Proto-Afroasiatic language
| Proto-Afroasiatic | |
|---|---|
| Reconstruction of | Afroasiatic languages |
| Region | See #Urheimat |
| Era | ca. 16,000–10,000 BC |
| Lower-order reconstructions | |
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]
Urheimat
Phonology
The consonants of Proto-Afroasiatic, as given by Bomhard (2008):[2]
| 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:
- Orël–Stolbova (1995) reconstructs /t͡ʃ’/, /t͡ʃ/, /d͡ʒ/ for /tʲ’/, /tʲ/, /dʲ/, respectively,
- Orël–Stolbova (1995) doesn't 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.
| 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 |
- under special conditions [specify]
NOTE:
- š = /ʃ/
- Symbols with dots underneath are emphatic consonants (variously glottalized, ejective or pharyngealized).
- 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:
| 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):
| 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
- ^ Güldemann, Tom (2018). The Languages and Linguistics of Africa. De Gruyter Mouton. p. 311. ISBN 9783110426069.
- ^ a b Bomhard, Allan. "Bomhard - A Sketch of Proto-Afrasian Phonology (2008)".
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Dolgopolsky (1999), pp. 38–39.
- ^ Prasse (2000), p. 346.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Takács (1999), pp. 263–270
- ^ Takács (1999), p. 263
- ^ a b Ehret (1995)
- ^ a b c Takács, Gábor (1999). Etymological Dictionary of Egyptian. Brill.
- ^ 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
- Dolgopolsky, Aron (1999). From Proto-Semitic to Hebrew. Milan: Centro Studi Camito-Semitici di Milano.
- Ehret, Christopher (1995). Reconstructing Proto-Afroasiatic (Proto-Afrasian): vowels, tone, consonants, and vocabulary. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-09799-8.
- Orel, Vladimir & Olga Stolbova (1995). Hamito-Semitic Etymological Dictionary. Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill. ISBN 90-04-10051-2.
- Prasse, Karl G. (2000). Études berbères et chamito-sémitiques: mélanges offerts à Karl-G. Prasse.
- Takács, Gabór (1999). Etymological Dictionary of Egyptian. Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill. ISBN 90-04-11538-2.
- Wichmann, Søren; Müller, André; Velupillai, Viveka (2012). "Homelands of the world's language families: A quantitative approach". In Søren Wichmann; Anthony P. Grant (eds.). Quantitative Approaches to Linguistic Diversity: Commemorating the centenary of the birth of Morris Swadesh. pp. 57–86. doi:10.1075/bct.46.05wic. ISBN 9789027202659.
- Zuckermann, Ghil'ad (2012). Burning Issues in Afro-Asiatic Linguistics. Cambridge Scholars. ISBN 978-1-4438-4070-5.
