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The Northwest Semitic languages form a medium-level division of the Semitic language family
Semitic languages

File:Amarna Akkadian letter.pngThe Semitic languages are a group of related languages whose living representatives are spoken by more than 467 million people across much of the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa....
. The languages of this group are spoken by approximately eight million people today. The group is generally divided into three branches: Ugaritic
Ugaritic language

The Ugaritic language, discovered by France archaeology in 1928, is known only in the form of writings found in the lost city of Ugarit, near the modern village of Ras Shamra, Syria....
 (extinct
Extinct language

An extinct language is a language which no longer has any speakers .Extinct languages may be contrasted with Language death: no longer spoken as a main language....
), Canaanite
Canaanite languages

The Canaanite languages or Hebraic languages are a subfamily of the Semitic languages, which were spoken by the ancient peoples of the Canaan region, including Canaanites, Israelites, Phoenicians, and Philistines....
 (including Hebrew
Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
) and Aramaic
Aramaic language

Aramaic is a Semitic languages with a 3,000-year history. It has been the language of administration of empires and the language of divine worship....
. Semiticists often group the Northwest Semitic languages together with Arabic
Arabic language

Arabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages languages such as Hebrew language and Aramaic language....
 to form the larger Central Semitic
Central Semitic languages

The Central Semitic languages are an intermediate group of Semitic languages, comprising Arabic language and Northwest Semitic languages .Different classification systems disagree on the precise structure of the group....
 group, noting Arabic's distinctive relationship to the languages of this group.

The extinct Ugaritic language
Ugaritic language

The Ugaritic language, discovered by France archaeology in 1928, is known only in the form of writings found in the lost city of Ugarit, near the modern village of Ras Shamra, Syria....
 is the earliest witness to Northwest Semitic.






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The Northwest Semitic languages form a medium-level division of the Semitic language family
Semitic languages

File:Amarna Akkadian letter.pngThe Semitic languages are a group of related languages whose living representatives are spoken by more than 467 million people across much of the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa....
. The languages of this group are spoken by approximately eight million people today. The group is generally divided into three branches: Ugaritic
Ugaritic language

The Ugaritic language, discovered by France archaeology in 1928, is known only in the form of writings found in the lost city of Ugarit, near the modern village of Ras Shamra, Syria....
 (extinct
Extinct language

An extinct language is a language which no longer has any speakers .Extinct languages may be contrasted with Language death: no longer spoken as a main language....
), Canaanite
Canaanite languages

The Canaanite languages or Hebraic languages are a subfamily of the Semitic languages, which were spoken by the ancient peoples of the Canaan region, including Canaanites, Israelites, Phoenicians, and Philistines....
 (including Hebrew
Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
) and Aramaic
Aramaic language

Aramaic is a Semitic languages with a 3,000-year history. It has been the language of administration of empires and the language of divine worship....
. Semiticists often group the Northwest Semitic languages together with Arabic
Arabic language

Arabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages languages such as Hebrew language and Aramaic language....
 to form the larger Central Semitic
Central Semitic languages

The Central Semitic languages are an intermediate group of Semitic languages, comprising Arabic language and Northwest Semitic languages .Different classification systems disagree on the precise structure of the group....
 group, noting Arabic's distinctive relationship to the languages of this group.

The extinct Ugaritic language
Ugaritic language

The Ugaritic language, discovered by France archaeology in 1928, is known only in the form of writings found in the lost city of Ugarit, near the modern village of Ras Shamra, Syria....
 is the earliest witness to Northwest Semitic. Phonologically
Phonology

Phonology is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use. Just as a language has syntax and vocabulary, it also has a phonology in the sense of a sound system....
, Ugaritic has lost the sound (
?ad

is one of the six letters the Arabic alphabet added to the twenty-two inherited from the Phoenician alphabet . It represents an emphatic consonant voiced alveolar plosive ....
), replacing it with (
Tsade

'Tsade' is the eighteenth letter in many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician language, Aramaic language, Hebrew language 'Tsadi' and Arabic alphabet ....
) (the same shift occurred in Akkadian
Akkadian language

Akkadian or Assyrian-Babylonian is a Semitic language that was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia. The earliest attested Semitic language, it used the cuneiform writing system derived ultimately from ancient Sumerian language, an unrelated language isolate....
). That this same sound became
Ayin

' or ' is the sixteenth letter in many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician alphabet, Aramaic language, Hebrew language and Arabic alphabet ....
 in Aramaic (although in Ancient Aramaic, it was written with qoph
Qoph

Qoph or Qop is the nineteenth letter in many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician language, Aramaic language, Hebrew language and Arabic alphabet ....
), suggests that Ugaritic is not the parent language of the group. An example of this sound shift can be seen in the word for earth: Ugaritic (), Hebrew () and Aramaic ().

