a Brief Introduction to the Semitic Languages

8/2/2019 a Brief Introduction to the Semitic Languages

1/56

A Brief Introuction to teSemitic Languages


2/56

Gs Hdks

19

Series Edito

George Aon Kiaz

Te Gorgas -andbooks sees pm-ies sudets d scholas \vh

extboos ad efeece bos useul o e cassoo ad or

eseach.

Bef Itct t the

Semtc Lgge

Aaron D. Rubin


3/56


4/56

ii A RI ROUTIO O HE SMII GU

34 Vebal stem 4334 Veba tems 4434 Voie 47343 Vebal ese/ Aspet 48344 ood 5345 Phasal Ves 55

35 Adebs 564 tax 59

4 1 Wod de. 594 Positional Relatos 6043 Aeemet 644 Compaison 6545 Coodinato 6646 Copula Clases 6747 xistetia Clases 6948 Possessio 7049 teoatie 7140 Relatie Clases 7

41 ubodiate Clauses 755 exio 776 Gude to Futhe Readi 79blioaph 85

PREFAC

he otents o this book ee oiiall teded to om asinle hapte in a ae ok o the Afoasati laaes.Whe that pojet fell thouh deided tat hat ad tteas oth pblishi o its o . had alead bee sin t isemias as a itodtio to the emiti famil ad stdents

od it seul expaded te oiial ok ad tis book isthe esult.

A ompaatie stud of the emiti laaes is a e sb-statial undetaki as the famil ompises does o la

aes spead out amo the aiet, medieal, ad modepeiods. umeous ompehesie stdies hae bee made seeChap 6 beo, ad m mo ed o e tte Bthese lae oks ae muh moe tha intodutions to the e-miti famil. hee ae also numeous bief sketes of the e-miti ami, ai om a fe paes o a fe doze paesThese ae moe appopiate fo the beie o ospealstbut the lak adeate detail to be e useul. is svetheefoe is someti o a middle oud betee these totpes Its aim is to be both patial ad manaeable.

hs bief intodutio is iteded to poide the stdeteeal list, o amate lauae enthusiast ith an oe-

ie of te haateisti featues of the emiti lauaes, asell as some o the moe inteesti ad uniqe deelopmetshat take plae i he indiidu lanuaes oeoe it is moal to ie the eade a idea o the diesit o te emitilanuaes, as ell as thei similaties. All too often, skethes ofthis amil fos mainl o the lassial lauaes, ad so ithis book hae tied to iopoate at least as ma examplesfom moden laaes pailal lesse ko lauaes asthee ae om aiet lanuaes. ant he eade to ko tat

iii


5/56

iv A BRE DUTIO E M

th Smiti mil luds nmrous vibrnt nd sintigmodrn lngugs, worth o ll sors o lingisti studis

n ordr to mk ll o th ms s lr s ossibl hv rovid morhmbmorhm glossing, ollowing hLizig Glossing Ruls ssum tht th rdr is miir withlingsti trminoog nd hs bsi ndrstnding o istori

l lingisis For tos who do not hv his bkground, hv rovidd som rrns to gnrl lngisti works in hGuid to Frthr Rdng Chtr 6)

Givn th lngth o this voum, mn tois hv ns-sril b lt nlord or nrlord), bt o thtth Gd o Frthr Rding Chr 6 s wll s th mnrrns sttrd hroghout h book, wl nourg trr to urs th stud o th Smii lnggs urtrWith s ong ttstd histor s divrsi o l-gugsiding lgugs tt r imortnt o svrl mjorrligions nd to som o histors most inuntil ltursthstud o th Smii lnggs is xtionll rwrding And

whil do not t tht vron shod oos rr dvot o th std o th Smit nggs do ho tht v-n n ppct hir mportnc bh t p ndrsnt

CKOWEDGS

M sinr thnks r d to m thr nd id Jonuhnrgrd, whos in is obvos throughout this vol-um

M thnks lso to Gr Rndsurg nd R b sslb,who rovidd m wih vr vlubl ommnts on rir drtso this book m lso grtl to r Gorg Kir, who -td this book into h Gorgis ndbooks sris

M wi Kim hs, on gin, dditd lrg mount otim to diing this boo in its vrious stgs d r ssistn

hs bn invlubl thnk hr s lws wit ov d grtrition

v


6/56

BBVIAnONS

1 irst rson sond so3 third rsonAC ausativ ativDJ adjtiv or th ommon a ommon gndr onsonant

r ommon raC ivMPAR omarativN onjuntionNR onstruD dativut utronomDN ivin amD duald odusXT stntial artil miin turGn GnsisG gnitivG grundPR imrativD indinit ininitivRG ntrrogativess ussiv

vii


7/56

ltMEAOM

OPA

um.O

PAR

PAPAS

P

PP

PSPROE

SSUORD

V

> YX< Y*

A BRF ROO O H M UAS

terallymauleegatertheater eAramamaepat (peet r uture)

umberbetpatplepaepat eepurlpreptpreetprgreerelate pruglarubrdatg partle

erb; wel

X deelp t YX dere m Y.A aterk mark a reted r uderlygrm. r laguage whe alza t dated he rpt (e.g., gart), a aterk almak a eretal alzed rm.A dube aterk date a extet r ugammata rm.

NTRODUCION

Wt a wrte htry eary e thuad year the Semtlaguage mpre e the wrld ealet atteted adlge ateted laguage amle. te Semt la-guage were r are pke the area the Leat eptama, Araba ad ar te Red Sea Ethpa ad Ertrea.Small pket Pea peake ettled rt Aa te rt mlleum E (where ther agage reerred t au) but t wa t utl he pread am, ad t laguageArab, that muh rth Aa beame Semt peakg.

day, Arab he mt mprtat the Semt la-guage a t the ng fn the ear at ad rth A-a. Wh rugl tw udd mll pear, t bar) the Sem laguage wth te greatet umber peaer.w had year ag ama wa the ng fn theear Eat, ad a tuad yea ealer, Akkada had th d-tt. he Semt laguage ae tu extraby led th eg that te alled the radle lza, ad thattll tday the ubet mu teratal attet.

w he Semt laguage, Hebew ad Arab are thehy laguage mar relg udam ad Ilam repe-tey. A hrd laguage Aama ha played a gat rle the hte bt hrtaty ad Judam. A uh teelaguage hae bee wdely tuded r may eture. I at,the reathp Arab, Hebrew ad Arama wa regzedalready te th etry by te Jewh gammara Judah bQuayh. mparate Semt tude ha a lg htry deed

Wth te mg he Rermat upe, ad theequet u the gal lagage he Bble, tetdy Hebrew beame ery ppuar amg hrta. thellwg eture w the re ppularty he tudy Arab, ad wth the Eurpea dey the Semt la

1


8/56

A BRE RODUCO O MC AS

guages lke Syac ad Geez, came a rse lgstc cmpar-s these laguages Whe the mder eld hstcal lgstcs was deelped the th cetury r dErpeastdes was atural the that the methds wee quckly ap-pled t the Semtc laguages

he Semtc laguages, h acet ad mde, ce

t e wdey stded hey play a rle may areas aca-demc study, such as lgustcs, relgus studes, hstry, plt-cal scece, cmpaate lteraure, ad thers Sme thelagages hae ded t, ad thers are spke y ty ashg cmmutes, ye may ctue t grw ad thre as la-gages th leratre ad daly cmmucat Oe msteep md hat the Semtc amly s ctally elg,ad that stdy ca eer e the last wrd

1 ANGUAGES AN ASSFICATON

he Semtc agage amly s part a larger amly la-guages called Arasatc, whc lder lterature s as calledHamtSemtc. Arasatc ca e dded t the llwgraches

Poo-Afasai

eitic gypian ushii oi? Berb h

he exstece ths macramly has ee recgzed adtudd ce th th uy, u g h gat m dththa separates these raches, cmparae Arasac stdesare temedusly dcult Ee the raches attested atq-uty, Semtc ad Egypta (th attested the hrd mlle-m C are hghly derget suggestg a lg perd separat. It des seem tha sme the raches asatc(eg, Semtc ad gypta, Semtc ad Berer) share a greaterumer smlartes tha d sme her aches, t as yet ts mpssle t demstrae dstc sraches w theAasatc amly tree te that wth the excep Semtc,all the raches Aasatc are ate t Arca Egypta,Cushtc ad Omc the east, ad Chadc ad Berer thewest. Als te that the pst e Omtc laguages s stlldeaed sme may reay elg t he Cshtc amly adsme the agages may t ee e Aasatc at all

Wth the Semtc amly laguages, here s cse-sus amg schars wth regards t the prper sugrpg the Semtc amly, ad pray there eer wll e he lwg presetat reects the sgrupg the Semtc am-ly as t s es uderstd ge the acts aalale t date r

3


9/56

4 A BR NROCTON TO E SEM NUA

a dealed dc f he eal clafca f Semc eeRub (2008 a he may urce ced ere

here a pmary d bewee a ad We Semca d a ha remaed relaely ucreral fr mreha a ceury S "West SemIC ast utche fuda fr h d a mar a ha kplace he erbal yem f We Semc We Semc hehered preed pa ee (yaqu wa replaced by he f-xedcga (qaala whc Ea Semc uc a aae (r erbal adece) h hared deelpme f a a-e a pa ee, ad he replaceme (r magala)f e hered pa ee, a defg chaacerc f WeSemc, ugh here are f cre her a ha ae

pecfc eac f hee w bache; ee Huehegard (2006b)fr rer dc f a Sem c a

Amg e We Semc laguage hee a d be-wee te eral Semc lagage, he hpa Semc la-guage, ad he der Suh Araba agage

Wes Smtic

Cenal Semi Ehopia Mode South Arabiaeral Semc wa f defed ch by Hezr (74,

6 baed largely he deepme f a ew mperfeceerba frm aqulu h ew frm cmpeely eplaced hehered mperfece fm f he paer yqal whc r-ed Ea Semc, hpa Semc, ad de Sh Araba he m dealed reatme f eral Semc dae tha f uehergard (200a) he eral Semc famy cm-pe rabc, cdg lacal abc ad ther ace rhAraba dlec, a well a a mlude f (fe mually u-ellgble) mde Arabc dalec; he fur $ayhadc lagage

KAS AD ASAON

a kw a he Old Suh Araba laguage ad he rh-we Semc laguage.

enal Semi

Aabic ayhadc Northwes Semic/

Mode dales(nldng Malese)

I:Ia


10/56

6 A BR ROCO TO E SEMC AGUAG

East SemiicModen Sou Epan Cenal Semic

Abaie Akkadian

Aabin (1.3 14 (1.2) 11

abic 15 $ayhadic (6 Nohwest Semiic

Ugarc (17 Canaanite ( c (9

Hrnican (Pnic) AKDN

Akkadian wa poken by th ncient Babylonian and Ayrianin Meopotamia, mor or le in t ara o modern raq It ith oldt atteted Smitic language with written record al-reay arond 400 Akkadian i not a uniform lngage btraher can be divided into multip ialct, many o whichachivd a tandardizd written om Th major diviion i b-tween the Babylonian and Asyin dialect which in t areditinguihed cronologicaly Following are the major dialct,ong with their approximate date o attation:

Old AkkadianOld Babylonian / Ol AyranMiddl Babylonian / Middle AyianeoBabylonian / NeoAyrianLate Babylonian

(200000 CE(2000100 C(15001000 )(100000 )(600 100 CE

Already in th Middle Babyonin priod Ol Babyloniancam to be coniderd th claical period o Akkadian. Athorin both Ayria an Babylonia developed a purly literay dialct baed on the O Babylonian moel known StandadBayblonian. Stadd Baybonan wa d for literay and ome

AGUAGE AD CAO 7

monmnta txt in all atr priod Some time in th irt hafof the irt mlnnim C Akkadian died ot a a pokn lan-gag, thogh ate and Standard Babylonin contind to b

d in writing until about 100 Chr are ao what ar cled "periphral diact of Ak-

kadia which are ntially dialect atttd otid o th

Babylonian and Ayrian homland, ually ecting ubtrateinlunc from the local language. Notabl te whr perip-eral Akkadian text hav been fond includ ui AlalakhMari mar, Ugarit and Amaa (ee 18) The comemainly from the mid to late econd millnnim C when Ak-kadian wa ued a a n throghout th ar Eat

