second syllable appears absent in related terms.Common Bantu: jaja (obsolete forms jas, jasy).
Kikongo: zizia/ma.zizia βdance where many musical instruments are playedβ;
ciLuba: maja "dance"; -jà /-jyà "to dance"; bujì "art of dancing, choreography"
Yoruba: joΜ "to dance"; juΜjuΜ "modern Yoruba dance"; ijΓ³ βdanceβ
Ga: joo "dance"
Kiluba ku-ja βto danceβIn West Africa, additional parallels include:
Mandingo: jass "to become abnormal or out of character either diminished or excessive"
Wolof: yees [see below]
Temne: yes "to be lively or energetic to an extreme degree, applied to exaggerated styles of dancing or music, excessive love-making, etc."I would note that the Wolof and Temne terms may connect to Kikongo kiese-kiese "excited." Comparable forms appear even in East Africa (Kenya) with Kalenjiin: es "nod to music, dance"; eseet "nodding dance, dance"; yes "dance while nodding." In modern terms, this frames jazz as high-powered dance musicβexplaining why traditional jazz musicians often dismissed βsmooth jazzβ as an oxymoron.Cognates for the word jazz also appear in ancient Egyptian:
αΈ₯s.w "singer";
αΈ₯s.t "song";
αΈ₯s.j "to sing; to make music"A related doublet exists in the forms ksks βto play; to performβ; ksks β(Nubian) dancerβ; ksks.t βdancer.β