| Proto-Cushitic | |
|---|---|
| Reconstruction of | Cushitic languages |
| Region | Northeast Africa |
| Era | ca. 8000-7000 BC[1] |
Reconstructed ancestor | |
Proto-Cushitic is the reconstructed proto-language common ancestor of the Cushitic 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.
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]
- ^ Ehret, Christopher (1979-04-12). "On the Antiquity of Agriculture in Ethiopia". The Journal of African History. 20 (2): 161–177. doi:10.1017/S002185370001700X. ISSN 1469-5138.
- ^ 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", Ancient Africa, Princeton University Press, pp. 83–100, doi:10.1515/9780691244105-016, 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