As the venerable antiquity of many of the bibliographical references indicates, the seven studies comprising this collection have evolved over a considerable number of years and it will thus be obvious that only to a limited extent do they reflect or criticise contemporary research into the ‘Afroasiatic’ languages.
The arguments developed in each study to a degree presuppose what has been argued in the studies that precede, so there may be some advantage to the reader in scanning/reading them in sequence.
The arguments developed in each study to a degree presuppose what has been argued in the studies that precede, so there may be some advantage to the reader in scanning/reading them in sequence.
1. On the Biradical Origins of the Semitic Triradical Root System
This study explores a topic well-trodden in Semitic linguistics – but without exception inadequately trodden in every study I have seen. Using elementary statistical methods this study attempts to identify ‘augment phonemes’, i.e. phonemes/morphemes conjectured to have been added - primarily to originally biradical stems, to create the extant triradical roots of Arabic, the N. W. Semitic languages and Egyptian. This has required the development of a large number of parallel phonological and semantic ‘networks’ which form the basis for the statistical analysis, and geared in no small degree to eliminating the common but trivial claim that all phonemes could function as an augment. These phonological and semantic networks should ideally, but currently do not, form part of this website. A secondary objective of the study is to investigate, in a preliminary way, methods of testing the hypotheses proposed. A professional will undoubtedly find the statistical techniques crude and it would be of considerable interest to the author to see the data subjected to more sophisticated analysis.
2. Aspect in Common Semitic and Egyptian
Drawing on the ideas of Karl Popper, this study proposes two hypotheses for the origin of the aspect system in Sigmatic and tests them against the evidence of the various Semitic languages and against Egyptian.
3. Towards a Morphology of the pre-Semitic Verb
This study attempts to reconstruct, in broad terms, and on a set-theoretical basis, part of the verbal system of Sigmatic. It includes consideration of stem patterns, augment morphemes (utilising data from Study 1), pronominal and number morphemes, aspect morphemes (data from Study 2). The major conclusion is that Sigmatic is likely to have been an agglutinating language, and on this assumption an attempt is made, utilising a small number of rules, to suggest how the attested ‘synthetic’ Semitic and Egyptian forms might have evolved from the proposed Sigmatic agglutinating forms.
4. Beḍawiē : a Cushitic/Semitic Language?
My attention was drawn to the Beḍawiē language of N. E. Africa while investigating the aspect system in Semitic. Beḍawiē is the name for the language used by its speakers ; the name commonly used by modern researchers is Beja. Beḍawiē is an interesting language in a number of respects. Although sometimes considered to be some kind of language isolate, it is clearly to an extent related to the Lowland East Cushitic languages - particularly Saho and ‘Afar. But its most striking feature (shared with Saho and ‘Afar) is a dual verbal system, one set of verbs being inflected by means of suffixed subject pronouns in the Cushitic fashion and a second, slightly larger set utilising prefixed subject pronouns in the Semitic manner, as discussed in Study 2. Afroasiaticists claim this language, along with Saho, ’Afar and certain other Cushitic languages, as particularly strong evidence for their theory. But careful consideration of the data suggests that Beḍawiē is in all probability a composite Cushitic and Semitic language - notwithstanding that linguists have a seemingly congenital aversion to the concept of a composite language. As far as can be judged, the likeliest Semitic cognates of Beḍawiē are the modern South Arabian languages, although given the many lexical loans into Beḍawiē from Arabic, South Arabian and Ethiosemitic, this is a difficult hypothesis to pursue beyond a certain point.
5. Sigmatic and Sumerian Verb Forms
Study 3 argues that Sigmatic was agglutinating in nature - at least insofar as concerns its verbal system. Using Study 3 as a basis, Study 5 compares the outline verb structure postulated for Sigmatic with that of Sumerian, itself of course an agglutinating language. The reader must be the judge as to whether, notwithstanding the many differences and the currently very preliminary nature of the analysis of the Sigmatic verb, a case has been made for further exploration of the topic.
6. Berber ; a Semitic Language?
The Berber verbal system and verbal lexicon are investigated, the former in the light of the conclusions drawn in Study 2 on aspect in Semitic. This study is essentially an attempt to understand the problem and draws almost entirely on existing sources of data. It cannot be shown beyond all doubt that Berber was originally a Semitic language, for the Berber verb is considerably more complex than the rather superficial analyses offered in Semitic publications would suggest. But the evidence is suggestive and points quite strongly in the direction of a Semitic origin for at least part of the Berber language.
7. The Afroasiatic Fallacy
This study considers the origins of the ‘Afroasiatic’ languages in the light of climate history, the evidence for human populations, DNA evidence and linguistic data, in the latter case particularly the variations in personal pronouns across the languages. The conclusion drawn is that no one of these resources offers convincing evidence for any plausible Afroasiatic hypothesis, albeit that the history of the relationship between the Sigmatic languages and the relevant African languages is more complex than is usually taken to be the case, and requires a very great deal more work.
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