Knowldge of the cuniform ytm ed to write Akkaiandied ot by th 2nd cntuy CE and cuniform wa dcipheedonly in th 19th cntry

2 EBT

Eblait deignate th anguage of ancin bla, mod l

Mardikh, which li t outh o Aleppo Syria T langagewa dicovered only in th 1970 when vral thouand cunei-om tablet wer xcavated at t it All of th text can bedatd to a period that pa l than a centuy fom th late4th to h md3rd cenry Becau o the natr o thecneifom writing ytm ed or blaitin particula thbroad ue o logogram and the ambiguity in th rpreentationo narly all cononant and vowlknowledg of the anguagremain patchy Stll it i clar that i i a cloe rlativ o Akkadian but with enogh diference to warrant placing it in itown branch of Eat Smitic (Huehnergard 006b)

3 MOR SOUTH ARBN

Th Mode South rabin family incld ix language Mehri,ibbali (or !ri), ari Soqoi obyot and Baari All arpokn in aten Ymen and wtrn Oman, with th excptionof Soori which i pokn on the Ymnigovernd iland oSoqora, locatd in th Indan Ocea abot 0 mil at of teo o Arica. Mhri ibbi and Soqori in t hav a num-br of dialct; in fact ari and Baari ar imliar nogh to


11/56

8 A BREF INRODCT T E EM LNGUAGES

Mhi that thy may alo b conidd dialc o that lan-guag. Each o th languag ha a lativly mall numb opak, though xact gu a nknon. Mhi i th langag ith th gatt num o pak; timat on thinmb ang om aot 5000 to 150,000 ibbali ha p-hap 30,000 pak Sooi h phap 0000 pa, and

th maining th languag hav pobably than a tho-and pak ach.Non o th langag ha a tadition o itng, and o

o knoldg o th anguag ut cnt A copl adocmntd by Eopan a ly a th 1830, hil otha knon ony om th 20th cnty obyot and Baai

man pcia y pooly docmntdDpit th conuing tminology th Mod Soth a-

ban languag dd not dcnd om th langag omtimknon a Old Soth Aabian blo, 6) no a thy va -ti o abc.

Lttl ha bn don ith th clacation o th Mod

Soth Aabian goup onnt 2006) povid a tntativ claiication chmotoMA

e MSA Eae MSA--- Mi ai, BaDari Hy' Jial Soqori

14 HI

h Ehiopian banch o Smitc contain a vaity o languag,mot o hich a knon only om mod tm h mao

cpton G, th caical languag o Ethiopia and tillh ltgical anguag o th Ethiopan Chch, hich i atttd in inciption alady in h aly 4th cntuy E o p-

hap vn n th lat 3d cny Eo Amhaic i atttd omth 14th cntuy CE, but a not idly ittn untl th 19thcntuy. hough om o th languag till aait comphn-iv dcipion, th Ethiopan Smitic amily ha on th hol

bn ll tudid, a ha it intnal claication. Folloing i

NGUAGE D ON 9

a impiid amy o th langag modld at thok o Hton 192) ho langag that a no longpokn a indicatd th italic:

PooEioi Semiic

o Eioian So Eioian

Gz Tirinya

ranval So Oe So Eioin ian _ _ -o -o o GH ro / A Gf or /. Ga GaAmari Aoa Harar Ea Gae

oane Sel Zay o Zway

Gz, th anguag o h ancint ngdom o Axm inothn Ethiopa, pobaby dd out a a pokn langag cloto a thoand ya ago but maind th pmay ittn languag o Ethiopia up to th 20th ctuy iginya i pokn inth noth pat o Ethiopia, a ll a in Eia, h it ith national langag It ha about x mllon pak total.ig i alo pokn in Eita h t ha about a millionpak. Dahalik, pokn by th val thouand inhabitat oth Dahak Achiplago, o th coat o Eita may b a igdialct but om hav claimd that it hould b conidd anndpndnt langag SimonSnll 2006)

Amhaic i th mot idy pokn Ethiopian Smitc laguag, and th cond mot idy pokn at Aabic) o anySmtic languag today It i th nationa languag and inn o Ethopia, h it ha abot 20 million nativ pak-, though it i ndtood by many mo nonnatv pakh clolylatd Agobba, pokn manly in th Ankob -gion, abot 100 mi nothat o Addi Ababa, ha about10,000 to 1,000 pak maining. aai ha phap30,000 pak. t a hitoically pokn only in th ald


12/56

10 BR TRDUO O MT AGAGS

uli city a in uthatn thipia but a a cn-nc f th plitical phava f th 90 t aipak nw liv i th vicinity f ddi baba

h aining thipian Sitic languag th thaGat which bca xtinc in th id0th cntuy a fncalld tgth th Gag anguag thgh a illtatd in

h abv t thy d f a igl gntic gup. hth Guag gup ctain th lguag/dialct whilth Wtn Guag gup (which can b th bdividdcntai abt tn. Spak f h Guag langag ttalling

btwn n ad tw illin all liv in th a gi abut150 i uthwt ddi baba and t f th a algpd tgth hnicaly hu ggaphical and thican it i cvint t pak f Gag laguag a agp. h Gag languag a Sitic ilad ndd

by pak f Cuhitic guagh hipian langag that a wittn all u a niqu

yllabay bad n th alphabt bwd f th Sabah xcptin i aai which ha taditinaly bn wittnwith h abic cipt; inc th 990 hwv th thipiansct h b d t wi i

5

abic tday ha ughy 200 illin pak wh dainttch f atania in th wt t Oa in th at ica it i th ain languag all h ican cnti aitaia t gypt a wll a in th nthn gi Chad d Sdan and i al widly pkn in jibuti and ia. I i th ai langag f all th cunti th iddlat with th xcptin uky an ad Ial Sill it i

widy pkn i al a nd i pk i all pckt kyand Ian h al abicpakig cuiti in Cnalia fghaitan and bkitan. th ditanan wfnd at ( blw and a ty cunity pak nCyp. I th iddl g h w hiving abicpakingcuniti i bia and in Sicily abic i al pkn tdayby ag xpatiat cniti i up ad ica

AGUAGS AD SSO

and i th litgical langag hudd ilin uliand h wd

abic i nt a ingl linguic niy and w can ditin-guih difnt typ f abic bth chnlgically and ggaphicay it w t ditigih abic what i

knw a ncint th abian.

Ptabic

abic ncin th abian

ncint th abian i a cv t val clly latddalct that a atttd in iciptin und ainly i h t-iti that a nw Sya dan and Sadi abia and hatdat f abut th th cny t th 4th cnty o hna th dialc incld ayaitic adaitic aiticSaaitic iaic aaitic and haudic ncint th abian i atttd abt a ilniu bf abic but n fth dialct a th anct f abic. nct th abin

huld b cnidd ditinct thgh clly atd th lagag that wuld bc Claica abic

abic pp w can ditinguih val pid. Oldabic dignat th anguag abic iciptin fabut th 3d t h ctui CE, that i ntil th laic p-

id. Old abic i lativy paly atttd ad i fund wit-tn in a vaity cipt Caical abic f t th vaity th wittn angag that wa tandadd by th th c-tuy bad n th Q'an and h pIlaic pty. hiha ntialy aid th liay tandad ic at lat int it gaa. d Stadad abic (i abic i ntially a dnizd vin f Claical aic that b

gan t tak hap in th 9th cy. t upiigy dStandadabic di t f Claical abic in it lxicthgh th a al in diffnc in gaa d- Sandad abic i th ficial languag f th wyab atin It i th languag f ducatin a dia -alwiting a nd i ud a a ina ana ac th ab wld

Whil d Standad abic i ai witt lan-gag th ab wd th xit a lag ub f pknabic dialct n which will b aid bw ay th


13/56

1 A B IRODUCTON TO H SMC NGUAG

diffeenes ha eis among he mode diales eainly eised aleady a millennium ago, hough in lieay ClassialAai) woks his fa is lagely onealed oweve hee aea vey lage nme of es fom he mediev ad ealy moden peiods in whi poslassia nonsandad feaesaond. These kinds of es ae loosely alled Middle ai,

and essenially fom a so of middle gound ewee he lieay language ad he spoken diales

Aai

Classial AaOoken Aai Diaes/idlA;;:\

Moden Saad Aai Mode Aai Diaes

he spoken vaieies of moden Aai an e divided inoseveal diale undes, wih in u onain a lage nme ofdiales. Some of hese diales ae so dieen fom one aohe

ha, if we use mua inelligiiliy as a disinguishing ieionwe should eally speak of he moden Aai gg, in pla. ny fo ulual easons, and ease ese diaes shae alieay and fomal spoken sndad, do we sually find heem "diale used fo he divese foms of moden Aaihs a Aai speakes shae a ommon wien angage,hough hei veaula ogues an die onsidealy.

Shoas usually divide he mode diales ino five majogops: Aain peninsa, Mesopoamian, SyoPalesinian oSyoeanese), gypian, and Maghei o Noh Afian. Thisdivision is lagely geogaphi ough hee e indeed linguisihaaeisis ha peain o eah gop he individual diales wihi ea of ese goups a vay onsidealy no onlywh espe o loaio, u oen also wih espe o eligiousaffiliaion. Fo eample one anno speak auaely of Bagh-dadi Aai, only of Musim, ewish, o Chisian Baghdadiai Bln 964 hee is also ofe a diffeee eweenhe Aai of he Bedouin nomads) nd ha of sedeay Aaispeakes in e same egion inguisi sugoping of he Aa-

i diaes is an enomosly dif ask and so sholas ave

AGUAG AND CAO 1

fo he mos pa emained saisfied wi his ogh geogaphial division

ne vaiey of mode Aai sands apa fom he es inha i an safey e designaed as a sepaae language his isMaese, spoken on Mala and is neighoing islands Malesehas no adiion of wie Aai in eie is assia o mod

en sandadied fom, and insead has developed a wienadiio of is own, using he oman sip. Bu hisoially,Malese an e lassified as a Magei Aai diae, and de-spie he many ponologial and leial inflenes of Romanelanguages and moe eely, ngish), i is sill easily eog-niale as suh

Fially i shold e menioned ha ee eis in Aiasome eolied vaieies of Aai, noaly a Aai insohe Sdan and he losely elaed Nui o KiNui) iUganda and Kenya. hese ae well known among eoe speial-iss, u lile sdied y Semiiss

1 6 AYADIC (OLD U The ayhadi goupalso aed ld Soh Aaian, AnieSouh Aaia, o Epigaphi Souh Aaianinludes fo laguages o diales): Saai o Saea), Miai o Minea,Qaaani o Qaaaian, and aii. ese designaiosaeased on hose used y he eek shola Eaosenes in his lae d enuy E) fo he fou main peoples whoinaied he ea of Souhe Aaia oesponding ougly owha is now Yemen see he ediio of Rolle 010). e emayhadi deives om ayhad, he name ha medieval Aaigeogapes gave o he Yemeni dese aea now aled RamlaasSaaayn a e inge of whi he speakes of hese la-

gages had ei majo iies ayhadi is no ye a widely usedem, i is pefeale o he oe possiiliies sine i avoidsany misleading onneions wih he ems Aai, AieNoh Aaia .5), and Moden Souh Aaian 1) alsoallows e possiiliy of disinguising Saai Minai, Qaa-

ani and adamii fom he ae and vey pooly undesoodohe

'epigphi laguages ha seem o have eised in anie

Souh Aaia Beeso 94 198). The appoimae daes ofwien aesaion fo he ayhadi langages e a s folows


14/56

14 A BF NROCTON TO TH MTC AS

abaiMiaQatabaaamiti

(ea 1000 BCa 560 C)ca 000 BCea 120 BC) 700 BCa 200 Cea 00 BCea 300 C)

The ayhadi laguages ae k almst exlusiely mmumetal texts ud maiy i mde eme ad adiAaba, bt als i thipia ad te abia eg , Jdayia ad aq . Thee ae seeal tsads f tese hughhe geat majity ae i abai. As a be see fm the list daes abe abai als has the lgest peid attestatad a be diided i difeet dialets tei 2004.Ia


15/56

16 A BF IROCO O H MC GAGS

ove the pan o a millennium, it i not upiing that one nddieence in the language o the biblical book. Thu, o e-ample chola ditinguih between tandad Biblical Hebewand Late Biblical Hebew, with he dividing point at aound 0 Thee i alo evidence o ychonic dialectal viatiowith tandad Bibical Hebew eecting the dialect o Judah i

geneal, and with ome potion o the Bible electing a noth-en dilect temed Iaelin Hebew by chol Rendbug2003a. ill Biblical Hebew i oveall elatively uniom.

om the potbiblical peiod come Quma Hebewwhich i the language o the nonbiblicl text among he eadea coll, dated mainly to t he 2nd and 1t centuie C Qum-an Hebew continue Late Biblica Hebew hough it alo exhibit a ew inguitic pecuiaitie unknown om any otheviey o Hebew

om the nd ad 3d centuie C we ind a dilec o He-bew hat i uully called Rabbinic o Mihnaic Hebew. In thidialect we have eveal impotant Jewih ext, the mot pomi-

nent o which i he Mihnah. Rabbinic Hebew i ditinct inmny way om both Biblical Hebew and Quman Hebewd eem m om a noten (Gailea dae ed-bug 2003b

Hebew died out poken langage by about the 3d centy C but emained in ue a liteary and liugicl languageamong Jew In thi capacity, we ind wite imiating bo theBiblica and Rabbinic ype o Hebew Though the lngagewa not ayone native tongue it coninued to deveopthoughout the Middle Age, a new vocabulay wa invened o

boowed a needed Thee i n enomou copu o medievalHebew wok, epeenting a wide vaiety o gene, much o ittill unpublihed.

