Chapter 3 discusses the major diachronic processes affecting Central Chadic languages, starting with the massive deletion of reconstructed segments. It explains the historical coming about of prosodies through desegmentalisation and prosodification when coarticulatory features become floating and reassociate with other segments in the chain of segments. It describes the frequent occurrence of at times multiple consonantal metathesis. Historical sound changes are then identified and described in great detail as reflecting both ‘natural’ and contact-induced sound changes. Finally, the chapter discusses compensatory strategies for historically lost segmental material of roots.