Editing Nilo-Saharan languages (section)

===Ehret's reconstruction===
[[Christopher Ehret]] used a less clear methodology and proposed a maximalist phonemic system:
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="2" |
! [[labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[dental consonant|Dental]]
! [[alveolar consonant|Alveol.]]
! [[retroflex consonant|Retrof.]]
! [[palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|- align=center
! rowspan="5" |[[plosive]]
! <small>[[implosive consonant|implosive]]</small>
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*ɓ}}
|
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*ɗ}}
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*ɗ̣}}
| style="font-size:larger;" |
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*ɠ}}
|
|- align=center
! <small>voiced</small>
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*b}}
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*d̪}}
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*d}}
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*ḍ}}
|
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*g}}
|
|- align=center
! <small>voiceless</small>
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*p}}
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*t̪}}
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*t}}
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*ṭ}}
| 
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*k}}
|
|- align=center
! <small>[[Aspiration (phonetics)|aspirate]]</small>
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*pʰ}}
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*t̪ʰ}}
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*tʰ}}
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*ṭʰ}}
|
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*kʰ}}
|
|- align=center
! <small>[[ejective consonant|ejective]]</small>
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*pʼ}}
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*t̪ʼ}}
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*tʼ}}
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*ṭʼ}}
|
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*kʼ}}
|
|- align=center
! colspan="2" |[[fricative]]
| 
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*θ}}
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*s, *z}}
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*ṣ}}
| 
| 
| 
|- align=center
! rowspan="2" |[[nasal consonant|nasal]]
! <small>simple</small>
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*m}}
|
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*n}}
| 
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*ɲ}}
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*ŋ}}
| 
|- align=center
! <small>prenasal</small>
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*ⁿb}}
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*ⁿð}}
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*ⁿd}}
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*ⁿḍ}}
| 
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*ⁿg}}
| 
|- align=center
! colspan="2" |[[liquid consonant|liquid]]
| 
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*l̪}}
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*r, *l}}
| 
| 
|
|- align=center
! rowspan="2" |[[approximant]]
! <small>plain</small>
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*w}}
|
|
| 
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*j}}
|
| 
|- align=center
! <small>complex</small>
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*ʼw}}
|
|
| 
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*ʼj}}
|
| style="font-size:larger;" |{{IPA|*h}}
|}
Ehret's maximalist system has been criticized by [[Lionel Bender|Bender]] and [[Roger Blench|Blench]]. These authors state that the correspondences used by Ehret are not very clear and because of this many of the sounds in the table may only be allophonic variations.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Blench|first=Roger|date=2004|title=Review of The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800|journal=The African Archaeological Review|volume=21|issue=4|pages=239–242|issn=0263-0338|jstor=25130809|doi=10.1007/s10437-004-0752-7|s2cid=162354153}}</ref>