Lexical Reconstruction in Central Chadic
A Comparative Study of Vowels, Consonants and Prosodies

Based on the author's life-long research experience, this book unearths the linguistic history of under-researched Central Chadic languages.

H. Ekkehard Wolff (Author)

9781009346399, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 23 November 2023

480 pages
22.7 x 15.6 x 3 cm, 0.897 kg

Due to a long history of contact, the Chadic languages are the internally most diverse of the Afroasiatic language families, especially in terms of their sound systems. In this ground-breaking study, the author draws on his extensive research experience to unpack the morpho-phonological principles that underpin the languages' diverse prosody effects, arguing that massive variation results from diachronic processes called 'prosodification' of segmental units. The study compares data from 66 of the 79 known languages from the Central branch of the Chadic language family, most of them unwritten and under-researched. It traces language changes for 228 lexical items that can be reconstructed from the proto-language's basic vocabulary, unearthing typological features that link Central Chadic to its deep Afroasiatic heritage. It is accompanied by a set of online appendixes, providing the full analytical apparatus of all lexical reconstructions, with explicit identification of each of the diachronic sound changes and processes involved.

1. Introduction
2. A survey of PCC historical phonology and morphophonology
3. Major diachronic processes in Central Chadic
4. Selected Issues in Central Chadic historical linguistics
5. Hidden reflexes of Proto-Afroasiatic language features
6. Outlook
Appendix A: List of reconstructed lexical items
Appendix B: List of PCC simple roots.

Subject Areas: Linguistics [CF]