The Difficulties of Reconstructing the Cultural Lexicon for a Macrofamily-Level ProtoLanguage (Based on the Afrasian Example)

Abstract

The paper offers a critical analysis of several Afrasian etymologies with presumably “military” semantics, put forward by Alexander Militarev. The conclusion is that these etymologies typically suffer from multiple problems, such as lack of proper attention to the historical typology of semantic shifts and insufficient consideration for the distribution of potential reflexes in daughter languages. Because of this, the reconstructability of a large Proto-Afrasian lexical layer of specifically “military” terms remains questionable – at least not until such a reconstruction has been diligently conducted on each of the chronological levels preceding Proto-Afrasian (particularly on the various intermediate levels of the Cushitic family, since only a secure reconstruction of any select etymon on the ProtoCushitic level can in turn properly guarantee its Proto-Afrasian status).