Editing Egyptian language (section)

==Classification==
The Egyptian language branch belongs to the [[Afroasiatic languages|Afroasiatic language family]].{{sfn|Loprieno|1995|p=1}}{{sfn|Rubin|2013}} Among the [[typology (linguistics)|typological]] features of Egyptian that are typically Afroasiatic are its [[Fusional language|fusional]] morphology, [[nonconcatenative morphology]], a series of [[emphatic consonant]]s, a three-vowel system {{IPA|/a i u/}}, a nominal feminine suffix *''-at'', a nominal prefix ''m-'', an adjectival suffix ''-ī'' and characteristic personal verbal affixes.{{sfn|Loprieno|1995|p=1}} Of the other Afroasiatic branches, linguists have variously suggested that the Egyptian language shares its greatest affinities with [[Berber languages|Berber]]<ref>{{Cite book |url={{google books URL|uIeEPQAACAAJ}} |title=The Afroasiatic Languages |last1=Frajzyngier |first1=Zygmunt |last2=Shay |first2=Erin |date=2012-05-31 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521865333 |page=102 |language=en}}</ref> and [[Semitic languages|Semitic]]{{sfn|Rubin|2013}}{{sfn|Loprieno|1995|p=5}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Allan |first1=Keith |title=The Oxford Handbook of the History of Linguistics |date=2013 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0199585847 |page=264 |url={{google books URL|BzfRFmlN2ZAC|p=264}} |access-date=7 June 2018}}</ref> languages, particularly [[Arabic]]{{sfn|Loprieno|1995|p=51}} (which is spoken in Egypt today) and [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]].{{sfn|Rubin|2013}} However, other scholars have argued that the Egyptian language shared closer linguistic ties with northeastern African regions.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ehret |first1=Christopher |title=Egypt in Africa |date=1996 |publisher=Indianapolis Museum of Art |location=Indianapolis, Ind. |isbn=0-936260-64-5 |pages=25–27}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Morkot |first1=Robert |title=The Egyptians: an introduction |date=2005 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |isbn=0415271045 |pages=10}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mc Call |first1=Daniel F. |title=The Afroasiatic Language Phylum: African in Origin, or Asian? |journal=Current Anthropology |date=1998 |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=139–144 |doi=10.1086/204702 |jstor=10.1086/204702 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/204702 |issn=0011-3204}}</ref>

There are two theories that seek to establish the cognate sets between Egyptian and Afroasiatic, the traditional theory and the ''[[neuere Komparatistik]]'', founded by [[Semiticist]] Otto Rössler.{{sfn|Takács|2011|p=13-14}}
According to the {{lang|de|neuere Komparatistik}}, in Egyptian, the [[Proto-Afroasiatic language|Proto-Afroasiatic]] voiced consonants {{IPA|*/d z ð/}} developed into [[Pharyngeal consonant|pharyngeal]] {{angbr|ꜥ}} {{IPA|/ʕ/}}: Egyptian {{Transliteration|egy|ꜥr.t}} 'portal', Semitic {{lang|sem|dalt}} 'door'. The traditional theory instead disputes the values given to those consonants by the {{lang|de|neuere Komparatistik}}, instead connecting {{angbr|ꜥ}} with Semitic {{IPA|/ʕ/}} and {{IPA|/ɣ/}}.{{sfn|Takács|2011|p=8}} Both schools agree that Afroasiatic {{IPA|*/l/}} merged with Egyptian {{angbr|n}}, {{angbr|r}}, {{angbr|ꜣ}}, and {{angbr|j}} in the dialect on which the written language was based, but it was preserved in other Egyptian varieties. They also agree that original {{IPA|*/k g ḳ/}} palatalise to {{angbr|ṯ j ḏ}} in some environments and are preserved as {{angbr|k g q}} in others.{{sfn|Loprieno|1995|p=31}}{{sfn|Takács|2011|p=8-9}}

The Egyptian language has many biradical and perhaps monoradical roots, in contrast to the Semitic preference for triradical roots. Egyptian is probably more conservative, and Semitic likely underwent later regularizations converting roots into the triradical pattern.{{sfn|Loprieno|1995|p=52}}

Although Egyptian is the oldest Afroasiatic language documented in written form, its [[Morphology (linguistics)|morphological]] repertoire is very different from that of the rest of the [[Afroasiatic]] languages in general, and [[Semitic languages]] in particular. There are multiple possibilities: perhaps Egyptian had already undergone radical changes from [[Proto-Afroasiatic]] before it was recorded; or the Afroasiatic family has so far been studied with an excessively Semitocentric approach; or, as G. W. Tsereteli suggests, Afroasiatic is a [[sprachbund]], rather than a true [[genetic relationship (linguistics)|genetic]] language family.{{sfn|Loprieno|1995|p=51}}