Studies in Afro-Asiatic Comparative Phonology: Consonants

Going beyond standard consonantal reconstruction, this examination unifies various studies drawn from a decade’s worth of etymological research. The study incorporates the extensive lexical materials of the overlooked cognate African branches, concentrating on the elaboration of regular consonantal correspondence among Semitic, Egyptian, Berber, South Cushitic, and West Chadic peoples. Featuring a comparative-historical analysis of the South Cushitic and West Chadic sibilants, pharyngeals, and laryngeals, this consideration is complemented by chapters on new etymological evidence for the affricate origin of certain Proto-Semitic sibilants, a critical appraisal of Otto Rössler's theory on Egypto-Semitic comparative phonology, and the background of compensatory vowel lengthening in Proto-East Cushitic.