In the late h and ealy 9h cenuie Hebew begn heoad to modeiation, and om ti peiod we ind mnyoiginal ecula wok uch a play novel, nd newpape Inthe late 19h centy thee began a movement to evive Hebew a poke langage coinciding with the Zionit movement toeclaim ael a the Jewih homelad Thi upecedented e-vival ed to the ceation o Moden Hebew o aeli Hebewwhich i today the oicial lnguage o Iael and i poken by

f\GUAGS A SFC 1

about ix milion Iaei The gamma o the moden languagei baed heavily on Biblical Hebew wih many eleme omHebew o late peiod, a well a a lage numbe o newly ceated and boowed wod

Hebew i he only anaanite anguage till in ue buthee ae eveal othe known om the anciet peiod the

mo notable o which i Phoeicia Phoenicia i the nethat wa ued by he ancien Gee to decibe the anaanitepeople who inhabited the coatal plain o what i now Lebanonand nothen Iael The Phoenicia language i ateted in inciption beginning in about 1000 C. Becaue the Phoenicianwee eaae who taveled thoughout the Mediteanean,Phoenician inciption have been oud no ony in Lebaonand the vicinity but alo in yp, Geece Malta icily a-dinia, pain and elewhee The diaect o he Phoenician col-ony that wa etablihed at ahage nea moden Tuni inTuniia i eeed to a Punic which i atteted om the 6tcenuy BC unil about the 4th cetuy C Incipon omate the all o ahage 46 BC) ae uually eeed to aNeoPunic o ate Punic Mo Phoeician including Punic, iwn i an apab vey cloe o a f acie Hebew, bun the atet peiod we alo d inciption i atin o Geekchaacte

addition to Hebew nd Phoenician hee wee evelothe anciet naanite dialect including Moabite Edomite,and mmonite. Ou knowledge o thee dialect come om aelativey mall numbe o incipton om the t millenniumBC ound in what i now wete Jodan and Iael. The long-et inciption, by a i a Moabite tex o about thityve lineom the 9h cenury C known a the Meha tele ice itconcen ing Meha o Moab The emaining incption ae

all hot and agmentay, and ometime i i impoible to de-enine which dialect i ateted in a gven inciption nowledge o thee ew anaanite dialect emain athe poo

n the late 19th centry, an achive o eveal uded cu-neiom tablet wa dicoveed at Tell EAmaa i gyptabout 200 mile outh o aio Thi achive date om abou130 C and epeet he diplomatic coepondence betwee Egypt nd it vaal tate in the Levan, a wel a wihothe powe like the Babylonian and the Hittite. The coe


16/56

18 BEF NTRODCON O HE ETC NA

sponc was ainly in kaian since as not aove1.) kaia was th nc o the Near East at thistie. owvr, the etters that oiinat i the vaios anaan-ite cities (in wat s now srael an Leanon) wr ote writtenin vry poo kaian with neros anaait wos, avn aaanite aatica os an wor orer So whil t

lanae of th txts is tecnicaly kaian any o tearna ltt rs povi vinc of aaante raar an vo-calary n since this cops prates the attestation o -ew o Phoenician y svera hnre ys t is an iportantsoc or he sty of ay anaanit

9 I

raaic is st attst o aot 00 CE aron th saeti rw is akes aaic an erw th Stclanaes with h lost atteste histois aot three thosa years) et nlik w, aaic has nvr case to ea livin spoken lanae. Drin th nearly three nnia of

its attestaton raic can e ivie into a lare ne oialcts oth chonoloicly a eoaialy avarios schs for ivii aaic into crooloica pri-os t a wiely accpt one is the followin:

Ol raaicprial aaicle raicLate raacNoraaic (or on aic)

(e 00700 CE(e 00200 CEa 200 CE200 Ca 200700 CEnti th prsnt)

s an enation to ts popl schee it is sfl an oreaccrate to vi the per raaic perio into two: aly

Ipial aaic (e 7000 CE an Ipial aaic e550200 E pa raaic aso cale Oici, lasscalStan o chaeeni aaic) ecae te nc ofe Nea East (proote y th syria, Baylonian a -san pires) n raine wiesprea vn rin the elnistic an Roan pros. s o aic an to clne onlywith the spra o sa th 7h cey CE

NUAES AND SSCAO 1

Discssion of raaic ialcts can oftn e cofse y thfact tat ther a several ters ta rfr to corpora cotao tha on raaic alct (. Biical aaic, Taicraaic alic raaic an Qran raac), as well astes wic rfr to a cops within a ialect e., yptanaaic withi Iperial raaic) o xaple Bilical a-

aic rfs to th aic of te ooks of Ezra n Danil (aswll as a a nl of wors lswhr in th Bi l). t th ra-aic of za is a typ o Iprial raaic (ain ro the tcentry CE whil that of Dail is a type of ile raaic(atin ro th 2 centry C.

lray n th Ol aaic prio te is viece ofeoraphic ialct ierences t it s not ntil the en of thil raaic pero that sch iffrncs y anistthselves in the rcos. t this ti a clar istinction e-twen wstrn (Palstinian an Naatean) an as Syriaan sopotaian) ialects ecoes vint

By the at raaic pio svral vry iportant raaicliray tations vlop n the iaect inces eco

ven or apparnt. Syiac oriinally the iact o ssanow anlra [or ra] in otast rky) ca thain litrical ana o histianity in th rti scentan is y far th stattst raaic ialect To the west w

in ewish alesinian raaic the lana of t aestiniaal n as) hristian Palestiian raaic n Sa-aritan raac. o th t o Syriac terioy a o thclosely rlat ewish Baylonin raaic th lna o thBaylonian Tal) n anaic. Syriac reains a itricallanae aon soe ast chrchs. Th varios Jwish ia-lcs of raaic cotin to wily ra y la ews,thanks to its s in th ilica ooks of Ezra an Daiel th

two s an several other copositios iportant to thJwish relion

h aaic lana has evelope ito a ner ofoern ialects collcvy known as Neoraaic. any othes Noraac alects are nqestionaly istnct noto calle lanas Noraaic has traitionally n spo-ken in a noncontios aea coverin parts of Syia sothast ky nothrn raq an northweste an sotwstrIran ainy y Jewis an hstan conitis. owver as


17/56

A BRF ODUO O H MC NUAS

a ult o th gat potical phava o th th ctuy(mot otaby Wold Wa th tablihmt of th Stat ofal ad th aggio of Sadd i) may if otmot NoAamaic pak hav b diplacd om aa. Naly all Jih NoAamaic pak hav movd toal o th Uitd Stat ic 1948 d my Chitia hav

ao migatd to th Utd Stat op o Atalia) o atlat hav movd to ag Aabicpakig cit.h plit bt at ad t dialct that i

alady i th dd ad at Aamaic piod ha uvivdito th pt thogh o o h mod agag i thdict dcdt of ay codd acit dct. I th modmt o t bach ko a Wt NoAamaic viv oly t cloly latd dialct pok i thSya vag o aula Baa d Jubbadi locatd abotthityfv mil otht of Damacu T t o th modagag tho o th Eat NoAamaic bach ca b -th dividd ito th bgop Cta at NoAamaicCENA) Nothat NoAamaic (NENA ad Noadaic.

at Aamaic Diact

Wt NoAaicCNA NENA Noadaic

h Ctal at Noamac bach icld utuoyo ad th cloly latd but aly tict diact olao. oyo o of th mot thivig o t NoAamaiclaguag both i it ativ titoy th Tu Abdi gio of

ouat Tuky) ad aboad Sd ad i Gmay ahadful o f book i Tuoyo hav b publihd i ct ya(i both oma ad Syiac cipt) Noadaic i th highydagd mod flx o adaic th lagag o thada ligio ad it ollo. pak livig maily ia umb oly i th lo hudd

Th Nothat NoAamaic ubgoup iclud ap-poximatly 15 dit dialct may of hch a mutay

NUAS AND SSAON 21

itlligibl Thy a taditoally pok i th looly-did gio ko a Kdita A umb o th NNA dialct hav b ll tudid i ct ya but may mohav yt to b ivtigatd fully. ittig act about thNENA lagag i that dialct gopig i i may ca bado ligou affiiatio ath tha gogaphic locatio. So fo

xampl th Jh NoAamaic diact of o to may bcomphibl to th Chitia N oAamaic pak of tham to bt ot to Jih pak of aoth villag. Such atat of aai i omat aalogo to th ituatio o AicaAmica Vacula glih hich dfi th taditioal gogaphical dialct bodai o th td Stat. Th NoAamac laguag paticula tho o th NENA gop havb havily icd by ighboig oSmitic laguagpcially udih ad Tkih ad thfo a i mayay q divgt om claical vaiti of Aamac.


18/56

2 PHONOLOGY

2 II

PooSmii hd h oowing onsonn phonms odngo h mos n shoship Hhngd 004):

Sp vss

ve

glal

as vlss

v

glal

Faves vless

ve

gal

Laral nus

vls

v

gla

aals

Gls

aprll

P

mw

3

dZ

'5

5

/'n

r

y

k

g

k'

x

x

f

J1G

?

h


19/56


20/56

6 A F ODCTO TO T MTC GAGS

dns t, t', d, n nd z spivy Likwis h inhidAmi p phnm y s s n phn f I

Sm hv suggsd nsung h syb sns T nd f PSmi in d xpin sm smngy ig spndns mng h dsndn n-gugs sn 5; 3 ). Hw s sybis wud

hv fi in png sysm PSmii s n h mpiins Smi syb susp sng vdn f nsning s sybshy min smwh nvsi

22 W

vw sysm nsud f PSmi s i sim-p h w h vws a nd u nd f hsd u h sh g

SLng

u u

hs sysm is psvd in Css Abi whi ms nin nd md nggs xhibi dvpmns in hivw sysms f us mny f h nin ngugswhs wiing sysms puy nsnn (g Phnnnd Sbi knwdg h vw sysms is qi mid.

