Bausi, Alessandro

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Aethiopica

Lutz Edzard (ed.), Semitic and Afroasiatic: Challenges and Opportunities

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       Aethiopica 17 (2014) International Journal of Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies     ________________________________________________________________  ALESSANDRO BAUSI, UniversitÃt Hamburg Review LUTZ EDZARD (ed.), Semitic and Afroasiatic: Challenges and Opportunities Aethiopica 17 (2014), 302߃304 ISSN: 2194߃4024 ________________________________________________________________  Edited in the Asien-Afrika-Institut  Hiob Ludolf Zentrum fÛr £thiopistik  der UniversitÃt Hamburg Abteilung fÛr Afrikanistik und £thiopistik    by Alessandro Bausi in cooperation with Bairu Tafla, Ulrich BraukÃmper, Ludwig Gerhardt,  Hilke Meyer-Bahlburg and Siegbert Uhlig   Aethiopica 17 (2014) Bibliographical abbreviations used in this volume A¨ Annales d߈¨thiopie, Paris 1955ff. £thFor £thiopistische Forschungen, 1߃35, ed. by E. HAMMERSCHMIDT, 36߃40, ed. by S. UHLIG, Stuttgart: Franz Steiner (1߃34), 1977߃1992; Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz (35߃40), 1994߃1995. AethFor Aethiopistische Forschungen, 41߃73, ed. by S. UHLIG, Wiesbaden: Harrasso-witz, 1998߃2011; 74߃75, ed. by A. BAUSI and S. UHLIG, ibid., 2011f.; 76ff. ed. by A. BAUSI, ibid., 2012ff. AION Annali dell߈Universit¿ degli studi di Napoli ߋL߈Orientaleߌ, Napoli: Universit¿ di Napoli ߋL߈Orientaleߌ (former Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli), 1929ff. BSOAS Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, London 1917ff. CSCO Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, 1903ff. EAe S. UHLIG (ed.), Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, I: A߃C, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2003; II: D߃Ha, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2005; III: He߃N, Wiesbaden: Har-rassowitz, 2007; (in cooperation with A. BAUSI), IV: O߃X, Wiesbaden: Harras-sowitz, 2010; A. BAUSI (ed. in cooperation with S. UHLIG), V: Y߃Z, Supple-menta, Addenda et Corrigenda, Maps, Index, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2014. EFAH Deutsches ArchÃologisches Institut, Orient-Abteilung, Epigraphische For-schungen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel, herausgegeben im Auftrag des Instituts von NORBERT NEBES. EMML Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library, Addis Ababa. IJAHS International Journal of African Historical Studies, Boston, MA ߃ New York 1968ff. JAH The Journal of African History, Cambridge 1960ff. JES Journal of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa 1963ff. JSS Journal of Semitic Studies, Manchester 1956ff. NEASt Northeast African Studies, East Lansing, MI 1979ff. OrChr Oriens Christianus, Leipzig ߃ Roma ߃ Wiesbaden 1901ff. OrChrP Orientalia Christiana Periodica, Roma 1935ff. PICES 15 S. UHLIG ߃ M. BULAKH ߃ D. NOSNITSIN ߃ T. RAVE (eds.) 2005, Proceedings of the XVth International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, Hamburg July 20߃25, 2003 = AethFor 65, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. PICES 16 H. ASPEN ߃ BIRHANU TEFERRA ߃ SHIFERAW BEKELE ߃ S. EGE (eds.) 2010, Research in Ethiopian Studies: Selected papers of the 16th International Confe-rence of Ethiopian Studies, Trondheim July 2007 = AethFor 72, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. PO Patrologia Orientalis, 1903ff. RI¨ ¨. BERNAND ߃ A. J. DREWES ߃ R. SCHNEIDER 1991, Recueil des inscriptions de l߈¨thiopie des pÈriodes prÈ-axoumite et axoumite, I: Les documents, II: Les planches, Paris: [AcadÈmie des inscriptions et belle-lettres] Diffusion de Boccard. RSE Rassegna di Studi Etiopici, Roma 1941߃1981, Roma ߃ Napoli 1983ff. SAe Scriptores Aethiopici. ZDMG Zeitschrift der Deutschen MorgenlÃndischen Gesellschaft, Leipzig ߃ Wiesbaden ߃ Stuttgart 1847ff. Reviews Aethiopica 17 (2014) 302As a general remark, FƼصصum߈s work is very useful for a general reader-ship and provides fairly good information on the subjects, highlighting var-ious aspects of their lives.  Abreham Adugna, UniversitÃt Hamburg  Ababa University, 1982 A.M. [1990 A.D.]; ELISABETH W. GIYORGIS et. al. (eds.), Gebre Kristos Desta: The Painter-Poet, Addis Ababa: Institute of Ethiopian Studies, 2006. LUTZ EDZARD (ed.), Semitic and Afroasiatic: Challenges and Oppor-tunities = Porta Linguarum Orientalium. Neue Serie 24, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2012. 414 pp. Price: ߫ 56.