Ammonite language
| Ammonitic | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Spoken in |
present-day Jordan | |
| speaker | (extinct) | |
| Linguistic classification |
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| Official status | ||
| Official language in | (extinct) | |
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639 -1 |
- |
|
| ISO 639 -2 |
sem (other Semitic languages) |
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The Ammonitic language is an extinct Semitic language of the Canaanite language branch , which was founded in the first half of the 1st millennium BC. Was spoken of by the people of the Ammonites northeast of the Dead Sea in the vicinity of Amman . Text records exist from the 9th to the 5th century, after which the language was apparently replaced by Aramaic .
Corpus
Since an inscription can rarely be clearly classified as ammonite due to the similarities of the other Canaanite languages, the following criteria are used to classify inscriptions:
- Origin: If an inscription comes from the area generally assigned to the Ammonites, it can be regarded with some probability as ammonitic. However, this criterion does not apply to numerous seals that come from the art trade and their origin remains unclear. But even with finds from controlled excavations, the ammonitic character remains open, since it is rarely clear whether the site of the find can be attributed to the ammonitic sphere of influence. At best, there is security for the inscriptions from Amman.
- Paleography : This criterion is based on the assumption that there was an Ammonite “national” script. While Joseph Naveh argues that the Ammonites only used a regionally colored variant of the Aramaic script , Frank Moore Cross and his students emphasize that from the middle of the 8th century BC A separate development of the Ammonite script can be established. This development did not end until the middle of the 6th century with the replacement of the New Babylonian Empire by the Persian Achaemenids and the associated expansion of the Aramaic language as the lingua franca of the Middle East. The first and the last texts regarded as ammonite are accordingly written in Aramaic script.
- Iconography : Compared to the previous criterion, it is even more complicated to clearly distinguish an independent ammonite iconography.
- Onomastics : Names that contain the theophoric element Milkom , who was biblically the main god of the Ammonites, are regarded as typically ammonitic . Arabic influences can possibly also be recognized in the language of the Onomasticon . More recent research has shown overall how uncertain national assignments are due to the naming.
- Language: Since the peculiarities of the Ammonitic language can first be ascertained from a corpus classified as Ammonitic, this criterion can only be used to a limited extent.
The above-mentioned uncertainties have led individual researchers to see ammonitic only as a Canaanite dialect or a variant of the Hebrew language . From the combination of all criteria, however, some texts can be understood as ammonite with certain probabilities. According to the system introduced by Walter Aufrecht , these texts are given the abbreviation CAI and numbered chronologically according to the date of discovery. There are currently about 300 ammonite texts, most of them are short seal inscriptions, which only name the owner, his patronymic and possibly his function. Some seals only contain the beginnings of the alphabet. There are also some inscriptions on ostraka or metal ( Tell Siran inscription ), but only a few monumental inscriptions on stone ( Amman Citadel Inscription and Amman Theater Inscription ).
Linguistic features
Phonology
Phonologically, Ammonite seems to behave largely like the other Canaanite languages. The proto-Semitic interdentals ( t ' , θ and ð ) are represented in the typeface by the corresponding sibilants / ṣ / [ (t) s' ] (צ), / š / [ ʃ ] (ש), / z / [ z ] (ז ) reproduced. However, there is uncertainty regarding the implementation of the / š /. The assimilation of the nun is documented .
It is more difficult to make statements about vowels, as these are usually not reproduced in the typeface. It appears that the diphthong * aj has already been fully contracted to * ē or * ī, while * aw still remains as a diphthong.
morphology
The previously testified personal pronouns of the second person singular masculine 't whose Suffixform - k - and the suffix of the third person singular masculine h distinguish the Ammonite not by the other Canaanite languages, nor m interrogative and articles h -.
The masculine plural ending for nouns is - m (Moabitic, on the other hand - n ). The status constructus is not reflected in the orthography. This suggests that the assumed basic form with the ending * aj is already subject to monophthongation to * ē or * ī. The feminine singular also ends in the status absolutus - at (Hebrew -ā), the plural ends in - ōt .
What is noticeable in verbs is the - n in the past tense ( jussive ) of the 3rd person plural masculine. The causative prefix is h - (Phoenician j -, Aramaic later ʾ -).
syntax
Since the texts received are only short, hardly anything can be said about the syntax. The verb is at the beginning of the main clause. There is also evidence of figurae etymologicae or the repetition of the preposition in noun chains.
Dictionary
The lexicon clearly shows the differences between Aramaic and Phoenician . These are the Ammonite words for son bn and daughter bt , while Aramaic has br and brt . The roots for "to give" are ntn while Phoenician uses jtn . However, the relative pronoun is ʾš , which only divides Phoenician, while Hebrew and Moabite use ʾšr . An ammonitic isogloss could refer to the use of the root ʿbd meaning "to do, to make", where Phoenician uses pʿl and Hebrew uses ʿśh . The personal names may show a proximity to Arabic , but this position is controversial.
literature
- Walter E. Aufrecht: A Corpus of Ammonite Inscriptions . Mellen, Lewiston NY, et al. a. 1989, ISBN 0-88946-089-2 ( Ancient Near Eastern Texts & Studies 4).
- Walter E. Aufrecht: Ammonite Texts and Language. In: Burton Macdonald, Randall W. Younker (Eds.): Ancient Ammon . Brill, Leiden u. a. 1999, ISBN 90-04-10762-2 , pp. 163-188 ( Studies in the history and culture of the ancient Near East 17).
- Kent P. Jackson: The Ammonite Language of the Iron Age . Scholars Press, Chico CA 1983, ISBN 0-89130-592-0 ( Harvard semitic monographs 27), [cf. the critical and detailed review by Walter E. Aufrecht in: Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research - BASOR . 266, 1987, ISSN 0003-097X , pp. 85-95].
- Simon B. Parker: Ammonite, Edomite, and Moabite. In: John Kaltner, Steven L. McKenzie (Eds.): Beyond Babel. A Handbook for Biblical Hebrew and Related Languages . Society of Biblical Literature, Atlanta GA 2002, ISBN 1-58983-035-0 , pp. 43-60 ( Resources for Biblical Study 42).
Remarks
- ^ Joseph Naveh: The Early History of the Alphabet. Jerusalem 1982.
- ↑ So z. B. Larry G. Herr: The Scripts of Ancient Northwest Semitic Seals. Missoula 1978.
- ↑ Felice Israel: Note ammonite 1: Gli arabismi nella documentazione onomastica ammonita. In: Studi Epigrafici e Linguistici sul Vicino Oriente Antico 6 (1989), pp. 91-96. ( ieiop.com ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. [PDF]); see also Michael P. O'Connor: The Ammonite Onomasticon: Semantic Problems. In: Andrews University Seminary Studies , 25 (1987), pp. 51-64.
- ^ Walter E. Aufrecht: A Corpus of Ammonite Inscriptions. Ancient Near Eastern Texts & Studies 4. Lewiston et al. a. 1989; continued in Walter E. Aufrecht: Ammonite Texts and Language. In: Burton Macdonald; Randall W. Younker (Ed.): Ancient Ammon. SHCANE 17. Leiden u. a. 1999, pp. 163-188.
- ↑ See Ronald S. Hendel: Sibilants and šibbōlet (Judges 12: 6). In: BASOR 301 (1996), pp. 69-75.
