Reconstructing Proto-Afroasiatic (Proto-Afrasian): Vowels, Tone, Consonants, and Vocabulary (UC Publications in Linguistics)

UC Publications in Linguistics

by Christopher Ehret

This work provides the first truly comprehensive and systematic reconstruction of proto-Afroasiatic (proto-Afrasian). It rigorously applies, throughout, the established canon and techniques of the historical-comparative method. It also fully incorporates the most up-to-date evidence from the distinctive African branches of the family, Cushitic, Chadic, and Omotic. Using concrete and specific evidence and argument, the author proposes full vowel and consonant reconstructions and a provisional reckoning of tone. Each aspect of these reconstructions is substantiated in detail in an extensive etymological vocabulary of more than 1000 roots. The results, while confirming some previous views on proto-Afroasiatic (proto-Afrasian), revise or overturn many others, and add much that is new.

Genres: Linguistics

576 pages, Paperback

First published July 31, 1995

About the author

A scholar of African history and African historical linguistics specializing in efforts to correlate linguistic taxonomy and reconstruction with the archeological record, Christopher Ehret was Distinguished Research Professor in History at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he taught from 1968 until his retirement in 2011.