߃. ISBN: 9߃783447߃06695߃2. The profile of this book is not immediately apparent from the title. It presents in concise and overview form extremely dense grammatical sketches of lan-guages from the whole spectrum of Afroasiatic, namely Egyptian, Berber, Cushitic, Chadic, and though shortly also Omotic (sub iudicio, but cautiously included), along with sample texts for each language with linguistic annota-tion and interlinear translation. The Semitic is excluded and no sketch of any Semitic language is given (only a few basic features are presented in the in-troduction and passim in each chapter, sometimes in the footnotes, mainly from a contrastive point of view). This is due to the fact that the target reader are the Semitists themselves, who are invited to look at their own data from a wider and new perspective, by getting acquainted with the essentials of lin-guistic structures from the whole range of Afroasiatic. There is no prejudicial statement or hypothesis, however, on the nature of Afroasiatic as such, its classification and internal affinities or its history and development, and even much diverging hypotheses are presented as neutrally as possible. The book includes an ߋIntroduction: Semitic and Afroasiaticߌ (pp. 23߃58) by the editor, Lutz Edzard; and then chapters on ߋEgyptianߌ (Earlier and Later Egyptian; pp. 59߃130) by Ruth Kramer; ߋBerberߌ (pp. 131߃198) by Mohamed Elmedlaoui; ߋCushiticߌ (Overview, Beja, Bilin, Oromo, Somali, Sidaama, Iraqw, pp. 199߃295), by David Appleyard, with ߋSidaamaߌ (pp. 262߃277) by Kjell Magne Yri; ߋChadicߌ (Overview, Kulere, Mubi, Mushere, Tangale, pp. 296߃368) by Herrmann Jungraithmayr; ߋOmoticߌ (pp. 369߃384) by Rolf Theil with a ߋSketch Grammar of an Omotic Language: Kooreteߌ (pp. 385߃398) by Binyam Sisay Mendisu. Every grammatical sketch is accompanied by a short section on the lexicon. The bibliography follows each chapter. After the table of contents (pp. 5߃13) there is a list of tables (pp. 14߃17) and of abbreviations (pp. 18߃20), mostly consisting of the abbreviations for internal annotation that are oriented to the ߋLeipzig glossing rulesߌ. An index of subjects (pp. 399߃410) and of authors (pp. 411߃414) complete the volume. Reviews Aethiopica 17 (2014) 303With respect of these premises, the book is of innovative conception, al-though the structure of a series of grammatical sketches plus sample texts (as the editor declares, p. 21) is directly inspired by the model of Gotthelf BergstrÃsser߈s EinfÛhrung in die semitischen Sprachen: Sprachproben und grammatische Skizzen,1 but the perspective it offers to the general Semitist and Afroasiatist is of a completely different scale. A few more detailed remarks: p. 30: (table 10) it escapes the reader why it seems necessary to adduce an example from an Amerindian language (diiyl / diyl-inay / diyiil-ʝaa-n, etc.) to demonstrate that the principle of ߋa consonantal root, modified by template affixes is not restricted to Afroasiaticߌ: the example provided resembles Indoeuropean apophony, cf. Greek leip-Ĭ, e-lip-on, le-loip-a; and the question of the vocalic element also in Semitic can not be ruled out so simply, cf. the old but still valid contribution by Pelio Fronzaroli.2 ߃ p. 34, (d): there are a few errors in the verbal tables: the s-t-G (= Dillmann IV,1) perfect form is not, or not as a rule, Ã-s-t-ÃC1ÃC2ÃC3Ã; it is rather a-s-t-ÃC1C2ÃC3Ã (for example astÃqtÃlÃ, always with an astÃ߃ prefix) or a-s-t-ÃC1ÃC2C3Ã; the ʝ-D (= Dillmann II,2) imper-fect form is not yaC1eC2C2ÃC3, but yaC1eC2C2ƼC3; the s-t-L (= Dillmann IV,3) perfect form is not Ã-s-t-ÃC1aC2ÃC3Ã, but a-s-t-ÃC1aC2ÃC3Ã. ߃ p. 40: ߋ׷ezbߌ for ߋ׷Ƽzbߌ, ߋkanàferߌ for ߋkÃnafƼrߌ, ߋmawàʞelߌ for ߋmÃwaʞƼlߌ do not make clear which transcription system is adopted for GƼʞƼz (whether a/à or Ã/a for first and fourth order, and Ƽ or e for the sixth), with all previous examples adopting a different transcription system than the one adopted here. ߃ p. 41, l. 3 from the bottom (no. iv): Amh. ߋawnÃt-wa-nߌ for ߋƼwnÃt-wa-nߌ, and l. 6 (no. iii): the expression can be considered adverbial only in a contrastive or cross-linguistic perspective: it is actually an object. ߃ p. 42: here tacitly emerges an ߋoriginal Afroasiaticߌ (p. 42, ߋoriginally Afroasiaticߌ), that contradicts some of the premises of the introduction (pp. 25߃26). ߃ p. 46: the idea that the Sudan Nubian is the ultimate responsible for the SOV structure of Amharic via Cushitic intermediary seems to belong to another sphere of reflec-tions than that adopted for