Gábor Takács Knihy

The volume is a collection of contributions by colleagues from Europe and North America to celebrate the 75th jubilee of two outstanding scholars in the domain of Semito-Hamitic (Afro-Asiatic) comparative linguistics. They are Professor Aharon B. Dolgopolsky (Haifa) and Professor Herrmann Jungraithmayr (Frankfurt am Main), who have so much in common in their approach to a better reconstruction of Semito-Hamitic, based on their exceptional analysis. The papers reflect the academic interests of both these scholars (with particular emphasis on Cushitic and Chadic linguistics, respectively) and present the problems of this vast linguistic family in all its variety. These studies by well-known specialists of Semitic, Berber, Cushitic and Omotic as well as Chadic linguistics are both comparative and descriptive in nature and focus primarily on the lexicon.

Der Band vereinigt die in der seit 1994 laufenden, historisch-vergleichenden afroasiatischen (»semitohamitischen«) Wortforschung des Ver fassers etablierten lexikalischen Entsprechungen mit labialen Konsonanten im Anlaut (*b-, *p-, *f-, *m-).

The present volume unifies various studies issuing from the author's etymological research over the past decade and concentrating on the elaboration of regular consonantal correspondences between Semitic, Egyptian, Berber, South Cushitic, and West Chadic languages. The historical comparative analysis of the South Cushitic and West Chadic sibilants, pharyngeals, and laryngeals is complemented by chapters on new etymological evidence for the affricate origin of certain Proto-Semitic sibilants, a critical appraisal of Rössler's theory on Egypto-Semitic comparative phonology, the external correspondences of Ahaggar h and Ghadames b, the Berber reflexes of Afro-Asiatic glottalized sibilants, and the background of compensatory vowel lengthening in Proto-East Cushitic.

The volume presents the first as complete as possible A to Z comparative dictionary of one of the some 25 Chadic groups. The comparative-historical linguistic analysis discusses both the lexical roots and the grammatical morphemes of the Angas-Sura language group (Northern Nigeria). The reconstruction of the underlying Angas-Sura proto-language is based on the elaboration of the regular phonetic correspondences of the individual daughter languages, which are discussed in the introductory part of the volume. The material can contribute to the research on common Chadic as well as to Semito-Hamitic lexical comparison. The compilation of this Angas-Sura dictionary is an endeavour of the greatest importance for the comparative studies of Chadic languages. Some twenty-five other grouops are still waiting for similar treatment before a more reliable classification of the Chadic languages can be proposed. [Stanislaw Pilaszewicz, Afrika und Übersee]

This study gives the first science history and a detailed and extensive scientific appraisal of the works by the Russian school (or "Moscow school") of Afro-Asiatic (Semito-Hamitic) comparative-historical linguistics in the past three decades. The book contains the following 1. A general overview of roots of Afro-Asiatic linguistics in Russia before 1965. 2. A concise survey of development of Afro-Asiatic studies from 1965 in Russia. 3. A most detailed presentation and critical appraisal of works by the Russian comparativists on the reconstruction of Afro-Asiatic comparative phonology and lexicon in the light of research results of other ("Western") scholars (incl. my own observations). 4. A concise description of the so-called "Nostratic theory" and introduction of the "Moscow school of comparative linguistics" in the latest three decades. 5. The work ends with a comprehensive bibliography of all cited works. This is at the same time the first bibliography that includes all Russian works on Afro-Asiatic linguistics from 1965.