Lexical Reconstruction In Central Chadic

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.

Drawing on extensive field data, this groundbreaking work explores the development of the sound systems of Central Chadic languages.

"Of all of the African language families, the Chadic languages belonging to the Afroasiatic macrofamily are highly internally diverse due to a long history and various scenarios of language contact. This pioneering study explores the development of the sound systems of the 'Central Chadic' languages, a major branch of the Chadic family. Drawing on and comparing field data from 60 different Central Chadic languages, H. Ekkehard Wolff unpacks the specific phonological principles that underpin the Chadic languages' diverse phonological evolution, arguing that their diversity resultsw from historical processes of 'prosodification' of reconstructable segments of the proto-language. It offers meticulous historical analyses of 64 words from Proto-Central Chadic, into up to 60 individual modern languages, including both consonants and vowels. Particular emphasis is on tracing the deep-rooted origin and impact of palatalization and labialization prosodies within a phonological system that, on its deepest level, recognizes only one vowel phoneme"--

"Based on the author's life-long research experience, this book unearths the linguistic history of 66 unwritten and under-researched Central Chadic languages in West- and Central Africa. It describes the complex historical development of the modern languages from the common proto-language and reconstructs 228 lexical items of their basic vocabulary"--

The Central Chadic languages are a diverse and fascinating collection of languages, spoken in Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad. The phonologies of these languages have intrigued linguists since they were first studied, due to their minimal sets of phonemic vowels (sometimes only one), complex systems of vowel harmony, and extensive use of palatalized and labialized consonants. Analysis of these languages led to the proposal of phonemic units referred to as ‘prosodies’, which act on both vowels and consonants, allowing Central Chadic phonologies to be described in a neat and succinct way. 0This study looks at the diverse phonological systems found within Central Chadic, and reconstructs the phonological system of their ancestor language. This system is itself simple and succinct, and includes one phonemic prosody and just three phonemic vowels. The study describes the phonological processes that led from this system to the many phonological systems that are in use today, shedding light both on the history of the languages, and on issues in the analysis of these languages.

Despite earlier work by Trubetzkoy, Jakobson and Greenberg, phonological typology is often underrepresented in typology textbooks. At the same time, most phonologists do not see a difference between phonological typology and cross-linguistic (formal) phonology. The purpose of this book is to bring together leading scholars to address the issue of phonological typology, both in terms of the unity and the diversity of phonological systems.