Abstract
Genetic classification in general depends to a large extent on the criteria selected. Inspired by Kogan 2015 and other sources, this paper looks at specific lexical peculiarities and semantic traits in the South Semitic (mainly modern South Arabian and Ethio-Semitic) lexicon, in order to determine the value of the South Semitic lexicon for genetic classification within Semitic at large.
Highlights
– West Semitic is characterized by the suffix conjugation denoting past tense and a prohibitive negatoral;
Inspired by Kogan 2015 and other sources, this paper looks at specific lexical peculiarities and semantic traits in the South Semitic lexicon, in order to determine the value of the South Semitic lexicon for genetic classification within Semitic at large
[1] introductio n This paper focuses on the role and importance of the lexicon for genetic classification, on the role of South Arabian and Ethio-Semitic in this context, a role which recently has been highlighted by Kogan (2015)
Summary
Diachronic loans within the same genetic subgroup (e.g., from Gəəz to Amharic) can create confusion in the realm of phonology. An especially intricate issue is the distinction between genetically related cognates on the one hand and and inner-family loans on the other. The latter term refers to loan between languages of the same genetic subgroup, which may engender semantic specification of an indigenous term due to its interaction with a genetic cognate. An example, featuring loans from Gəəz to Arabic, is the following (cf Weninger 2007; Edzard 2015b: 187):. Of special interest is the case where lexical doublets emerge as a result of inner-family borrowing. In this case, the respective lemma is both attested autochthonously and in a loaned version (cf Edzard 2015a for a contextualization of this issue). Kogan (2015), who takes a modified version of the Swadesh list as a point of departure, points out the following further examples of semantic innovation in Ethio-Semitic (cf. Kogan 2015: 444–446):
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