Vws py n ssn p in h s sysm f Smi3.2.2. sngu nuns nd inn ps (3.2.) xmp h s ndngs n PSmii w simpy hsh vws u nmnv a usv nd -i fgniv Simp sund hng d din sndngs in mny nggs xmp n P

Hbw n sh vws w s ding h mpss f s sysm n Gz h sh vws u d mgd n psiins dng mg f nmin-iv nd gniv ss

23 D G

Phps h ms his u h Smii ngugss h sysm f nsnn s whih hs hd g f n

POOOGY 2

h f phngy h np h nsnn isfundmn h mphgy nd xin f Sm nd is inf dfining hisi h my A vbs nd hmjiy f nns pssss s f nsnns sy hwhih sd in njnn wh vi mps wds hs mps wih s h ning f h n-

snns wh vws nd n nd h ddn pfixs suffxs sd m wds in h ngg sv hpnuns nd vis kinds f ps h s y hx mnings wh mps y h gmminns xmp h Abi B s mning ssd wih h f dng s sn n h wds akba hd yakabu h ds kbun d "OM.', akkbun (pfssn hsmn OM), makabaun vhi; igOM nd muakkabn mund OM'. n h hswds h pps wh pu s vws ngwih pfix nd/ sux

h Smi s s sysm sy id in wh hsudy phngy his is bus h is s f nsns

n whih nsnns n u wihin s in PSmii Gbg 50 h isnd snd nsnns nn b dni nd hmgninsnns is nsnns whih sh hi pin iu-n y wihin hs phng sns us imi h numb f pssb Sm s

h sysm hs s d g n h phn-gs h Sm ngugs hugh h pinip ing-iy Hhngd 200) Ading hs pinp h shud mn n vn h xpns gsnd hngs xmp n Gz w find vbs kMarab d usv ?akara ws dy nd bv

h h Ehipn bivs nmy div m h hs- psn f h vw u I hs vb s h s nhis sn ssm h psn bv Hwv h d nuns kM;r nd krra bh mning ddiv m k'ur nd kurra spivy By gu sndng w wd xp find h nuns kr nd kand h vbs kara b d nd ?akara bu h pss minn ngy hs d h spd h bvwhh s sp phnm wds inng hs


21/56

8 A RF IROCT S NGUAGS

Ah xmp ingiy pins m wid-spd sund chng. PWs Smiic, h sms hv n sud u y which *s cm *h f vwsVg 187. By such cng, v m such s *samfa 'hhd wud hv cm **hamfa whi v m suc sysmau h hs wud hv mind unchgd. This

nin cnsnns ws dmd unccp, s vi-in giy, wih h su h sund chng f *s> *h ws ckd in v s. W hus s vdnc his sund cng ny in wds n sscid wih hhid psn pnuns (g. Akkdin s - Hw h h pfix h cusiv v sm g Akkdin s- - Hw h-),h cndii pic g Akkdn umma - Ugiic d fw hs Anh chng f *s > *h k pc in hhis f h Md Suh Ain ngugs (f Mhi hma'h d u his is sp m, nd hn h sundchng h ws cmmn Ws Smic

3 MOHOLOG

31

31 1 P

A Smiic ngugs hv s f indpdn pnuns his pnuns cnsisng f n indpndn (nnciic mphm PSmiic disinguishd h fwing ms (Huh-ngd 04

G

P1s c lana / lanu nn nn

nd lanta lantmlantm

nd F lani lantn

3dM sula sumswn

3dF sUa sin

Gnd ws disinguishd f scnd nd hid psns ny,hnc h dsignin cmmn" h fis psn pnuns.his ck gnd disincin in h fis psn fms ppis h v sysm s w h w fis ps singu p-nus cnsucd f PSmic sm hv n

vins, s hy in sm f h ngugs (g Hw Afis psn du indpndn pnun is sd ny in hMd Suh Ai gugs (g, Omi Mhi , ds h s i vidnc n which s PSmiic cnsucn (E Wgn 15 A h PSmiic is dscd ps ms, wih h xcpin f h is psncmmn pu sm md up f n mn lan- pus pnmin mk Th gn h ini mn is un


22/56

30 A B ITRDUTN H EMC ANA

known, hough i has paas sewh in Afoasiaic eg, inEgypan

he indpnden ponons can sev as sjecs of vess(copa cass, as in (, o hy can povid mphasis oopcaizaion in a va cause as in (2

Biica Hew

1 melayin lattmfomwhee 2"P'Whe ae yo om? (Gn 29:4

2 wa-atm paCNJ-MP .fMPRM.PrbcN-multilMPER.MP

And yo ui and mipy (Gen 7

In h aesd Semiic anguags, even in many of he ancinones, h nhed se of ndpendn ponouns has usayeen edcd o incude few foms Loss of h dua is vey

common, and oss of gnde disncion is aso fond in someanguages o vying dges o xamp, in he NoheasenNoAaic (NNA ewish diaec of Ae (nohen Iaq,gnde s disingishd ony fo h scond pson singuafoms, and evn hen ony opionay (Khan 1 In Masgende is disinguishd ony in he hid peson singa foms

NENA (A P

1s C lna laan/?axnan2nd la / lad2nd F la

laun

3d C 10 lni

MaseS P

s C jn(a) ana2nd C inO intom3d M hu(wa)

I 3dF hia) huma

PHY 31

No indpendn ojeciv ponons can conscd foPooSemiica eas no fo h is and scond psonsua nume of anguags hav dvopd indpndn accusaivand dav ponons Heew fo examp has a se of dicojc ponons ased on h paic let *?ft, which onis own mas dfni dic ojcs

Biica Heew

S I P1s C ld 70tn

2nd 6k ltm

2ndF lotM ltn3d loto lotm (7thm)3dF lth ! lthn 7otn)

Simia dc ojec ponouns ased on an oigina mophem?ft a asd in Aamaic, Aaic and Mode Soh Aaian (Ruin 200 ffn socs a fond n oh an-gags, fo xamp, h G indepndn dic ojecponoun is ad a m ky-, o unclear origin.

h PooSmiic hid peson ponouns, oiginay ana-phoic ponouns poay had an oiqu (ojciv case wihsufd -d. hs eemn is found in he oiqu foms of hhid pson ponouns in Ugaiic (g huwa h oiquehuwd him whie in Akkadian his suffix has spad o apsons, esing in a nw s of ndpnden dic ojec po-nouns asd on h sffixd ponons ps he eemen (g, m < suffxed ponon -ya

Indepndn possssiv ponouns and possssiv adjecvsa aso no econsuca fo PooSemc, u a found in

many Smiic anguags es a mos ofn fomed y aach-ing h suxd ponons (32 o a gniiv xponn oigin of which can a eave ponou o a non Exampsa PosBiica eew rI o < aiv r- 1- o, andYemni Aaic ag 'o < Cassca Aaic haqq popey(Rn 2004 200 So fom hese genve exponens w findModn Heew s 'my; min (i ofm, x 'you yous(i ofyo c and mni Aaic a my min (i of-m, agk yo; yos (i ofyo, ec In some angags


23/56

32 A BRE IODUO\ TO S GG

w find indpnden possessiv pronons and adjecivs basedon h gniiv xponn semming om a rlaive pronounpls h indpendn subjec pronons, as in mharic my;mn ( < ;e li 'oI and Soqoi di-hoh my min (lioI

312 X R

e Smiic languages also possess a s o suixd pronounssd o indicae pronomin possssion on nons (3 pronomi-nal objcs o vrbs (4 and pronomnal objcs of preposions(5 and ohe paicles (6 he orms of he pronons can vayslghly wih he diffren uss or exampl in raqi Arabic, hrs prson singar suxd pronon h he form i r nonsand paricles nding in a consonan -a af nouns and pari-cles endng in a vowl, and -ni ae vrs while h hird minin singlar pronoun has he form -ha in all nvironmns

Iraq (Mslim Baghdadi Arabic

(3 be bet-i be-ak, be-hahou hG hou2G ou3.Ghos, my hos yor m hose, her hose

(4 n -ha

se:PT3G sP3GG, se:P3.G3FGh saw h saw m h saw her

(5 wara war-a war-k waT-habhind bhind1G bhind2G bhind3FGbhid bhind me hind yo (m, behind hr

(6 wen, wen-ha wen-hum

whr whr3FG whr3PL'wher? where is sh? whr a hey? win 1963

In he enral Semiic langags he dfinie ic and apossessiv pronomin sux canno cooccur. his s proablybcas nons wih a possessiv pronominal sufix a ladyead as dini for h purposs of agreemn h opposi

MORPOOGY 33

is r for mani Mehri in which w ind he possssive sufixsaached o h defini form of h non

mani Mehri abt- a-y-k -br.t-hm

hhouse1G hbroher2G hedaugher3_PL

my hous, yor broh hir dagh (ubin 2010 b

31 3 XV R

In h Smic languages rxiviy can on b xprssed bymens o a deivd verb sm 341, as in Mh k hidonsl (vs hid concal eez axab?a hid onsl(vs_ xaba hde concea, and abic xta 'hid onesel vsaxj hide, conca. However mos Smic languages havdevoped a mans of xprssing an independen relexiv pro-noun is s nearly always he resl of a grammaicaliaionbased on a word meaning 'body or a par o h body, such ashead sol ye, or bon (bn 2005 Som xampls are

osBiblical Herw fUm- 4m 'bon mharic r- had (8 Wolan body ld Assyrian p- body, lassical Arabic nas- sou! (9 and - yand Algrian abic r- soul spiri breah_ ny in acoupl of cases is he origin o a rlxiv pronoun unnown aswih Aadian r-_

mhaic(8 rau-n

had3G illPT.3GH illed hmslf (eslau 1995

lsscal Arabic(9 qIa -na-i-h

sa:PT3.G osoulGE3_Gh sad o hms (ischr 2002

iewis, reciprociy can be expressed by means of a vrbasem g Mod Hebew hikav corrspond vs. katavwi Mehi yatrb now on anohr vs yrb 'now bumany languages hav also deveoped a grmmaicalied rcpro


24/56

4 A B ODUON O E S GE

a prnun. xaple are Syria hdde eah her had'ne, Mehri t't'iday- eah her td e, Wae gg bg 'eah her g by, an Akkaian axm r axeah her brher

3 2 Y

3 2 1 R D UBR

he Seii nina ye (inluin bh nn an aje-ive iinuihe w eer, aline an einine. einine nn are nrally preiable he preene aeinie fixe rphee *-(VJ A a reul un he,hi feiine ux an ake a variey f hape in he an-ae, r example, Hebrew -a -at), Mehri -t -at anJewih A f Arbe -- < -!) he einine arkeral ha her alrp i hee lanuae very lauaeinle a e f feiine nn, bh aiae an inaiae,

whih a a explii feinine rphee, h a Mehri hmher, 'eye, an rkb e he wr fr heran he wr fr par he by en fa in hi aeryener kin n he nn i larely aben fr Suhhipin luae, hh he aery ener i ill re-aine fr areeen pupe In Aabi, whih pee alare ber raaialy inul nu repreenin -leive, he eiine r eve iiae a iiviual ier example, in laial Arabi, we fin M. dam 'ear, Fdamfa 'a ea, an M. tamr ae, tamra a ae

Wih re ber he rSeii inal yeiinuihe inular, al, an plral. he ual wa a apruive feare in y he lanae, ili Hebrew,aai, Akkaian (exep n he le peri, an al fhipian, huh in hee laae here are re-nan. r exape, in Biblial ebrew, he inherie al en-in -aym i preeve in he r erai neral, liketm 'w a mtm tw hunre y he by parha ur in pair, like fnm eye 70znm e er-ain ie wr, like ymm 'w ay an "nm wyear a wr r l r evie wih w par, like

MORPOO 5

mltm 'ybal an melqhm n nereinly, iMer Hebrew, hi ual ufix ha bee eipriveaai, n in paneu peeh, b in he ni reain new wr, h a mqajaym eyelae 70anaym'biyle n lanae wih a prive a, ike Hebrew,n wih veiial ual r are eae a plural fr pur-

pe areeen wih verb an aeive, e., Me He-brew mqaaym y.qarm expeive[P] eyeae [] anae wih a prive ual, like Arabi, have a f verb an aeive a w.

rain he Seii plral i a lex iue. hereare tw bai way i whih pluraiy a be iniae he firi by exea ean, wih he aiin f a ufixe rphee he nn. he en i by inerna ea, by repaee he nu vai paern hee e ually ere inernaplural" r brke plural. n a Seii (10 an i r-we Seii we fin nly he exernal ea f pluralari, huh a ew nun ype hw renan inealplra arin (Huehnerar 1987a 991. n Arabi 12,

$ayhai, hipian, a Mern Suh Arabian (, inernalplral kin i wipa, hh we in exea plaari in hee lanae a well n e e Suhipian anuae exernal plural arkin ha bee ren.

Sar Babylnian Akain(10 mr-u M) P mr (M)

mr-u auher M) P mr-tu NM.)

