Proto-Afroasiatic language

Proto-Afroasiatic, sometimes also referred to as Proto-Afrasian, is the reconstructed proto-language from which all modern Afroasiatic languages are descended. Though estimations vary widely, it is believed by scholars to have been spoken as a single language around 12,000 to 18,000 years ago (12 to 18 kya), that is, between 16,000 and 10,000 BC. The reconstruction of Proto-Afroasiatic is problematic and remains largely lacking. Moreover, no consensus exists as to the location of the Afroasiatic Urheimat, the putative homeland of Proto-Afroasiatic speakers, but the majority of scholars agree that it was located within a region of Northeast Africa.[1]

Proto-Afroasiatic
Reconstruction ofAfroasiatic languages
RegionSee #Urheimat
Eraca. 16,000–10,000 BC
Lower-order reconstructions

Urheimat
Main article: Afroasiatic homeland

Phonology

The consonants of Proto-Afroasiatic, as given by Bomhard (2008):[2]

Proto-Afroasiatic Consonants
Labial Coronal Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyngeal Glottal
central lateral plain labialized plain labialized
Nasal *m *n
Plosive emphatic *p’ *t’ *tʲ’1 *k’ *kʷ’2 (*q’) (*qʷ’)2
voiceless *p *t *tʲ1 *k *kʷ2 (*q) *ʔ
voiced *b *d *dʲ1 *g *gʷ2 (*ɢ)
Affricate emphatic *t͡s’ *t͡ɬ’
voiceless *t͡s *t͡ɬ
voiced *d͡z (*d͡ɮ)
Fricative emphatic *s’
voiceless *f *s *sʲ (*x) *ħ *h
voiced *z (*ɣ) *ʕ
Glides and Liquids *r *l *j *w

NOTE:

  1. Orël–Stolbova (1995) reconstructs /t͡ʃ’/, /t͡ʃ/, /d͡ʒ/ for /tʲ’/, /tʲ/, /dʲ/, respectively,
  2. Orël–Stolbova (1995) does not reconstruct labialized consonants.

Bomhard (2008)[2] lists ten vowels for the language: /i/, /iː/, /e/, /eː/, /a/, /aː/, /o/, /oː/, /u/, /uː/.

Consonant correspondences

The following table shows consonant correspondences in Afroasiatic languages, as given in Dolgopolsky (1999), along with some reconstructed consonants for Proto-Afroasiatic.

Correspondences in Afroasiatic languages[3][4]
Proto-Afroasiatic Proto-Semitic Egyptian Berber East Cushitic West Chadic
*b *b b *β, ? *b, *-∅- *b *b, *ḅ1
*p *p p *f, ? *b *p *p, *f, *ḅ1
*f f f
*d *d d *d *d *d, *ḍ1
*t *t t *t *t *t
*ṭ [tʼ] *ṭ [tʼ] d(~t) *ḍ [dˁ] / *ṭ (→ *ṭṭ [tˁː]) *ṭ (→ *ḍ) *ḍ
*ǯ [dʒ] [5] *ð ?? d *z *z *dʒ
*č [tʃ] [5] *θ s, ?? š *s *s3(=*s)
*č̣ [tʃʼ] [5] *θ̣ [θʼ] ḏ- *ẓ [zˁ] South Cushitic
*ṭṣ
*ʒ [dz] [5] *z z *z *z *dz
*c [ts] [5] *s (*s3) s *s- ? s1- *ts
*c̣ [ts’] [5] *ṣ [(t)sʼ] ḏ *ẓ [zˤ] *ṭṣ *ṭṣ
*s [5] *š (*s1) s *s *s1(=*š) s,
Central Chadic:
*s, *ɬ
*ŝ [ɬ], *ĉ [tɬ] [5] *ś (*s2) [ɬ] š, ? s *s, *z- *l,
SCush.
*ɬ		 *ɬ, *ɮ
*ĉ̣ [tɬʼ] [5] *ṣ́ [(t)ɬʼ] ḏ, ? d- *s2 ?,
SCush.
*ṭɬ̣		 -*ṭɬ̣-
*g [5] *g g, ḏ *g *g *g
*k [5] *k k, ṯ *k, ? *ɣ *k *k
*ḳ [kʼ][5] *ḳ [kʼ] q, ḏ *ɣ, ? *ḳ (→ *ḳḳ [kˤː])
*ɣ [5] *ɣ ḫ-, ꜥ- ? *h2 *ʕ
*χ [5] *χ ḫ, ẖ, ħ *H- *h-, *-Ø- *-H-?
*ʕ [5] *ʕ ꜥ *H- *ʕ-, *-Ø-ʔ
*ħ [5] *ħ ħ *H- *ħ-, *-Øː-
*h [5] *h j- *h1, *h2 *ʔ-
*ʔ [5] *ʔ j, ? ꜣ *ʔ *ʔ, -Ø- *ʔ
*r *r r, l, ꜣ *r -*r- *r
*l *l n-, [l-], r, ꜣ *l -*l- *l
*n *n n, l [6] *n -*n- *n
*m *m m *m -*m- *m
*w *w w-, j, y *w, *Ø *w, *Ø *w-?
*y [j] *y j-, y-, -Ø- *y, *i, *Ø *y, *i, *Ø *y, *Ø
Proto-Afroasiatic Proto-Semitic Egyptian Berber East Cushitic West Chadic
  1. under special conditions

