9. Materials and language have evolved together. Thus the archaeological dating of
materials possibly also dates the words which name them. Analysis of Proto-Semitic (PS)
material terms reveals that materials discovered during the Neolithic are uniquely
triconsonantal (3c) whereas biconsonantal (2c) names were utilized for materials of the
Old Stone-Age. This establishes a major transition in pre-Semitic language structure,
concomitant with the transition to agriculture. Associations of material names with other
words in the PS lexicon reveal the original context of material utilization. In particular,
monosyllabic 2c names are associated with a pre-Natufian cultural background, more
than 16,500 years ago. Various augments introduced during the Natufian, and perhaps
even more intensively during the Early Neolithic, were absorbed into the roots, tilting the
equilibrium from 2c toward 3c roots, and culminating in an agricultural society with strictly
triconsonantal language morphology.
Noam Agmon, Pre-Semitic Root Structure Change