Bibial Hebrew(11 bbOr warrir, P bbr-im

'lanuae, P -t

ypian Arabi(12 walad 'hi, P ad

xdm erva, P xadam

ani Mehri(1 g an, P "yg

r l an, P r


25/56

36 A BF ITRODCO TO TE SETC GG

Somims both ypes o plural marking a b usd to-gether in h sam word and so w nd plral markig that isindiatd by oth pattern replamn ad sixation d 'zaga ity, P g (ita) or au (irnal pls ex-teal)

n Soh thiopian, we fd an iovative typ o itrna

plural that makes us o rdupliation or xamp, in Zay, iwhih extea plural marking is th orm, d in whih otheryps o inteal plra mking hav en los, som ous in-diat plral through partial rdpliatio as i a poor or-pha, P. u; gla 'ame L gllu d cle 'bow, PL.ckllu (sa 1

3 2 2 I

rotoSmii disiguishd three ss omiative ausativeand giiv I additio to idiaing a dirt objt, he au-sative ase was sd in som advrbial onsttios (4) hegniiv ase was usd both or gnitiv ostutios (s be-

low, 323) and to mark th objts o prepositions

lassia Arai

(4) yf llan anaanhryONPT3G ightCCDE anddaDEH hrries night ad day (ydig 25)

as marking was do by mans o voali suxs on thenoun or singular nous ad inteal plrals, th ase ndigswr simply h short vowes: u or nominativ a or asa-tiv, or genitiv I the dual ad plral, ther was oly a wo-way distition btw ominativ and obliqe ss -a or

nominative dua or obliqu dal - or omiative plral,ad - or obliq plra I a ou ontains a emii markingsux, th ase markr ollows this sufx, g, Akkadian mtu'daghtr (O) A ase markr preeds ay pronominal suix(g Arabi tM tohousGE3F to hr house eeagaaka ityCC2G 'yor ity (CC)

,), thogh i Ak-

kadian th ominativ ad ausative bt ot gniive) as

MOROOGY 3

markers wre ormay oppd beore the possessiv suixsor most singar nons

h genral endy towards the oss o wordia vowlsed to h disapparane o th as system n most languagsor example, i rotoHbrw inal short vows wr ostleadig to th omplt loss o the as systm in th singularI the plural, th oblique plral o wih mimation (se 323)was gneralizd, rsuting in the extal masli plral [mn mod Arabi spokn dialets, w ind this xat angwih loss o th ase systm and retention o the oiq extr-nal masie plural In later Akkadia dialts, loss o finalshor vowls also ld to he di o the as systm; h assare sti sed i writing th aer dialets, u oten idisriminatly or inorrely In e'ez, th short vowls u d mrged o J in all posiions ladig to a mergr o the nominative ad genitiv ases Wordial was sbsequntly ostthogh som mod sholars prer to rtai this i rasrip-tio herore, disinguishes oly a ausative as; aga aga iy, agaa ity (CC)

A mber o Semiti lagags have developed w measo idiaig he asaiv aaai ad s early Aramai diats, we ind a partil drived rom a orm ?(g Hebrw alstinian Aramai y whih marks denitdirt objts (5) I a number o othr agags, inluding anmr o Aramai dats (73, in 45), some Arab dialts(6), e'ez, igrinya (17 and igr th daiv prpositio hasdvelopd io a marker o dinit dirt objs (ubin 25)Amhari marks dinite dirt objs wih a spial asaivsfix 8, in 33), whih may also e oeted with an earlier daive prpositio (Appleyard 24

Biblial Hbrw(15 l6m t aHmm

rae:PT3G od CC thhavs andMehearh'od ratd the heavs ad th arth (en 11


26/56

38 A B NTRODUCON TO E S NG

aqi (Mslim Baghdadi) Aaic(1 fx- r-radyo

akeaaT3GO.3.G DTheadioHe ook aa he adio. (in 13

iginya(17 lt

ha:F.Gdmmu n- s'b

ca DThaG milksyt-dinkP.3F.GO.3.Ghe ca dank he milk. (Melles 001

Besides he hee asic oo Semiic cases discussed aoehee ae o ohe suxes hich some scholas hae consid-eed o e case endings namely he sufixes a aea in Akkadian as - and uJ Akkadian - * is caed aeminaieadeial ending in he sandad gammas hashe asic meaing o fo equialen o he Akkadi eosiion I aso can e sed ih adecies o fo ades (see

3. his sux likely coesonds o he eminaie/dieciesux -Jh found in Hee and gaiic e.g. Hee .afnnoh .an o he oh nohads on he chage o s > see 3

he Akkadian suix uJ (he inal m as los y he endo he ld Baylonian eiod) uncions as a locaieadeialsuffx n Akkadian eg. bit hose bium 'in he house hissfx aes idenical in shae o he nominaie case endinghough he o ehae diffeenly hen onominal suxes aeadded is uncea heeoe i he o e hisoically hesame. Some hae suggesed ha his suix oides eidence oegaiiy a some eSemiic sage is is highly secla-ie (see Waliseg 00 o a agme agains egaiiy.he locaieadeial suix also ossiy exised i gaiichough eidence is meage and hee may aso e esiges inohe langages (oe 000a)

323 OIAL A

ooSemiic ouns had o oms knon as saes" he usesof hich ee conneced o a nous synacic ncion he

MOPOOG 39

consc (o ound sae exhiied no secial make (hogi eains a case ending in some languages and as used henhe noun goeed a diecy olloing elemen his elemencould e a nou in he geniie case in hich case he o ele-mens omed a geniie chain 18 a onomina (ossessiesix ( o a elae clause (0).

ld Bayloni Akkadia(8 be bit-m

maseCOTR heGNhe mase o he hose

() be-nmaseTRPLou mae

(0 bit mqut-uhoseNTR all: PT3.GORDhe ose ha fell (on Sode 1)

Whn o goeing a diy oloing elemen a on asconsideed o e in he ee (o unound sae. he fee saeas maked y a se of nasa sixes hich aeaed ae hecase endings he disiion seems o hae een afe shooels and *-n afe log oels o dihhongs. o examlein ld Baylonia Akkadian he nomina ase - god aeasas l in he nomiaie singula fee fo simly as inhe singula consc om (Akadian singula consc ounsose case making and he nominal ase eye aeas asinan in he nominaie dal ee fom simly as na in henominaie dal consc om We find ha mos languages

hae leelled one o he ohe o he nasal consonans ha is o*- and (e.g. Aaic o o *- and * (eg Hee.he shoe allomoh as los in many languages incding alo ohes Semiic Mode Souh Aaian hioian Semiicmos mode Aaic dialecs ad lae hases o Akadia. should e menioned ha he addiion o he makes *and -/ is usally efeed o y Semiiss as nunaion"and mimaion afe he names of he ees u and m(mm) in he Aaic alhae.


27/56


28/56

42 BRIEF NODTION O H SEMC NGUAE

ings n prsn h minin mrphm -at n hmsin nmrs r hrgh n

M F hd hdat2 Bnn Wnatan3 aat a4 arbafat arbaf5 xamat xam6 at t7 at abf8 eamaniyat amann9 fat f

0 farat fr

In h ssi nggs, h ns r sy xprssd wih digi wd y nmr n fr xmp i arbafatfaSaa nd Hrw abf faa 4 M.. h in Hrwnd ri (mng rs) h frm f n i prssin

ns xhiis xpd gndr, in rms f is mrpgywih h rs h h digi d n pp ppgndr In G digi fws n in prssin fns, d rqirs njnin g, aahadu ' (M h nis mh in gndr nik in Hrw nd rih rdr 'n digi is mmn in hipin Smii hghn wys wih h njnin g, mhri ara ba '7c n mny h mdrn nggs nd in rdy in

kkdi h digi nd h nmr n hv sd in sing wrd, r xmp kkdin erberet 4 (M. xamsret ' 5(M nd grin ri xaS 5 ..

In sm f h md nggs, gndr disiin mng

h digis nd n nmrs hs n nrid rsing in sing frm r gndrs his hppns r h digisnd ns in ms mdrn hipin nggs nd in mny dis, nd wi h ns in ri dis

W find w si mns frming ns in Smii Inkkdin nd hipin h sx is d nmr'n frm wny (g Gz f"r 0 nd h digis'r nin rm 'hiy hrgh niny g, G'z

OHOOG 4

xam 50 his sffi - is ms iky h d mrkr shisriy n Hrw, ri, nd rmi, ns md y dding msin pr six 'n is sd frm'wny whi h digis r sd frm rmining ns Sw find fr mp, Hrw fer 0 nd arbfm 40 isiky h d sffi ws riginy sd ny r wnyh d 'n nd h pr sfix fr h hrs nd h sd nggs xhii ving f h ns h is sy wihin h sd ngg, h wrds r wnyhrgh 'niny nin h sm sfxd mrpm whiis hisriy ihr d r msin pr sfi

3

s rdy mnind v (23 h ms hrrisi mrpgi r f h Smii nggs is h s f ns-nn rs in njnin wih vi mps wr ishis mr vidn hn in vr sysm Smii vrspssss xi r, whih s s nsnns h nin

h gnr xi mning h r n sd in jn-in wih n r mr vr sms Wihin h sm, vimps, prixs, nd sfixs sd in rdr srh vr frm n shr h rs ry h i mningswhi h mps nd xs y grmmi fnins,indiing prsn, gndr nmr ns vi, nd md isis isrd y h fwing frms h Bii Hrw rK wih hs si mning ssid wih wriing ytb'h wris, nktb w wri ktab h wr ktabn wwr tb wri MG ktb is wring (M." nktab 'ws wrin

h nmr f r nsnns is rmy r, nd s

w n spk f h riir r n h ssi nggs wsny find qdrir rs (i rs wih fr ns-nns) in sm h mdrn nggs s r mr -qn vn vrs rrwd m n*Smii ggs rnrmy fid in h r sysm, nd s w find vrs ikMdrn Hrwf fd (r SS, m gish 'x)nd G'z mankaa 'h m mnk r MKw Gk mnak mnk) h f whi fw h nrm p-s fr qdriir rs inrsing xpi s Ms


29/56

4 BRIEF ODUO O THE SEMIC NGUAG

where borrowigs are icorporate ito he erbal syste aswors, rather tha as roos eg ddownowdj he owloae(fro Eglish a kkomnd he recoee' (fro talia ccomnd (obera a ooff003.

341 A E

vey Seitic lagage has a basic, ke erbal ste. hisis sally calle the GSte i Seitic graas, for GeraGndstmm basc ste' aitio to ths basic ste there areerive stes which aog other thigs are se to expresscasative astive relexive, reciprocal passie, a iteratie

eaigs he stes are characterize ether by prefixatio fixatio of cosotal eleets or b y phonological ateratioof the root ia geiaton, vowel legtheig or replicatioEach of the aor ste ypes wil be treate i t:

N-S: This ste is chaacterize by a prefx n- k-kaia ebrew, a rabic, the Ste is say passve oreiopssive eg ebrew nt be opee ope (itras

s GSte pt ope (tras raaic ayhaic, a ostthiopia lagages, the Se has bee los whi i Mehia Geez, the Ste is only se wth soe qariliteralroots kkaia qariliteral erbs also appear ost ofte ithe Ste a this s likely a ProtoSeitic featre (Geser99 o a possble coectio with Egyptia o this poit seebi 00. attept to trace the froasiatic origi of theSte was ae by Liebera 986.

DS: his ste is characterize by geiatio (D oblig of the seco root cosoat. he exact erivatioalfctio of this ste is ifclt to pipoit. Graas of Se-itic ngages ofte escribe the DSte a s itesie, thogh

his age label is ot really warrate t is te that soe D-Ste verbs hae a plralic assocato (i.e. eotg actiiy oa plrality of obects a tis ca soeties ake t see as ifte verbal actio is itesifie For exple, o the rabic G-Ste ks break (as', we he DSte kss shatter(trns ito ay pieces Bt sch erbs are relatively rareMore ofte he DSte proies the factitive/casatie for rootswith statie eaigs i the GSte (eg ., Mehr mol? ll vs

ORPOLOGY 5

GSte mil? be fll', or is se to for eoiatie erbs(eg Mehri n ye with hea, o ? hea Ethopin the DSte has lost its eratioal vale an becoesiply lexical coprehesive sty of the kkaia DStewas ae by Koweberg 99 see also ooste (998.

