This is a new kind of textbook for courses in introductory linguistics. It makes clear what is important or essential, and omits what is not. It is strictly selective, highly structured, focused, to-the-point and informative. It presents material in a way that mirrors the structure of a typical semester of teaching, and integrates many exercises into the text.

Cushitic Lexicon and Phonology contains a concise reconstruction of lexical and phonological proto-forms for various stages in the development of Cushitic languages, the largest branch within the Afrasian (Afro-Asiatic) phylum. It is based methodologically on the comparative method of historical linguistics, using sound correspondences as major device for the identification of cognates. This almost-finished study was left by the author upon his untimely death in 2008 and was typographically reworked by the editor.