Editing Afroasiatic languages (section)

====<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}}