C-S he Ste orally as a casatie forceto the roo, eg. E of Qaraqosh ?smo< to case to sta,GSte m to sta ay ?l fee', GSte b eatkkain s'uu case to fall', GSte mk'tu fal'. k-kaia gitc, a soe of the ayhaic lagage, is steis characterize by a prex *- a orphee which hasa cognate i the gyptia casatie prefx s- he reaier ofWest Seitic this prefix becae h- via a geera so chage*s > h (see aboe .3 a was frther weakee to - or i ost lagages. Ethiopia the Ste has becoe oreproctve, a we fi ot oe Ste, bt rather three -Stes, which e bilt po the G D, a Stes respectiey

-S(s) Stes are chacterize by a prefixe or i-

fixe t a are ofte fo i cojctio with aother erbalse Fo eape i aai we f a GtSte a DSte,a a tSte tat is Stes ae fro the G D, a -Stes, respectiely. he TStes hae varios fctions i ifferet lagages bt, geeral they esigate reexives, re-ciprocas passies or eipassies. raaic a theEthiopia lagages which have lost the Ste a teapassies (see below 3.2 the Stes hae becoe the priay eas of expressg he passie legthy sty of theSetic TStes was ae by Die 982

LS: his is the oly ste which is arke prely byvocalic eas aely by the egheig of the owel

followig the first root cosot he Ste is fo oy irabic a he Ethopia lagages thogh there are possibleestiges i ebrew those acient lagages whose scripts oot iicate owels (e.g ayhaic a garitic, te Ste ispossible to etect. f t eer existe i Moer Soth rabiait has erge copetely wth the DSte Ethopia the L-Ste like he DSte has lost al erivatioal ale a becoe siply lexcal herefore the oly atteste pace te LSte has any special eanig is in rabic, where it ca have a


30/56

46 A BEF IT T E SEMIC ANUAG

ve o meanings, inding assoiative ation (eg, kente into a patneship with, GStem k 'patiipate, attempted ation (eg at attempt to ki, GStem tki, and ehavio (eg, hn 'teat kind GStem hune good hese ategoies ae not awas appiae to modeAai diaets

e hese stems ae haateied the edupiation = R o eithe the seond o thid oot onsonant In Aai the wo RStems, oth o whih ae quite ae invoveedupiation (eaied as gemnation o the thid oot onsonant. Sh ves ae most oen onneted with the aqisitiono a oo o phsia tait o deet eg, swdd eome akand hw 'sqint e oss eed is tpe o RStem has emnants in Heew, Mode South Aaian, and esewhee, ut itis podutive (howeve ae on in Aai I man modeEthiopian gages we ind an RStem haateied edpiation and gemination o e pentimate oot onsontand among ohe ings, it an have pai o epeiive ssoiations his stem is a intea deveopment wiin the Ethiopian sami Exampes ae Amhai gnt't't 'tea intopiees (vs gttl ea o, ea o lw v(hange oten; hange ompete vs ! 'hange (Lesa 15

he nme o vea stems dies o eah guage oexampe in Sia thee ae s stems (wih vestiges o othesin Cassi Aai tee ae teen and in EA o Ae theeae st two Moeove the untions o a pai stem in oneangage do not awas oespond with its utions in aohegage o exampe, the tStem in Heew is oten a eipoa o eexive eg h 'kiss eah othe Stem n

'kiss htdd santi onese Stem dd 'sti, whiein Sia, it is simp a passive o the Stem eg, 7tbb eeeived, Stem bb 'eeive

t is impotant to point out that a deived stem ve neednot have a oesponding GStem ve o eampe, in ai,he ve 7s send is a CStem ve ut he oot does noto in the GStem hee is no othe ve om whih 7san e deived as a ausative As nohe exampe in Mehi e ,

MORPOO 4

ve ans 'dae (oot 7NS is a 1Stem a tpe o CStem spei to Mode Soth Aaian, ut this is he on stem inwhih this oot os A these exampes istate, it an happen that a deived stem ve is simp exia nd not deivedat a n Etopian, as noted aove the and LStems haveeome ompete exiaied A a ooa to this, a ve thatos in the GStem need not exhiit an deived stem Aso,exept in those mode anguages that have ve ew deivedstems (eg, EA diaets, it is ve ae hat a vea oot ane sed in a stems o a patia angage

34 O

Semiti anguages distinguish ative and passive voie, thoughhe die with espet to how these ategoies ae oded heeae two main mophoogia means o expessing passivit heist wa is means o a deived vea stem usa a Stemo an Stem, as was aead disssed aove 3.4. he seond wa is means o what an e aed an intena passive

meaning at the mophoog is means o the intena vowepatten on We ind intena passives in Cassia and ModeStandd Aai 22) some mode Aa diaes (Rets983 to a imited extent in eew (though ae in modespoken eew, in the ode Aamai diaets (a ) and to aimited extent in Mode Souh ai 23) o some epigaphi anguages (eg Saai and giti thee is good sntati evidene o intea passives, thogh the ak o wittenvowes in thei espetive sipts oses the data

Aai(22 sna su7na

asATAC asPATPA-Lwe asked we wee asked

Omni Mehi23 k'r, kr

PAAC3M.G buPAT.PA3M'he uied, he was uied


31/56

48 A BRF INR SM NGG

addition to mophoogical passves many langages also indcate passvity by synactic mans t with an impsonalthid pson plal vb 24) o ss ote by mens of an aux

liay vb ad a past paticiple 25)

A Qaaqosh)

24) t-" m-n- "tq"hous-3M. T-bld:PR3P-3MG astyaHis hos was bilt last yea lit. His house thybilt t lt ya) Khan 2002)

atese

25) - kn o ;] mqtuth-man be3M.[comP3MG]killPR.Ph ma was killd. Ambos 998

In geal he is a stog tendcy amog th Smtic lguags fo th ite passive to be placed by oth mas ofidicaig passivity whethe by dved vbal stems o by syacc costctions.

343 A /

he vebal systm is th aa in whch the lngags xhbit thegat s vaiatio ad so ovview of th ete fily ismpossibl in a bief omat such as this H w will limit ouselvs to som of the itesing dvelopmets i th alm oftese and pct Cohen 984 ad Kuyowicz 973 ae mpotat gal woks o this sse) o oto-Semitic sffice it to

say that two bsc vbl foms ca be constctd and it is

ikly that tes mainly distguished pfectiv ad impfec

tv aspct. o som of he ancet langags the issue of svs aspect is a dicul on d it is vy diicult o say tha the

vebal systm of say Akkadian o Bbcal Hbw dstingshed ony tes ony aspct se Joosten 2002 ad Cook

2006 fo cet discussion on this isse n Biblicl Hebew)a Tenses. In ast Semiic Akkadia) h ised a

om known as he stativ o vbal adjctive whch was chactezd by sud poomial oms as opposed to oh

RLY 49

vbal oms which maked pson ad mbe by a st of pefixs Huhngd 98b). hs stative conjugation is ondaso in gyptan so i ca be econsced fo Afoasiatic Asalady noted above ) n a of Wst Smitic the inheitedped past tnse g. Akkadian nk we stol) was eplaced by this sed cojugaio g. Aabic qna 'wstol) his is theefo a majo developmt n he hisoy ofth Semii c vebal system Sbsqt to this additioal nnovative past tenss dvlopd i lat oms of Aamaic and inhopian Aleady in th ealy ft millium C, it becampossible i some dialct o Aamaicsuch as Syiac andaicand Jewsh Babyloian Aamaico epess a pct tese bymeans o a constction which consisted of a pas paticiple plsth peposiion 1- to o with a poomial s 26)

Syiac26) g a km I-

man E knRP.M to-GI have not know a man ldeke 904)

Sm bliv th h ppositio i ts costio was oig

nally instmetal in fnction ad so a phase that mat somhing ike it was kown toby me was eintpeted 'I hav

know t. Howev sinc the peposiio - does not nomalymak th agent o a passv but dos mak possssion see4.8) othes believ that a phase like Syiac kim Ii s a peecttens the litel qvaln o nglish have known t has

b suggsted that sch a dvlopmt in Aamaic may havebee a calqu fom esia Kutsche 969; thogh s BaAshe 200 fo a conteagument) his nw pt tense whaev s oigin has completely placed th inhetd past tense

most eo-Aamaic languagsI eez the ests a vbal om vaiosy know as the

ged pfctive activ paticipe cnvb o veba ininitvehis fom is lways sbodiat to th main veb ad ca betanslatd eihe by an glish paticpial phas o tmpoalcaus 2) .


32/56

50 A BREF TRODUTON O SEM NGG

e'ez(27) -sm-o Tb

ON-fastGRMG behngyPMG'Having fasted . he was hngry (ppe 2002a)

I iginya, is eqvalent fo has becoe a sple past

tense eplacing te inheited past tense in ost contexts, eg,sm (vat som 'he asted Sii developents aveaen place in othe ode thiopian languages

In ost othe Seic langages secondy past tenseshave developed, osty by eans of auxlary vebs o othepatices ubin 2005) o exaple, in any Aabic dialectshe past tense o the veb 'be s sed in cobnation wth othevebal fors to ceate he past pefect (28), past pogessive

(29), ad past habital 0).

ai (usli Baghdadi) Aabic(28) m

bePM.G eatRM.G

br--telephone 1 G-M G

mwhen

'e had eaten when I telephoned h

(29) d-bePMG PROG-eat:NOMG1-arrive:T-

e was eating when we aived

0) t rm zebeG dawNNTG well'Se used to daw well (rwin 196)

mwhen

Prst Tnss In Classcal Arabic Biblical ebeweez, Aadin and othe classcl eitic

languages, thee

a single non-past vebal tense hat coves both pesent and tue tie any languages howeve new fos have developed hat ae speciically aed as genea pesens, pesentpogessives, o pesent indicatves. n soe langages, ncud

ing ate os of Hebew and Aaaic, he nheited paticipal

OROOG 51

o, which is noinal in oigin, has becoe te pesent tensen soe othe anguages, a pesent tese is aed by a paticleatached to an existing vebal or Such paticles deve ostoften o locative vebs o pepostions, ie, the vebs 'be, 'sit,'stand, o 'lie, o he peposition 'in, at ubin 2005) o exaple, the peix d- in aqi Aabic q- in ewis and Chstiandialects) is attaced to the inheied non-past or, and idicates a pesent pogessive, continous, o abitua (1 cf aso29, above) is pefx deives o qd a paticpial o ofte veb sit

Chistian Baghdadi Aabc1) q- b

PROG-oo:OPTF_G stew'She is cooing a stew (Ab-Haida 1991)

In soe A diects, inclding the ewish dialect of Suleanyya, a pesent indicative is aed by a peix -_ his deives fo an ealie peix q- used n olde dialects o Araaic

to a a continous o habitual pesent, which ltiately de o a o m a paicpial fo o he veb 'd

In ost thiopan lgages, the ineited non-past focan be cobned with a for of the veb be_ his copoundor indicates e non-past in a ain clause while the inheted, siple non-past is sed in sbodinate o negative clauseshus in any thiopian lguages incldng Ahc, te pesent and utue ae not norally distingushed

Fuur nss xplicit tue tenses have developed in abe of Seitic languages_ ten aes o te utue deiveo gaaticalized fos of vebs eaning 'go o 'want,

though othe souces ae we attesed (bin 200)_ o exaple, in gyptian Arabic (and seveal othe Aabic dialecs), hetue-aing peix ha- s deved fo the paticiple rih'going (2) Sevea dialects of A have a ute-aingpatcle bd- (vaians b- b- d- which is deived o an ealie Aaaic constrction b d- 'want that o b d- 'it is desied that ()


33/56

52 A BEF IN T M

gyp Abc32) hayrgaf bua

FT-euNT.3M. ooowHe wll eu ooow. Abde-h e l. 1979)

A Bw)

33) qatu8 b,d-mnarac- -gwP3.-2My c w gw yo. Kh 2008)

I eh d he cloely eled dlec o u dB), e cve pcple h coe o dce ue ee,wh he eul h he eed o-p o h becoe hebc pee ee.

344 D

Al ec lguge poe peve o 34) hough

ely ll o he lguge, peve occu oy pove

cod. egve co e oly epeed by egg oh vbl o, olly h o-p o hejuve o h e, ee below) ego o he cl peve o oud oly oe eo-Ac dlec, eg., he Jewh A dlec o Abel 36, bu o he ChA dlec o Qoh.

ld Bbylo Ad34 upu

ed:MRM.ed!

