Proto-Cushitic is the reconstructed proto-language common ancestor of the Cushtic language family. Its words and roots are not directly attested in any written works, but have been reconstructed through the comparative method, which finds regular similarities between languages not explained by coincidence or word-borrowing, and extrapolates ancient forms from these similarities.[1]
| Proto-Cushitic | |
|---|---|
| Reconstruction of | Cushitic languages |
| Region | Northeast Africa |
| Era | ca. 7000–8000 BC |
Reconstructed ancestor | |
There is no consensus regarding the exact location of the Proto-Cushitic homeland: Christopher Ehret hypothesizes that it may have originated in the Red Sea Hills.[2] The Cushitic languages are a branch of the broader Afroasiatic macro-family.[3][4]
Hypothesis and origins
editThe branch of Cushitic languages is named after the Biblical character Cush who was traditionally identified as an ancestor of the speakers of these languages as early as 947 CE in Al-Masudi's Meadows of Gold.[5][6] According to the Hebrew Bible, Cush was the brother of Mizraim and Canaan. He was also the father of Biblical character Nimrod, mentioned in the Table of Nations.[7][8]
Historical settings
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Phonology
editA preliminary phonological reconstruction of Proto-Cushitic was proposed by Ehret (1987).
Consonants
edit| Labial | Dental | Lateral | Postalveolar / Palatal |
Velar | Pharyngeal | Glottal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plain | Labialized | |||||||||
| Stops | Voiceless | (*p) | *t | (*ts) | *tɬ ? | *k | *kʷ ? | *ʔ | ||
| Voiced | *b | *d | (*dz) | *dɮ / *tɬʼ ? |
*g | *gʷ ? | ||||
| Ejective | (*pʼ) | *tʼ | *tsʼ | *tʃʼ | *kʼ | *kʼʷ ? | ||||
| Fricatives | Voiceless | *f | *s | *ɬ ? | *ʃ | *x ? | *xʷ ? | *ħ | *h | |
| Voiced | *z | *ɣ ? | *ɣʷ ? | *ʕ | ||||||
| Nasals | *m | *n | (*ŋ) | (*ŋʷ) | ||||||
| Rhotic | *r | |||||||||
| Approximants | *l | *y | *w | |||||||
Ehret notes that in particular the affricates *ts, *dz, and the nasals *ŋ, *ŋʷ rely on fairly little evidence, and that *p, *pʼ are difficult to distinguish from other consonants in the comparative material; these are shown on a darker background above.
- Ehret's *p is based on South Cushitic, and proposes it has elsewhere, with a possible exception of Awngi, fallen together with *b.
- Ehret's *pʼ is based on South Cushitic as well as a reflex /ɓ/ in Yaaku and Dullay. He also proposes a development to *f in the Lowland East Cushitic group. Elsewhere, *pʼ too falls together with *b.
- Ehret's *ts differs from *s in being preserved in Kw'adza and Dahalo, and in yielding /s/ rather than /f/ in Oromo.
Most of the remaining consonants have exact equivalents in reconstructed Proto-East Cushitic, with the exception of those marked here with following question mark.
Bender[9] tentatively supports Ehret's *ts, *dz, *ŋ and labialized velars, but in his survey does not find unambiguous etymologies for these, nor for lateral, velar and pharyngeal fricatives or any ejectives.
Glottalized consonants
editEjective and implosive consonants show multifarious correspondences between the Cushitic languages, particularly in Oromo, the Konsoid languages, the Dullay languages and the Highland East Cushitic languages.
Appleyard [10] does not posit any glottalized consonants for Proto-Agaw, and reconstructs uvular *q, *qʷ for sound correspondences of /kʼ/, /kʼʷ/ in Bilin, respectively, with e.g. /χ/, /χʷ/ or /q/, /qʷ/ in the rest of the subfamily. Fallon (2009)[11] argues that the Bilin value is preserved from Proto-Cushitic and that *kʼ, *kʼʷ should be reconstructed still for Proto-Agaw.
