Northwest Semitic Languages

The Northwest Semitic languages form a branch of the Semitic language family . Among them are Hebrew , Aramaic and Ugaritic .

languages

In keeping with their name, the north-west Semitic languages ​​are or were spoken in the north-west of the Semitic-speaking area, above all in Syria and Palestine . The following languages ​​belong to the Northwest Semitic branch:

• Ugaritic †
• Canaanite
  • Hebrew
  • Phoenician-Punic †
  • Moabitic †
  • Ammonitic †
  • Edomite †
• Aramaic

There are also some forms of language that have only been handed down in very fragments. In the Amarna letters , for example, there are Canaanite glosses , and the Akkadian language of the letters itself, because it was written by Canaanite scribes, has numerous Canaanite influences.

classification

While it is undisputed that the Northwest Semitic languages ​​form a common sub-branch, there is no conclusive agreement on how this branch should be classified within the Semitic languages. The traditional model of the classification of the Semitic languages, based more on geographic criteria (e.g. Moscati 1969), understood the Northwest Semitic as one of three main branches of the Semitic languages alongside the East Semitic (or Northeast Semitic ) and South Semitic (or Southwest Semitic ). Later the North- West Semitic was combined with the South (West) Semitic to form a West Semitic branch. This would correspond to the following model:

• Semitic
  • Eastern Semitic
  • Western Semitic
    • Northwest Semitic
    • South Semitic

More recent findings by the Semitist Robert Hetzron bring Arabic , previously classified as South Semitic, closer to Northwest Semitic . Accordingly, Northwest Semitic, together with Arabic and possibly also Old South Arabic, formed a central Semitic sub-branch of the West Semitic languages. This would result in the following classification for the Northwest Semitic:

• Semitic
  • Eastern Semitic
  • Western Semitic
    • Central Semitic
      • Northwest Semitic
      • Arabic
      • Old South Arabic (?)
    • South Semitic

Linguistic features

The two most important innovations that the Northwest Semitic languages ​​have in common are:

• Change from initial * w to y (cf. Akkadian walādu , Arabic walada with Hebrew yālaḏ , Syrian īleḏ , Ugaritic yld “to give birth”). Exceptions are the conjunction w- (“and”) and a few individual words (e.g. in Hebrew wālād “child”).
• Double plural marking by inserting a between the last two consonants and the plural ending (e.g. Hebrew dəɣɔlim from dɛɣɛl (< * digl ) "flags").
• The assimilation from l to q in the forms of the verb * lqḥ "take" (e.g. Hebrew yiqqaḥ < * yilqaḥ ).
• The metathesis of the t in Hitpa'el forms that start with a sibilant (e.g. Hebrew hištammer < * hit-šammer ).

Dictionaries

• Jacob Hoftijzer; Karel Jongeling: Dictionary of North-West Semitic Inscriptions (2 vol.). Handbook of Oriental Studies I, 21. Suffering u. a. 1995.

literature

• Alice Faber: Genetic Subgrouping of the Semitic Languages . In: Robert Hetzron (Ed.): The Semitic Languages . Routledge, London 1997. pp. 3-15.
• John Huehnergard: Features of Central Semitic . In: biblica et orientalia 48 (2005). Pp. 155-203.
• Sabatino Moscati (Ed.): An introduction to the comparative grammar of the Semitic languages . 2nd Edition. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1969.
• Holger Gzella: Northwest Semitic in General . In: Stefan Weninger et al. (eds.): The Semitic Languages: An International Handbook. DeGruyter - Mouton, Berlin 2011, pp. 425–451.