35 apaN ed:NT.2M.o ed uehegd 2005b)

A Abel)36) la s

NE gMPR.o go Kh 1999)

LY 53

hee e o o d peo peve ec, houghhee juve ood h lll he co o he peve o hee peo. he juve oo-ec ee ohve bee decl hpe o he peecve vebl o. Akkd, he jve olly eed he "pecve g o Ad) dguhed o he heed peecveby he ddo o eveve o opclg) pcle

Huehegd 1983 ee 993) c Akkd k he wed Illk le h go, y he go. We ec, he heedpeecve o he hpe *pre + CCVC lo co heol dco o p ee ee bove, 1, 343), bu heo e ved juve co. o evde ode ouh Ab d hop ec c. ee

nabaa he d juve y,nba le h , y he .he uo he e o We ec, .e., Cel e

c, lghly oe cople. he heed peecve o, cobo wh *- ogy ke o ubodo) ce o dce o-p, eplcg he heed o-po ub 2005). he eul h Cel ec hee

w or o he hpe pre + CCVC h dced he jv, d o *p + CCVC-u h ded o-p huo oud Clcl d ode dd Abc A Ad, he Abc jve whe ued rue juve, .e., o hd peo peve) peceded by eveve pcle, e.g. dcve o-p YaSabu he d v.juve lYarab le h dk, y he dk oe Celec lgge, cludg ode Abc dlec, Hebew,d Ac, he l ho -u o h ovve op ow lo, wh he eul h he o-p d uve eged o evoe o, Bblcl Hebew, o eple, eve o oe o ophologcy dc o e o

p, d juve eg u be gleed o coe.Cope eple 3) d 38), boh o whch co hedecl vebl or ypot

Bblcl Hebew3) h ypo bl bedeq

he jdge:NNT3M. wold wh-gheoeHe judge he wold wh gheoue l 9:9)

,I


34/56

5 A BR TRODUTON TO TE SEMTC GG

(38) yit YW bn-

jdge3M.G D beween1Gubn-ekandbetween-2MG

ay the ORD judge bewee me d yo (en 16: 5)

In addtio to the indicative ad jssive moods, Arabic possesses a subjnctive mood ormed with the same verbal basepls a suix -a (eg, yaIrab-a. he subjnctive is sed in subordate clases, most often following sbordinating conjunctiosI Aadian, subordination is mared by attachig he sux -uto vebs (20, in 3.3) is is the same six that n CetralSemitic mars the indicatve

he jssive d sbjunctive moods of the written langageare absent rom the mode Arabic dialects, due, as alreadyoted, to the loss o fial short vowels Howeve, there is somedistinction of mood by innovative mes In some o te dialectsin which a present tense marer has developed, lac of thismarer can indicate a subjunctive or ssve I exmple (39)we see the Syan Aabic present tense marer b- sed i an ndiiv prs. In empe (0, on e oter hand, we see howthe absence of his (or any other) prevebal mare can indicatea jssive meanng.

Syan Arabic(39) bnmu fal-,h b,-l-ll

PR-sleepNNP3MPL ot-roo n-the-night'hey sleep on the roof at night.

(40) y,xrab bberunedNPT3MG hose-3MG

ay his house be rined (Cowell 964)

e situation n many eo-Aamac diaects parallels that ofSyrian Arabic, which is to say that a subjnctive or jssive cabe mared by the absence of an overt peset or ture tesepreix

Aadan exhbts another verbl om, nown as he ventve, that is sometimes called a mood by Semitists (eg, oscati

ORPOOGY 55

1964), presumably with the idea that "mood coves any type overbal modificaton he ventive s really a ype o vebal deixis,with no modal functions I ld Babylonan Akkadi, the ventive sffx has the allomophs (a)m d -nm and may be attached to any inite verbal orm It gives the sense of directiono activity towards the speaer contrast llk went and ventive

Ukam he came; ubl they broght (thee)

and ventve nm they broght here; and I went ot and ventve i-n 'Icame ot here (von Soden 995) ot coincidentally, te firstcommon singlar dative pronomnal object sfix also has theallomorphs -(a)m and -nm in Aadian, eg addn-n yougave to me It is nclear if the Aadian ventive has parallels West Semitic t has bee arged rather convincigly, that thesf -i that can be attached to Biblical Hebrew impeatves hasa ventive unction (Fassberg 1999) n othe connections between the Akadian ventive ad Wes Semitic morphemes, seethe recent stdy o Hasselbach (006)

3. 45 PHRSA VES

hras verbs also nown as composte verbs) are a characteristic featre of the modern thiopian Semitc langages. In theseconstrctions whch have developed under Cshitic inlence, averbal concept is expressed by a fixed element and a congatedorm of the verb say or mch less oten (and not in all the langages), 'mae, 'name, or 'become xamples are Amharick'uc a he sat down, ds alw he was happy (lit t wasplesing to him), and z,m al 'he was qiet all based on alhe sad (esla 1995); Wolane ,n, bal he seezed lddbal 'he was slo and gu bal it smoed (inrans) all basedon bal 'he said (eyer 006); and ig kat bel 'he sat, ky

bel 'he hurred, and ,b bel he sweated, all based on belhe said (a 983) nly the verb is conjugated, as in igr ky,be I hurried, ky nbe we hrried ky belw they hurried,ky bl they hury and ky bal hurry! any o the ixedelements that are pat o these phrasal verbs do not occur independetly and so it is oten not possible to give the ixed elements an idependent meaing

A parallel to the thiopi phrasa vebs can be fond isome eo-Aramaic dilects n the Jewish A dalect of Sle-


35/56


36/56

4 SYNTA

4.1 WORD RDER

oto-Semitc seems to have been a VSO anguage that is hesandad wod ode was VebSbjecbect. hs is the suaword ode o a numbe o the ancient langages incldingBiblical Hebew, Aabc (44) d e'ez. In addition modiiessch as adjecives 45) genitives (46) and eative clases (4)ollowed thei head noun

Classcal Aabic(44) xaraja l-mar7at-u mina l-b-i

goou.3F hwomnNM om h-hoUeGE'e woman went ou om the hose

(45) al-b-u l-bid-uthe-houseOM he-cold-NOMhe cold house

Bibical Hebew(46) erek ham-mele

highway [ONTR] the-kingthe kings highway (um 20:17

e'ez4) b" s za-moa

man NO REL-de:PT.3M'the man who died

A numbe of the anguages both ancien and mode deviate om he standad Semitic type Akkadian adopted SOYwod ode as a esul o contac with Smeian though all

59


37/56

60 BIEF TROUTIO TO THE SEMITI ANUAE

moders stil normally follow their head noun (euscher2000. ode ebrew eo-ramac languages and a numbero mode rabic diects (eg raqi hadian) exhibt svoword order (on rabic see Brustad 2000. n ode ebrewtis is te resut o general uropean inuence n these an:guages as in kkadan modiiers still ollow teir head noun.

he most drastic changes in word ordering are found in themode tiopian languages. ll modern thiopian Semitic languages exbit S word order (8) a resul of ushitic inuence (eslau 5a) n addition nearly all f not all telanguages place adjecties genites () and relaties (50)beore thei r ead nouns

Zay

(8) ya -eae -se m'h wit-tatF with-woman come:AT came with that woman

() y-n-i gr

o-chie-the housete chs house

(50) ]i-y y-gG-e bdg-A Eind:AT.Me child'the child who found e dog (eslau )

42 II

ll Semitic languages ae preposions tough some aguagesalso ae postpositions nd circumposiions. repostions ethe nom in most Semtic languages including all o the ancient

languages n lguages that hae reained case marking prepotns aways goe te genitie case Semitic prepositons areof wo ypes. here are those that are clitcied to their headnoun 5) and tose tat are teated as independent words (52).he ormer type usualy number only three to four in a gienlanguage with the great majority of prepositions treated asseparate units

lassical rabic(5) bi--bayi

in-he-house-Ein the ouse

(52) mina I-bay-i

SYTAX

om he-house-'rom te house

6

n nearly al o the lnguages the expresson o the pronominalobect o a preposion is by means of a pronominl sufx attached to he preposition (see 1.2) or exampe foowingare the orms o the mani ehri prepositon h- to or (to meto you etc)

G U L

st C hcyni hn2nd M hUk Mki hm

2nd F hays hknrd M hhhh

hhm

rd h h

Some modern thiopian languages on he oher hand use theindependent forms o the pronouns with prepositions as wel aswth postpositions nd circumpositions); c mharic wde tome wd o + ne ') and kss from him k rom dU he)

n modern thiopian Semitic languages tere is a greatertendency towards circumpositions and postposiions e postpositions are oten the result of grammaticalized nouns forwhich there was a precedng genie pre used as a modiier(5) he prepositional elements o he circumpositions inmharic c be omited in oth speech and witing resulting ina postposition esau 5)

mharic) b-be ws

R-house iin the house

*b-y-be ws)

in-o-house interior) in the inerior of te hose)


38/56

62 A B INRODU O SM

54) b-n beREP-yo accordng toaccording to yo

b-y-n bet) in-ofyo hos) in t hos of yo)

In so Soth hopan angags if a non is prcdd by aodiir, a prpositon is rpad fo ac nt 48 in

41) his was aso th cas in Soqoi a ndrd yars ago55) Howvr, in odrn Soori, only th scond occrno h prposiion has srvivd, w th rst that prpositionscan b bddd wihin a non phras 56) onnt 1998)

Soqo crca 1900)55) min di-heh min ,mboriye

fro of- fro childrnro his childrn

Soor crca 1990)56) di-hoh k-Jmboriye

ofI withchildn

wt y childrn

43 RE

r ar a nbr of isss ptaning to agrnt in Siticthat ar noworty cas of nras, wch s oxhibit vrs gndr concord, was rady dscssd abov33) t was aso alrady notd abov 321) hat n langags in which th dal has casd to bco a podctvcatgory g, Hbrw), ossiizd dal ors ar tratd as pra or agrnt pposs

Attibiv adctivs in Siic noally agr with thi

had nons in gndr, nbr, and cas whr applicabl, adrfrring to th inhid roto-Sitc cas arrs only) inntr Sc th xcption o o-Aac) d hriatribiv adctvs also ag in dfnitnss 57) A nonwith a possssiv sffx is considrd dnit o t prposs ofagrnt 58) As a gnral tndncy agrnt rls lssstrict in thiopian Sitic

lassical Arabic57) 7!-mr7-u

S

!-sn--uth-woan-OM th-bail-Mth batfl woan

Biblical Hbrw58) b-,k

hos-2M

hggd!h-bg

yor big os

63

In any Sitc langags, a distinction is ad in tagrnt o attribtiv and pdicativ adcivs or toslangags in which attribtiv adctivs agr in dnitnss, ntral Siic langags [xcpt oAraaic and ri), prdicatv adctivs do not do so opar t followingxapls 59-0) with h two phass abov 558

lassical Arabic59) 7!-mr7-u s--un

thwoanOM batifl-NMNEFh wan is bal

Biblica brw60) b-,k gdl

hos-2M bigo hos is big

In Aadian, prdicativ adctivs a ard with a spcial st o gndr and nbr s oovr, tr is a spcia st o nclitic prsona pronons ha ar attachd to hadctivwhich its has no cas, gndr or nbr ar

rsto indica pdication 61) Bcas sixs av dvlopd for all prsons, s constrction is otn rrrd to as astaiv "tns hogh his constction s not vrbal n oigi,t is otn convnin to thin of it as vrbal in Aadian his isbcas th prdicativ adctivs hav vrbal proprtis inthat hy ar associad with vrbal roots; indicat prso,nbr and gndr; can ta th arr of sbordination; andcan ta a vntiv orph Indd in Ws Sitic this dvopd into a tr past tns as notd in 1)

l


39/56

64 A BREF ODO TO SM NGUG

ld Babylonian Akkadian(6) awl- maru'-0 awlt- mas'-at mars-u

man-NOM sick-3MG, womanNOM sick-3G, si ck-Gthe man is sick the woman is sick, am sick(Huehnergard 200b)

Agreement n Cassical and ode Standard Arabc isslighty more compex tha in the other lnguages. he aboverles gven for atribuive and predcative adecives appy whenhe noun is singuar or dual. Wen the noun is pura (and occasonally also when i is a dua), agreemen s dependent on animacy or nouns referring to humans, agreement folows tha ofsnguar nouns, so masculine pura nouns referring to humanstake masculine pura adectives and femnine pral nouns takefemnine pral adjectives (62). or a oher nouns, puras areteated as feminine singular (63).

