Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Cushitic and Omotic Languages, Paris, 16-18 April 2008

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The present volume is a selection of the papers presented during the 5th International Conference on Cushitic and Omotic Languages . Some forty scholars gathered, coming from several African, European and American Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Sudan , Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States. During the five years that had elapsed since the previous conference held in Leiden in 2003, the knowledge of these languages kept increasing, with a growing interest for typologically oriented descriptions and for research dedicated to diachronic studies, including the key issue of language contact. The papers are grouped thematically in order to underline the consistency of the debates that took place during the meeting. I. Historical and comparative Some remarks about the compound suffix conjugation in Highland East Cushitic Languages. Cushitic verb classes revisited. On Cushitic verbal innovation in Oromo. Dawit Reconstructing proto-consonant phonemes of Lowland East Cushitic Languages. Links between Cushitic, Omotic, Chadic and the position of Kujarge. Southern Cushitic loans in North-Eastern Bantu – a reconsideration of the evidence – II. Typological Reduplication in Cushitic. Kö Interrogative zero-marking in some Ometo Languages. A peculiarity of copula and case marking in Sidaamú xafó – Signalling modified/unmodified head – III. Descriptive and synchronic Koorete Tonology. Les articles définis en bedja, dialecte du Gash. Cupi/Petrollino/Savà/ Preliminary notes on the Hamer verb. Ongaye Oda Conditional clauses in Konso. Azeb Directives to humans and to domestic animals – the imperative and some interjections in Zargulla.