Lexicostatistical studies in Khoisan III/I: Reconstructing a Swadesh wordlist for Proto-Khoe (items 1–25)

George Starostin (National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow / Santa Fe Institute, New Mexico; gstarst1@gmail.com)

Journal of Language Relationship, № 22/3-4, 2024 - p.216-240

Abstract: This paper is the first part of a comprehensive study whose goal is to revise and expand upon the author’s previously published lexicostatistical analysis of the basic lexicon for languages belonging to the Khoe family of South Africa. Covering more than 20 different lects, the paper gives a brief introduction into the relevant issues of the internal genetic classification of Khoe languages, following it up with a detailed etymological analysis of the first 25 items taken from the "ultra-stable" sub-section of the Swadesh wordlist. An interesting preliminary conclusion is that Khoekhoe, one of the two primary branches of the family, seems to be consistently more innovative in its basic lexicon than Kalahari Khoe (Non-Khoekhoe), the other primary branch.

Keywords: Khoisan languages, Khoe languages, lexicostatistical analysis, onomasiological reconstruction, historical semantics

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