< Reconstruction:Proto-Afroasiatic

Reconstruction:Proto-Afroasiatic/-t

This Proto-Afroasiatic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Afroasiatic

Notes

It has been theorized that the affix was originally a marker of nominal class, *-(a)t, with /a/ reflected in the Semitic branch , which later developed into a marker of the feminine gender. It came to partially supplant the older feminine ending *-H̥ ~ *-i̥ which had long lost its productivity.[1]

Suffix

*-t, *-Vt

  1. Marks nouns as feminine

Descendants
  • Proto-Berber: *t-, *-t
  • Proto-Chadic: *-t
  • Proto-Cushitic: *-t (uncertain)
    • Afar: t- (possibly)
  • Egyptian: -t
  • Proto-Semitic: *-at- (see there for further descendants)

References
  1. Diakonoff, Igor M. (1988) Afrasian Languages (Languages of Asia and Africa), Moscow: Nauka, pages 57–58.
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