Editing Afroasiatic languages (section)

===Common derivational affixes===
====M-prefix noun derivation====
A prefix in m- is the most widely attested affix in AA that is used to derive nouns,{{sfn|Meyer|Wolff|2019|p=266}}{{sfn|Wilson|2020|p=123}} and is one of the features [[Joseph Greenberg]] used to diagnose membership in the family. It forms [[agent noun]]s, place nouns, and instrument nouns.{{sfn|Frajzyngier|Shay|2012|p=10}}{{sfn|Huehnergard|2004|p=140}} In some branches, it can also derive abstract nouns and participles.{{sfn|Wilson|2020|p=123}} Omotic, meanwhile, shows evidence for a non-productive prefix mV- associated with the feminine gender.{{sfn|Shay|2014|p=577}} Christopher Ehret has argued that this prefix is a later development that was not present in Proto-Afro-Asiatic, but rather derived from a PAA indefinite pronoun *m-.{{sfn|Ehret|1995|p=52}} Such an etymology is rejected by A. Zaborski and Gábor Takács, the latter of whom argues for a PAA ''*ma-'' that unites all or some of the meanings in the modern languages.{{sfn|Takács|2008|p=8}}

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:smaller;"
|+ Examples of m-prefix noun derivations, using data from {{harvnb|Meyer|Wolff|2019}}, {{harvnb|Beylage|2018}}, and {{harvnb|Wilson|2020}}
|-
! Language !! Root !! Agent/Instrument  !! Place/Abstract
|-
|Egyptian || swr ''to drink'' || m-swr ''drinking bowl'' || –
|-
| Arabic (Semitic) || k-t-b ''to write'' || mu-katib-un ''writer'' || ma-ktab-un ''school''
|-
| Hausa (Chadic) || hayf- ''to give birth'' || má-hàif-íi ''father'' || má-háif-áa ''birthplace''
|-
| Beja (Cushitic) || firi ''to give birth'' || – || mi-frey ''birth''
|-
| Tuareg (Berber) || äks ''to eat'' || em-äks ''eater'' || –
|}

====Verbal extensions====
Many AA languages use prefixes or suffixes (verbal extensions) to encode various pieces of information about the verb.{{sfn|Frajzyngier|2012|p=525}} Three [[Derivation (linguistics)|derivational]] prefixes can be reconstructed for Proto-Afroasiatic: *s- '[[causative]]', *t- '[[middle voice]]' or '[[reflexive verb|reflexive]]', and *n- '[[Passive Voice|passive]]';{{sfn|Huehnergard|2004|p=141}} the prefixes appear with various related meanings in the individual daughter languages and branches.{{sfn|Stauder|2023|p=87}} Christopher Ehret has proposed that Proto-Afroasiatic originally had as many as thirty-seven separate verbal extensions, many of which then became fossilized as third consonants.{{sfn|Ehret|1995|pp=27–34}} This theory has been criticized by some, such as Andrzej Zaborski and Alan Kaye, as being too many extensions to be realistic, though Zygmont Frajzyngier and Erin Shay note that some Chadic languages have as many as twelve extensions.{{sfn|Frajzyngier|Shay|2012|p=13}}
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:smaller;"
|+ Common verbal extensions in Afroasiatic, using data from {{harvnb|Wilson|2020}}, {{harvnb|Bubenik|2023}}, and {{harvnb|Kossmann|2007}}
|-
! Language !! Causative *s- !! Reflexive/middle *t- !! Passive *n-
|-
| Akkadian (Semitic) ||  u-š-apris 'make cut' || mi-t-gurum 'agree (with one another)' || i-p-paris (> *i-n-paris) 'be cut'
|-
| Figuig (Berber) || ssu-fəɣ 'let out' || i-ttə-ska 'it has been built' || mmu-bḍa 'divide oneself'
|-
| Beja (Cushitic) || s-dabil 'make gather' || t-dabil 'be gathered' || m-dabaal 'gather each other'
|-
| Egyptian || s-ꜥnḫ 'make live' || pr-tj 'is sent forth'{{efn|The Egyptian passive suffix is solely morphological and does not form a unique stem.{{sfn|Stauder|2023|pp=88–90}}}} || n-hp 'escape'{{efn|The Egyptian prefix has a middle voice/intransitive/or passive meaning.{{sfn|Allen|2013|p=94}}}}
|}

====<span class="anchor" id="nisba"></span>"Nisba" derivation====
The so-called "[[Arabic nouns and adjectives#Nisba|Nisba]]" is a suffix used to derive adjectives from nouns and, in Egyptian, also from prepositions.{{sfn|Beylage|2018|p=115}} It is found in Egyptian, Semitic, and possibly, in some relic forms, Berber.{{sfn|Wilson|2020|p=47}} The suffix has the same basic form in Egyptian and Semitic,{{sfn|Beylage|2018|p=115}} taking the form -i(y) in Semitic and being written -j in Egyptian. The Semitic and Cushitic genitive case in -i/-ii may be related to "nisba" adjective derivation.{{sfn|Huehnergard|2004|p=148}}{{sfn|Peust|2012|p=243}}

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:smaller;"
|+"Nisba" derivation in Semitic and Egyptian, using data from {{harvnb|Wilson|2020}} and {{harvnb|Beylage|2018}}
|-
! Language !! Noun/preposition !! Derived adjective
|-
| Hebrew (Semitic) || yārēaḥ ''moon'' || yərēḥī ''lunar''
|-
| rowspan="2" | Egyptian || nṯr ''god'' || nṯr.j ''divine''
|-
| ḥr ''upon'' || ḥr.j ''upper, which is upon''
|}

Due to its presence in the oldest attested and best-known AA branches, nisba derivation is often thought of as a "quintessentially Afroasiatic feature".{{sfn|Peust|2012|p=243}}{{sfn|Wilson|2020|p=168}} Christopher Ehret argues for its presence in Proto-Afroasiatic and for its attestation in some form in all branches, with a shape ''-*ay'' in addition to -''*iy'' in some cases.{{sfn|Ehret|1995|p=16}}