They were originally spoken throughout the area that is covered by modern-day Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
, Syria
Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is an Arab-majority country in Southwest Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the southwest, Jordan to the south, Iraq to the east, and Turkey to the north....
, Jordan
Jordan

Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is an Arab country in Southwest Asia spanning the southern part of the Syrian Desert down to the Gulf of Aqaba....
, Lebanon
Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of Lebanon or Lebanese Republic , is a country in Western Asia, on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea....
, and the Sinai
Sinai Peninsula

The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai is a triangular peninsula in Egypt. It lies between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, forming a land bridge between Africa and Southwest Asia....
. The vowel shift from to
Canaanite shift

In historical linguistics, the Canaanite shift is a sound change that took place in the Canaanite languages, which belong to the Northwest Semitic languages branch of the Semitic languages family....
 distinguishes Canaanite from Ugaritic. Also, in the Canaanite group, the series of Semitic interdental
Interdental consonant

Interdental consonants are produced by placing the blade of the tongue against the upper incisors. This differs from a dental consonant in that the tip of the tongue is placed between the upper and lower front teeth, and therefore may Manner of articulation with both the upper and lower incisors, while a dental consonant is articulated wi...
 fricatives
Fricative consonant

Fricatives are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two Place of articulation close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate, in the case of German language , the final consonant of Bach; or the side of the tongue ag...
 become sibilants
Sibilant consonant

A sibilant is a type of fricative or affricate consonant, made by directing a jet of air through a narrow channel in the vocal tract towards the sharp edge of the teeth....
: (
?al

is one of the six letters the Arabic alphabet added to the twenty-two inherited from the Phoenician alphabet . It represents the voiced dental fricative ....
), (
?a'

is one of the six letters the Arabic alphabet added to the twenty-two inherited from the Phoenician alphabet . It represents the voiceless dental fricative ....
) and (
?a'

is one of the six letters the Arabic alphabet added to the twenty-two inherited from the Phoenician alphabet . It represents the voiceless dental fricative ....
) became
Zayin

Zayin is the seventh letter of many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician language , Aramaic language , Hebrew language , Syriac alphabet and Arabic alphabet []....
, (š
Shin (letter)

Shin is the twenty-first letter in many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician language, Aramaic language, Hebrew language , and Arabic alphabet ....
) and (
Tsade

'Tsade' is the eighteenth letter in many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician language, Aramaic language, Hebrew language 'Tsadi' and Arabic alphabet ....
) respectively. The effect of this sound shift can be seen by comparing the following words:

shiftUgariticAramaicBiblical HebrewModern Hebrewtranslation
?al

is one of the six letters the Arabic alphabet added to the twenty-two inherited from the Phoenician alphabet . It represents the voiced dental fricative ....
)?
Zayin

Zayin is the seventh letter of many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician language , Aramaic language , Hebrew language , Syriac alphabet and Arabic alphabet []....
 		gold
?a'

is one of the six letters the Arabic alphabet added to the twenty-two inherited from the Phoenician alphabet . It represents the voiceless dental fricative ....
)? (š
Shin (letter)

Shin is the twenty-first letter in many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician language, Aramaic language, Hebrew language , and Arabic alphabet ....
) 		three
?a'

is one of the six letters the Arabic alphabet added to the twenty-two inherited from the Phoenician alphabet . It represents the voiceless dental fricative ....
)? (
Tsade

'Tsade' is the eighteenth letter in many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician language, Aramaic language, Hebrew language 'Tsadi' and Arabic alphabet ....
) 		mountain