this volume. ߃ p. 47: the Cushitic etymology of ߋaؾeߌ (Ap-pleyard) remains a possibility, but among other, cf. the comprehensive presentation by D. Nosnitsin, ߋAصeߌ.3 ߃ p. 48: the negation ߋayߌ is attested exactly in this form in Ethio-Semitic (for example in TƼgrƼÐÐa).4 ߃ p. 50: the famous Italian scholar in Indoeuropean linguistics is ߋVittore Pisaniߌ (1899߃1990), not ߋVittorioߌ. ߃ p. 68, n. 7: ߋverbal nouns in the adverbial accusativeߌ in GƼʞƼz hint at the gerundive or converb; the gerundive, however,  1 G. BERGSTR£SSER, EinfÛhrung in die semitischen Sprachen: Sprachproben und gram-matische Skizzen, MÛnchen: Max Hueber, 1928, repr. several times; Engl. transl. by P.T. DANIELS, Introduction to the Semitic Languages: Text Specimens and Grammati-cal Sketches, Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1983. 2 P. FRONZAROLI, ߋSull߈elemento vocalico del lessema in semiticoߌ, Rivista degli Studi Orientali 38, 1963, pp. 119߃129. 3 D. NOSNITSIN, ߋAصeߌ, in: EAe II, pp. 364b߃365b. 4 Cf. now M. BULAKH, ߋNegative markers *ʟay-, *ʟi- and *ʟal in Ethio-Semiticߌ, in: L. KOGAN ߃N.V. KOSLOVA ߃ S. LOESOV ߃ S.V. TISCHCHENKO (eds.), Babel und Bibel: Annual of Ancient Near Eastern, Old Testament, and Semitic Studies 6 = Orientalia Classica: Papers of the Institute of the Institute of Oriental and Classical Studies 43, Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2012, pp. 385߃420. Reviews Aethiopica 17 (2014) 304also exists in Ethio-Semitic, besides accusative, from a nominative basis (for example in TƼgrƼÐÐa). ߃ The volume has a certain series of trivial errors, for example p. 37, l. 18: ߋquali-tative of quantitativeߌ, for ߋqualitative or quantitativeߌ; p. 39, l. 11: ߋprefectߌ for ߋperfectߌ; again, also in the tables, p. 39, l. 22: ߋher forgetsߌ for ߋhe forgetsߌ; p. 97, no. (42): ߋhe-gospelߌ for ߋthe-gospelߌ; less trivial, unfortunately, is p. 97, no. (43): ǾϪϐȄϐϲϢϜϘ for ǾϪϐϼϐϲϢϜϘ (scil. from Greek ǡǋǛʐǐǙǖǋǓ); what is worse, the verb form is transcribed ߋf-na-ìarizeߌ as according to the wrong Coptic spelling, instead of ߋf-na-charizeߌ. From an editor who is well known for having stressed the importance of polygenesis, convergence, and entropy,5 one would have expected more consideration for ߋdriftߌ and internal development phenomena, and for interference as well, not only from within the Afroasiatic macrofamily. For example, the gemination of the types Akkadian iparras, Ethiopic yƼqattƼl (pp. 37߃38) are considered only in the Afroasiatic and specifically Semitic dimension, without taking into account parallel convergence phenomena, as supposed by David Cohen, who suggests a secondary gemination for yƼqattƼl. To stress the limits and the caveat towards a hazardous compara-tism would have not been superfluous: at a conference on Afroasiatic I eyewitnessed debates concerning the non-Semitic and possibly Egyptian or Cushitic origin of the TƼgrƼÐÐa genitive particle nay߃, definitely to be ex-plained as an internal development from nƼway, ߋgoods, propertyߌ, as stat-ed as early as by Fr. Praetorius,6 and as is confirmed by a well known ty-pology of parallel genitive constructions. All in all, this book soundly reminds all specialists of single Afroasiatic languages, and Semitic in particular, that a comprehensive consideration of Afroasiatic is fruitful and seminal for understanding better particular phe-nomena, be it from a historical comparative or typological linguistic point of view. There is no need to say that this is particularly true for specialists in Ethio-Semitic, since the relatively narrow and small Ethiopian linguistic area uniquely includes three of the Afroasiatic linguistic families (namely, Semitic, Cushitic, and Omotic, plus non-Afroasiatic languages). With re-spect to this, the very fine chapter by David Appleyard ߃ one of the few scholars really able to encompass masterly Cushitic and Ethio-Semitic lan-guages basing on first-hand sources ߃ recommends itself as one of the piÇces de rÈsistance of the volume. Alessandro Bausi, UniversitÃt Hamburg   5 See his L. EDZARD, Polygenesis, Convergence, and Entropy: An Alternative Model of Linguistic Evolution. Applied to Semitic Linguistics, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1998. 6 F. PRAETORIUS, Grammatik der TigriÐasprache in Abessinien, Halle: Verlag der Buch-handlung des Weisenhauses, 1871, p. 211. 

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Lutz Edzard (ed.), Semitic and Afroasiatic: Challenges and Opportunities

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