Common trends in proposals as of 2019 include using common or lacking grammatical features  to argue that Omotic was the first language to branch off, often followed by Chadic.
kˈɑːmən tɹˈɛndz ɪn pɹəpˈoʊzəlz æz ʌv tˈuː θˈaʊzənd nˈaɪntiːn ɪŋklˈuːd jˈuːzɪŋ kˈɑːmən ɔːɹ lˈækɪŋ ɡɹɐmˈæɾɪkəl fˈiːtʃɚz tʊ ˈɑːɹɡjuː ðæt ɑːmˈɑːɾɪk wʌzðə fˈɜːst lˈæŋɡwɪdʒ tə bɹˈæntʃ ˈɔf, ˈɔfən fˈɑːloʊd baɪ tʃˈædɪk.