Vowels
editMost Cushitic languages agree on a simple vowel system of /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/ as well as vowel length. This system is reconstructed as already Proto-Cushitic by Ehret.[12] Bender[13] does not find the mid vowels *e, *ee, *o, *oo to be supported by clear etymologies outside of East Cushitic.
Further instances of long vowels arise in many languages through the vocalization of the laryngeal consonants *ħ, *ʕ, *h, *ʔ and monophthongization of the combinations *ay, *ey, *aw.
Rather different vowel systems appear in the Agaw languages,[14] for which Ehret proposes the following chain shift:
| Proto-Cushitic | Proto-Agaw | Proto-Cushitic | Proto-Agaw | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| *a | *ä [ɐ] | *aa | *a | |
| *e | *a | *ee | *ə [ɨ] | |
| *o | *oo | |||
| *i | *ə [ɨ] | *ii | *i | |
| *u | *uu | *u |
At least the distinction between *i and *u often remains in the appearence of palatalization or labialization on adjacent consonants.
Grammar
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Comparative vocabulary and cognates
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Notes
edit- ^ Sasse, Hans-Jürgen (1979), "The consonant phonemes of Proto-East-Cushitic (PEC) : a first approximation", Afroasiatic linguistics ; 7,1, Undena Publ.
- ^ Fahmy, Ahmed G.; Kahlheber, Stefanie; D'Andrea, A. Catherine (2011). Windows on the African Past: Current Approaches to African Archaeobotany. Africa Magna Verlag. pp. 185–189. ISBN 978-3-937248-32-5.
- ^ Ehret, Christopher (2023-06-20), "The Deep Background of Ancient Egyptian History, 20,000–6000 BCE", The Deep Background of Ancient Egyptian History, 20,000–6000 BCE, Princeton University Press, pp. 83–100, ISBN 978-0-691-24410-5
- ^ Appleyard, David (2004-01-01), "BEJA AS A CUSHITIC LANGUAGE", Egyptian and Semito-Hamitic (Afro-Asiatic) Studies in Memoriam Werner Vycichl, pp. 175–194, ISBN 978-90-474-1223-6
- ^ Lamberti, Marcello (1991). "Cushitic and Its Classifications". Anthropos. 86 (4/6): 552–561. ISSN 0257-9774.
- ^ Mas'udi, Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn al-Husayn (2024-05-28). Historical Encyclopaedia, entitled "Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems". BoD – Books on Demand. p. 116. ISBN 978-3-385-13312-9.
- ^ Bird, James (1848). A Discourse on the Object and Progress of Investigation, Into the Oriental Literature and Science. HardPress. pp. 167–169. ISBN 978-0-371-76335-3.
- ^ Rawlinson, George (1879). The Five Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World, Or, The History, Geography, and Antiquities of Chaldaea, Assyria, Babylon, Media, and Persia: Collected and Illustrated from Ancient and Modern Sources. John Murray. p. 2.
- ^ Bender 2019, pp. 118.
- ^ Appleyard 2006, pp. 15–16.
- ^ Fallon, Paul D. (2009). "The Velar Ejective in Proto-Agaw". Selected Proceedings of the 39th Annual Conference on African Linguistics. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project. pp. 10–22.
- ^ Ehret 1987, p. 10.
- ^ Bender 2019, pp. 133, 165.
- ^ Appleyard, David L. (2006). A Comparative Dictionary of the Agaw Languages. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe. pp. 10–11.
References
edit- Bender, M. Lionel (2019). Grover Hudson (ed.). Cushitic Lexicon and Phonology. Schriften Zur Afrikanistik – Research in African Studies. Vol. 28. Berlin: Peter Lang. ISBN 978-3-631-60089-4.
- Ehret, Christopher (1987). "Proto-Cushitic Reconstruction". Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika. 8: 7–180.