ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a reconstruction of Proto-Semitic (PS) phonology, morphology and syntax. A guiding principle has been that a reconstructed PS form must normally be based on evidence from both East and West. PS is traditionally reconstructed with 29 consonants, all of which are preserved in the inscriptional Ancient South Arabian languages such as Sabaic. Most nouns and verbs in PS exhibit nonconcatenative morphology; that is, they consist of roots comprising invariable sequences of consonants, over which are lay patterns – templates – that furnish the morphology of words. The case systems of several of the ancient languages are sufficiently similar that a reconstruction of PS as a three-case language is straightforward: nominative, for subjects and for the predicates of verbless clauses; genitive, including all prepositions; and accusative, for objects but also for a wide range of other uses. There is marked tendency for the consonants of Semitic verbal roots to remain phonologically consistent.
