What to read after Parallels in Semitic Linguistics?

Muddies the fairly clear picture of comparative phonetics in the Semitic language group by finding evidence that environmental factors may have influenced the evolution of some features from the presumed proto-language. Taking as an example the Arabic emphatic particle la- and its relatives, looks first at it in Literary Arabic and suggests that the array of puzzles scholars and speakers have just learned to live with can in fact reveal mysteries of its past. Then draws on the classical neogrammarian approach to set out the case for a conditioned sound change. Based on a dissertation for the University of Chicago (no date noted). Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR