Carsten Peust, Egyptian Phonology. An Introduction to the
Phonology of a Dead Language, 1999,
ISBN 3-933043-02-6, 368 S. / pp., fest gebunden / hardbound, EUR 38,00.
This
book presents an overview of Egyptian historical phonology
and adresses Egyptologists as well as readers with a general linguistic
background. The book does not give synchronic descriptions of different
stages of the language in chronological order. Instead, it is arranged
by phonological topics (consonants, vowels, syllable structure, prosody),
each section being discussed from a diachronic perspective. The
presentation differs from the mainstream opinion in crucial points such
as the interpretation of the Coptic vowel system and the syllable structure
rules of pre-Coptic Egyptian, which leads to a reinterpretation of
numerous minor phonological rules as well.