The position of Asá and Qwadza within Cushitic

This paper aims to re-examine lexical data on Asá and Qwadza in order to find out how they relate to each other and to other languages, in particular to the West Rift Southern Cushitic languages and their reconstruction. The data is analyzed on a phonological and morphological level. Some of the phones of the languages are compared in order to find regular sound correspondences, and certain morphemes are compared, providing more insight into common innovations, regarding both the nominal and verbal domain. This paper aims to answer the following research questions: "Are Asá and Qwadza Cushitic languages?" and "Are Asá and Qwadza Southern Cushitic languages forming East Rift Southern Cushitic?". The findings show that Asá and Qwadza are very likely Cushitic languages, but that there is no evidence for an East Rift Southern Cushitic group based on the evidence presented in this paper.