Proto-Cushitic language
| Proto-Cushitic | |
|---|---|
| Reconstruction of | Cushitic languages |
| Region | Northeast Africa |
| Era | ca. 7000–8000 BC |
Reconstructed ancestor | |
Proto-Cushitic is the reconstructed proto-language common ancestor of the Cushtic language family. Its words and roots are not directly attested in any written works, but have been reconstructed through the comparative method, which finds regular similarities between languages not explained by coincidence or word-borrowing, and extrapolates ancient forms from these similarities.[1]
There is no consensus regarding the exact location of the Proto-Cushitic homeland: Christopher Ehret hypothesizes that it may have originated in the Red Sea Hills.[2] The Cushitic languages are a branch of the broader Afroasiatic macro-family.[3][4]
Hypothesis and origins
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Historical settings
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Phonology
[edit]A preliminary phonological reconstruction of Proto-Cushitic was proposed by Ehret (1987).
Consonants
[edit]Vowels
[edit]Most Cushitic languages agree on a simple vowel system of /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/ as well as vowel length. This system is reconstructed as already Proto-Cushitic by Ehret.[5] Bender[6] does not find the mid vowels *e, *ee, *o, *oo to be supported by clear etymologies outside of East Cushitic.
Further instances of long vowels arise in many languages through the vocalization of the laryngeal consonants *ħ, *ʕ, *h, *ʔ and monophthongization of the combinations *ay, *ey, *aw.
Rather different vowel systems appears in the Agaw languages[7], for which Ehret proposes the following chain shift:
| Proto-Cushitic | Proto-Agaw | Proto-Cushitic | Proto-Agaw | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| *a | *ä [ɐ] | *aa | *a | |
| *e | *a | *ee | *ə [ɨ] | |
| *o | *oo | |||
| *i | *ə [ɨ] | *ii | *i | |
| *u | *uu | *u |
At least the distinction between *i and *u often remains in the appearence of palatalization or labialization on adjacent consonants.
Grammar
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Comparative vocabulary and cognates
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Notes
[edit]- ^ Sasse, Hans-Jürgen (1979), "The consonant phonemes of Proto-East-Cushitic (PEC) : a first approximation", Afroasiatic linguistics ; 7,1, Undena Publ.
- ^ Fahmy, Ahmed G.; Kahlheber, Stefanie; D'Andrea, A. Catherine (2011). Windows on the African Past: Current Approaches to African Archaeobotany. Africa Magna Verlag. pp. 185–189. ISBN 978-3-937248-32-5.
- ^ Ehret, Christopher (2023-06-20), "The Deep Background of Ancient Egyptian History, 20,000–6000 BCE", The Deep Background of Ancient Egyptian History, 20,000–6000 BCE, Princeton University Press, pp. 83–100, ISBN 978-0-691-24410-5
- ^ Appleyard, David (2004-01-01), "BEJA AS A CUSHITIC LANGUAGE", Egyptian and Semito-Hamitic (Afro-Asiatic) Studies in Memoriam Werner Vycichl, pp. 175–194, ISBN 978-90-474-1223-6
- ^ Ehret 1987, p. 10.
- ^ Bender 2019, pp. 133, 165.
- ^ Appleyard, David L. (2006). A Comparative Dictionary of the Agaw Languages. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe. pp. 10–11.
References
[edit]- Bender, M. Lionel (2019). Grover Hudson (ed.). Cushitic Lexicon and Phonology. Schriften Zur Afrikanistik – Research in African Studies. Vol. 28. Berlin: Peter Lang. ISBN 978-3-631-60089-4.
- Ehret, Christopher (1987). "Proto-Cushitic Reconstruction". Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika. 8: 7–180.