ode Standard Arabc(62) z-zur-u

he-stors[L-NOM'the offical visors

r-amiy-nathe-ocialMPL.NM

(63) taqld-un mhiy-at-unradiions MP] -NOM.N Chrsan -G-OMNEF'Chrsan radions (yding 005)

Agreemen beween nouns and verbs n Classical and ode Standard Arabc exhibits simar idiosyncrases When a verbprecedes s subject (as is normaly the case), s fom is always

sngar, even when he subect s dual or plral. he gender ofte verb is deermined by whether or not the subect refers ohumans asculine dual or plura subjecs referring o humansae preceded by a mascune snguar verb (64), while nonhuman masculine da or plua subjecs (usaly) and all feminine subjecs are preceded by feminne sngar verbs (6). orsingar nons, gender concord beween nons and verbs isstrict

SYNTX

ode Standard Arabic

(64) dhic-a -u1u

augh:ST-3M.G the_students[M.PLNOMestdents laghed (y

ding2005)

( ) ?ittafa-at-wud-u

.65e.PST3F SG the_delegaon

sMP-NOMagre . -

8)Tedelegationsageed. (Mace9

65

4 4 OAO.

we find both analytc (syntactc) and

n !e SemItIc angages, of comparison tho

gh the I (morphologca )

means Iinecona

A b hich has an inectiona common n a I Wformer I more f of theadj ectvehasthebasic

t e the comparatVe orm cmpara IV .w '1 tall ?atwal onge

r ta er ;pattern aGGaG, as 1 a

bng,

tfl

he comparative formb tl 'hsan 'more

eau 1 eau 1 , th "eatve form) cand A bic gmmars e(nomally calle

ra tal' vey beautifl' a

s re-also denote an 1tensve, .e

c:7wth'the denite aticle (66)quired by cont

ext.W en

f1 oc

"vechain (67) the comparativef as the irst member 0 a ge 1J

form ndcates a superlatve

Classica Arabic

(66) juZu

the-man-NOM

'e talles man

1-?atwa1-u

the-taIl:MPAR-N

(67) atal-ur-rji

tCOMP-MCOR] themen-GEN

'!e tallest of the men

. of the atte *?aGGaGarefondlexical-

Aveyfew adJec1ves

(

P

? ka cruel) bu it is unclear if

ized in Biblica ebrew eg, a omparisonn Hebrew,like

haisms or borowgs.these are arc relyanalytical.That is, there

most other Semitic languages

, I

pu

hologicalformindcatgcompaso (68).

ISnOmorp

Bibic ebrew . _

(68) fam gdl w-r6m mnmen-nu

pe great and-t rom-

ae;eope greaterandtallerthanus (Det. 128)

I


40/56


41/56

68 A B NN SM NGGE

man ehi

(75 m.h r- -hi:MG donkey-G and woman woma-1h i my donkey d he woman i my wife(ubin 00b

o anguage make ue of a verb 'o be in he pa and fueene bu he individua veb vary (ie he roo ed (76--77

Bblical Hebrew

(76 ebed h b.-?r" mrmave beP.MG in-landN gyp'ou were a lave in he land of gyp (eu 1 : 15

mani ehri

(77 h .na a-m-h4myouG beM .G e-king-3M.P'ou will be heir king. (ubin 01b

n many o he langage a nomally do no epre acopula h p n a demonaiv o ponal ponoun ca ll e po of a copula in oder o make clea ha aepaae ubec and pedicae ae beng epeed (7879

ee78 z.n w.? tu g

kinghi:M.G hehi i he kng

odern Hebrew

(79 nm hen m-noga -arm hm m-madmwomen he romVenu and-men heyM froma

omen e om Venu and men e om a(Coffin and Boloky 00

A number of moden language ncluding mode hiopian language eoAramaic laguage and ome Aabic dia

lec have deveoped preen-ene copula mo ofen omgrmaicaied demonaive o preenaive paricle (ubin00

SX 69

47 EL AE

any Semiic langage have deveoped eienial paicehe ouce o which ae varied (ubin 005 Some of heeparicle deive om locaive prepoiion o eampe a nmbe o Aabic diaec (eg Syrian gypian Chadian ue here i/re (


42/56

70 A B ITRODO TO TEET LGUGE

ometmes, as n ehr, an existental is simply understood and

no verb, adverb, or particle s used (83 see also 93, in 49)

mani ehri

(83) x. Mk.m b->>b;

once uler n-town

once there was a rler in a town (ubin 200b)

48 POSSESSON

It has already been noted above ( 31 1, 31 2) that pronomna

possesson in rotoemtc was indicated by means of a pro

nomn sfix, and that some languages have developed an in

dependen possessive adjectve It was aso noted tat a geniive

relatonship between wo nons was ndcated by means of a

consuct prse (genitve chan), bu that some langages have

developed an independent genitive exponen. t s nce

wether rotoemc had a verb corresponding to nglish

have Akadan has the verb il have, which is cogate wth

an existential parcle in West emtc (eg, Hebrew yes, gartcle). A meniond abov (), w cnno know for sewhether an orgina exstential deveoped no a verb of posses

sion n Akkadan, or whether a verb of possession deveoped

nto an existenial n some West emtic languages, since boh

scenarios are easily conceivable egardless, the West emitc

languages mae se o varos phrasal constrcions to express

e eqvalent of 'have hese construcions normally contan a

ocative (84), comiatve (85), or dative preposion; the last of

these s sometmes fond n conjuncton wth an exisential pa

tice (86) or a verb of existence I hiopian languages, we nd

a constructon consistng of an exstental partcle or a verb ofexistence plus a suxed obect pronoun (87).

altese

(84) omm- gand-ha qau

mother-1G at3FG cat

y moter as a cat (Ambros 1998)

SY

man ehr

(85) !m.y S-IS ac menmoter-1G wth-3G propery much

y mother had a lot o property (bin 2010b)

Biblical Hebew

(86) yes l- qw

EX to-1G hope' have hope (th 2)

Wolane

(87) mkin ?alj]car exst:NONPT 3MG-J. G

' have a car (eye 2006)

4.9 INTEROGATVS

All emitc languages exibt nterogatve pronons and ad

verbs wch are, on the wole typologcaly nremarkabe

ccaionally, nterrogatives show some syntactic pecliaritiesor exmple, n gyptan Arabc, nterrogatives normally occpy

te poston n he snenc occupid by he qstioned o-stituent. e rest s that interrogatves I gypan Aabc

uslly staning for drect objects, indirect objects, or adverbalclausese oen phraseinal (8889) n most other Arabc

alects, as n other emtc anguages interrogaves are nor

mally fronted (90)

gyptian Arabic

(88) ?are l-kib Ie

read:P-2MG te-book wy

'Wydd you read the book? (Abde-assih e a. 1979)

(89) fwiz ewant:PMG what

What do yo want (Wodich 2006)

yrian Arabic

(90) I l.-twhy goot:PT2MG

'Wy did yo go ot? (Cowell 1964)


43/56

2 BE ITUT E SM GG

nmber f langages as pssess a special ntergaive partice use u a atemen int a qesn ften sch particle are prcliic r enclitic eemens xamples are lassica ane Sanar rabic fa Bbca ebrew eez u anhu 9 igrinya do 92, an mharic - he rabic ebrew, an e'ez partce e all attache t the fr cnsttuenin he enence, while the igrinya an mharic parice aresentence-final xample f nn-ciic inerrgative partcles aresical an e Saar rabic ha ebrew mainy ptBbcal ham an ehri w 93 f hese parclesweter cltic r nn-iic, are ptina Sme ae restricte certain ypes f qetin e g yesrn qestins

ee

9 atau gabarktsTG :2'i y his? llmann 90

igrinya

92 om mh fodoay oo TNRROG' there ch tay eles 200

mani ehri93 w.l fyd

E any sarine're here any aine ubin 200b

4

n rt-Semiic, relative claues cl be ynetic, n whichcae te anteceen was n the cnstrct tae r ynetic nwhic case te aneceen was fllwe by a eerminativereaive prnn tha ecline fr gener nmber an casehe fmer ype s fun in aian 20, in 323 an inayhaic, wh vestiges in e'e, ebrew an elsewhere helaer ype s wiesprea in Semitc thgh the inherie relaive has in many languages becme ineclnable e, a inglezen frm urive r example while a fully eclinable rela

Y 3

tive prnn exie in l aian an blaie in lBabynian aian, the mascline ingular accsative frm abecame a neclinabe relative prnun; in amaic he macine singar genive frm d later unerwen te ameevelpmen 94

Biblical ramaic94 en d

ream-e L see:PATthe ream hat saw anel 26

n he anaanite iaecms imprantly ebrew an heniciana nun a8ar place ha been grammaicaize a arelative prnn 9 replacng he inherie frms hugh hertSemiic reatve is atee as sch in sme archaic Bibicalebrew passages an in archaic Bybian henician uenergar 2006a presens a very eaile iscusin f hi evelpmen

Biblical ebrew9 hadcbr r dbr m

hese e-wrs speaT3M seshese are the wrs tha ses pe eu!

elaive clause in abic exhibit sme intereing synacicericin he relative prnn itef which in the assicala e Sanar varieties eclines fr gener an numberan in he a als fr cae s an rabic innvatin he inhere r-Semiic frm survive in rabc nly as a eterminaive prnn 'he ne B he relative prnun i nlyse when he anteceen i efinie 96 When he aneceen

is inefinie he reative clause ayneic 9 hi type faynetic clause with a nefine aneceen n the free unbn stae, a fn ccasinly in e'ez ehri, anelewere thugh nly in rabic i i he le

ern Stanar rabic96 assu aOa yaa

heursts-NM EL:MP arriveNT3ML'the uris wh arrive


44/56

RIEF NTROUCON TO HE SIIC NGAG

(9) ajuun yamaku aaaman-NOMIDEF possess:NNPAST.3M.SG thecouage-A'a manwho possesses couage (Ryding 2005)

Imoden Arabic diects, te relative pronoun is usually asgle, decnabe fo but elaive causes exhibit the samedisinctionbased on whehe o n

o the antecedent is definite oindefinie ( 9899)

aqi (i aghdadi) aic(98) n ab ao

hehoe EL wnPA3MG hice'he hoe ha won hi ace

(99) bnaa hC xams ugi eak:PRE3F.G ve angage'a gi who eak five angage (win 1963)

.

Whea Semitic reatve pronoun stands n a prepositonaelaonshp, a esumptive ponoun is nomaly employed. nsom agage this is opion ut most oten it is oligatory(100) Resumptve ponouns are also found evenwhen the rela-ive ponoun sands fo he diect object, and nact, such use ofa esumpive ponounis obligatoy in some laguages, includingmany abC dalects (101 ) nly very aey do we find apepn peceding a elative ponoun (like nglish 'inwhch); Ge'ez is a language in whch ths s possible hougsil very infrequen (1 02) .

iica eew

(100) 7 7 g b

eand[F RE ive:PA2MG in3FG'he and in which o ived (en 21 23 )

gian aic(101) uu h

hean eePAT2M G3MG eeda'he an ha o aw eeda (deaih e a199)

SYNAX 75

e'ez(102) wak'a 7ams7na . .. baza nya

oneAC ingPATPL wihREL NONPATPL7kaoodACC'We ogh one ... wih which o ood (en3:22; iann 90)

diced in ooSeiic eaive cae foowed hei aeceden in oden hioian Seiic angage eaive cae ecede (50, n .)

4, UB

Sodinae cae in he Seiic angage can e aked ee an eici conjncion, o, e ofen ecia nacic corucion ng noinaized vea fo We indeoa (103) condiiona (0) and caa (105 odinaing conjncion aong ohe e

an eh(103) wzmona Hm nc m

eez

gveFUT.MG A2MPLnakmcoe:PAT2P

wee.oao wen

' wi give o wee oaoe wen o coe ack.(in 2010)

(10) mma nabaka za yakbukaif a:PA2MG hee findF3MPL 2M.G o a hee, he wi ind o. (oe 2002a)

haic(05) s>Wammm ammm

ecaee.ick:PA3MG NEGcoePA3M.

a Brief Introduction to the Semitic Languages

Documents

Transcript of a Brief Introduction to the Semitic Languages