The Afro-Asiatic background of West Rift [Glottals]

Gábor Takács (Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary, gabtak@datatrans.hu)

Journal of Language Relationship, № 4, 2010 - p.135-166

Abstract: The main goal of the paper is to assert that the rich laryngeal inventory, reconstructed for the West Rift subgroup of Southern Cushitic languages, must be seriously archaic in origin; with direct parallels to each of its constituents in Semitic and Egyptian languages, it can be deemed as retaining the original phonology of Afro-Asiatic, thus underscoring the significant importance of West Rift languages in the task of reconstructing this macrofamily. The hypothesis is supported by numerous etymologies.

Keywords: Afrasian (Afro-Asiatic) languages, Southern Cushitic languages, comparative phonology, historical reconstruction

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