NOTE:

  1. š = /ʃ/
  2. Symbols with dots underneath are emphatic consonants (variously glottalized, ejective or pharyngealized).
  3. Transcription of Ancient Egyptian follows Allen (2000); see Transliteration of Ancient Egyptian. The following are possible values for the non-IPA symbols used for Ancient Egyptian: ẖ = [ç]; ṯ = [tʲ] or [t͡ʃ]; ḏ = [dʲ] or [d͡ʒ], or ejective [tʲʼ] or [t͡ʃʼ].

Pronouns

Ehret (1995) reconstructs the following pronouns, most of which are supported by at least five of the six branches:

Proto-Afroasiatic Pronouns[7]
Singular, bound Singular, independent Plural
1 *i, *yi *(ʔ)ân-/(ʔ)în- *(ʔ)ǎnn-/(ʔ)ǐnn-
2 m. *ku, *ka *(ʔ)ânt/(ʔ)înt- *kuuna
2 f. *ki
3 *si, *isi *su, *usu

Numerals

Ehret (1995) reconstructs the following cardinal numbers (Ehret does not include Berber in his reconstruction):

Cardinal Numbers in Afroasiatic[7]
Number Proto-Afroasiatic Proto-Semitic Egyptian Proto-Cushitic Proto-Chadic Proto-Omotic
two *tsan, *can *θny snwj
*tsîr(n), *cîr(n) *θər *sər
*ɬâm- *ɬmʔl "left hand" *ɬâ(a)m- *lam-
three *xaymz- ḫmt.w *knɗ- *x2ayz-
four *fâzw- fdw *fʷaɗə

The first root for "two" has been compared to Berber (Tamazight) sin.[8] There are other proposed cognate sets:

  • "six": Egyptian srs, Proto-Semitic *šidṯ-, Berber (Tamazight) sdˁis.[8]
  • "seven": Egyptian sfḫ, Proto-Semitic *šabʕ-, Berber (Tamazight) sa.[8]

Grammar

It has been proposed that Proto-Afroasiatic had marked nominative case marking, where the subject was overtly marked for nominative case, while the object appeared in unmarked default case. Marked nominative case marking is still found in languages of the Cushitic, Omotic and Berber branches. Its syntax possibly featured an exclusively default, strict word ordering of VSO. Although some Afroasiatic languages have developed free word order, it is generally surmised that PAA was originally a VO language.[9]

See also

References
  1. Güldemann, Tom (2018). The Languages and Linguistics of Africa. De Gruyter Mouton. p. 311. ISBN 9783110426069.
  2. Bomhard, Allan. "Bomhard - A Sketch of Proto-Afrasian Phonology (2008)". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. Dolgopolsky (1999), pp. 38–39.
  4. Prasse (2000), p. 346.
  5. Takács (1999), pp. 263–270
  6. Takács (1999), p. 263
  7. Ehret (1995)
  8. Takács, Gábor (1999). Etymological Dictionary of Egyptian. Brill.
  9. Satzinger, Helmut (2018). "Did Proto-Afroasiatic have Marked Nominative or Nominative-Accusative Alignment?". In Tosco, Mauro (ed.). Afroasiatic: Data and perspectives. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. pp. 11–22. ISBN 9789027264572. Open-access preprint version available.

Bibliography
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.