Editing Nilo-Saharan languages (section)

===Bender's reconstruction===
The consonant system reconstructed by Bender for Proto-Nilo-Saharan is:
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="2" |
! colspan="2" | [[labial consonant|Labial]]
! colspan="2" | [[coronal consonant|Coronal]]
! colspan="2" | [[palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! colspan="2" | [[velar consonant|Velar]]
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[plosive consonant|plosive]]
! <small>voiceless</small>
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*t, *t₂}}
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*k, *kʰ}}
|-
! <small>voiced</small>
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*b}}
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*d, *d₂}}
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*ɟ}}
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*g}}
|-
! colspan="2" | [[fricative consonant|fricative]]
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*f}}
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*s}}
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
|-
! colspan="2" | [[liquid consonant|liquid]]
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*r, *l}}
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*r₂}}
| colspan="2" |
|-
! colspan="2" | [[nasal consonant|nasal]]
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*m}}
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*n}}
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*ŋ}}
|-
! colspan="2" | [[semivowel]]
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*w}}
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*j}}
| colspan="2" |
|}

The phonemes {{IPA|/*d₂, *t₂/}} correspond to coronal plosives, the phonetic details are difficult to specify, but clearly, they remain distinct from {{IPA|/*d, *t/}} and supported by many phonetic correspondences (another author, Cristopher Ehret, reconstructs for the coronal area the sound {{IPA|[d̪], [ḍ]}} and {{IPA|[t̪], [ṭ]}} which perhaps are closer to the phonetic detail of {{IPA|/*d₂, *t₂/}}, see infra)

Bender gave a list of about 350 [[cognate]]s and discussed in depth the grouping and the phonological system proposed by Ehret. Blench (2000) compares both systems (Bender's and Ehret's) and prefers the former because it is more secure and is based in more reliable data.<ref name="Blench 2000">[[Roger Blench|Blench, Roger M.]] (2000) [http://www.rogerblench.info/Archaeology%20data/Africa/Blench%20Chapter%203.pdf "The classification of Nilo-Saharan"] (Afrika und Übersee 83). p. 299.{{dead link|date=November 2018}}</ref> For example, Bender points out that there is a set of phonemes including [[implosive consonant|implosives]] {{IPA|/*ɓ, *ɗ, *ʄ, *ɠ/}}, [[ejective consonant|ejectives]] {{IPA|/*pʼ, *tʼ, (*sʼ), *cʼ, *kʼ/}} and prenasal constants {{IPA|/*ᵐb, *ⁿd, (*ⁿt), *ⁿɟ, *ᵑg/}}, but it seems that they can be reconstructed only for core groups (E, I, J, L) and the collateral group (C, D, F, G, H), but not for Proto-Nilo-Saharan.