Bibliography

  • Blau, J. 1968. "Some Difficulties in the Reconstruction of 'Proto-Hebrew' and 'Proto-Canaanite'," in In Memoriam Paul Kahle. BZAW, 103. Pp. 29-43
  • Cross, F. M. 1965. “The Development of the Jewish Scripts,” in The Bible and the Ancient Near East: Essays in Honor of W. F. Albright, ed. G. E. Wright. New York. Reprinted 1965, Anchor Book Edition; New York, pp. 133-202.
  • Cross, F. M. 1967. “The Origin and Early Evolution of the Alphabet,” EI 5: 8*-24*.
  • Cross, F. M. 1982. “Alphabets and pots: Reflections on typological method in the dating of human artifacts,” MAARAV 3: 121-136.
  • Cross, F. M. 1989. “The Invention and Development of the Alphabet,” in The Origins of Writing (ed. W. M. Senner; Lincoln: University of Nebraska), pp. 77-90.
  • Cross, F. M. and Freedman, D. N. 1952. Early Hebrew Orthography: A Study of the Epigraphic Evidence (New Haven: American Oriental Society.
  • Daniels, Peter. 1996. The World’s Writing Systems. New York: Oxford.
  • de Moor, Johannes C. 1988. "Narrative Poetry in Canaan," UF 20:149-171.
  • Donner, H. and Rollig, W. 1962-64. Kanaanäische und aramäische Inschriften. 3 volumes. Wiesbaden. (5th ed.)
  • Driver, G. R. 1976. Semitic Writing: From Pictograph to Alphabet. 3rd edition. London.
  • Garbini, G. 1960. Il Semitico di nord-ovest. (And a critique by E.Y. Kutscher, JSS 10 (1965):21-51.)
  • Garr, R. 1985. Dialect Geography of Syria-Palestine, 1000-586 B.C.E. Philadelphia: UPenn.
  • Gelb, I. J. 1961. “The Early History of the West Semitic Peoples,” JCS 15:27-47.
  • Gelb, I. J. 1963. A Study of Writing. 2nd edition. Chicago.
  • Gibson, J. C. L. 1971-87. Textbook of Syrian Semitic Inscriptions. 3 Vols. Oxford: Clarendon.
  • Ginsberg, H. L. 1970. “The Northwest Semitic Languages,” in The World History of the Jewish People, volume 1/2: Patriarches. Tel Aviv.
  • Greenfield, J. C. 1969. “Amurrite, Ugaritic and Canaanite,” in Proceedings of the International Conference of Semitic Studies. Jerusalem. Pp. 92-101.
  • Halpern, B. 1987. “Dialect Distribution in Canaan and the Deir Alla Inscriptions,” in “Working with No Data”: Semitic and Egyptian Studies Presented to Thomas O. Lambdin
    Thomas Oden Lambdin

    Thomas Oden Lambdin is one of the leading scholars of the Semitic languages and Egyptian language languages. He is Professor Emeritus of Semitic Languages at Harvard University....
    . Ed. D. M. Golomb. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. Pp. 119-39.
  • Harris, Z. 1939. Development of the Canaanite Dialects. AOS, 16. New Haven: AOS.
  • Herr, Larry G. 1980. "The Formal Scripts of Iron Age Transjordan," BASOR 238:21-34.
  • Hoftijzer, J. and Jongeling, K. 1995. Dictionary of the North-West Semitic inscriptions. 2 volumes. Leiden/New York: Brill. Not including Ugaritic.
  • Huehnergard, J. 1990. "Remarks on the Classification of the Northwest Semitic Languages," in The Balaam Text from Deir Alla Re-evaluated: proceedings of the international symposium held at Leiden, 21-24 August 1989. Pp.282-93.
  • Kaufman, S. A. 1988. “The Classification of North West Semitic Dialects of the Biblical Period and Some Implications Thereof,” in Proceedings of the Ninth World Congress of Jewish Studies (Panel Sessions: Hebrew and Aramaic Languages). Jerusalem: World Union of Jewish Studies. Pp. 41-57.
  • Moran, William L. 1961. “The Hebrew Language in its Northwest Semitic Background,” in The Bible and the Ancient Near East: Essays in Honor of W. F. Albright, ed. G. E. Wright. New York. Reprinted 1965, Anchor Book Edition; New York, pp. 59-84.
  • Moran, William L. 1975. “The Syrian Scribe of the Jerusalem Amarna Letters,” in Unity and Diversity: Essays in the History, Literature, and Religion of the Ancient Near East (ed. H. Goedicke and J. J. M. Roberts; Baltimore/London: Johns Hopkins University Press) 146-166.
  • Moscati, Sabatino, ed. 1969. An Introduction to the Comparative Grammar of the Semitic Languages: Phonology and Morphology. Porta Linguarum Orientalium, ns, 6. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.
  • Naveh, J. 1987. Early History of the Alphabet: An Introduction to West Semitic Epigraphy and Palaeography. 2nd edition. Jerusalem: Magnes. Especially sections on West Semitic.
  • Parker, Simon B. 1997. Stories in Scripture and Inscriptions: Comparative Studies on Narratives in Northwest Semitic Inscriptions and the Hebrew Bible. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Rabin, C.
    Chaim Menachem Rabin

    Chaim Menachem Rabin was an Israeli professor of Hebrew language and Semitic languages. He was born in Germany.Chaim Rabin studied in England, at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London where he received his BA degree....
      1971. "Semitic Languages," Encyclopedia Judaica, volume 14, pp. 1149-57.
  • Rabin, C. 1991. Semitic Languages (Jerusalem: Bialik). [in Hebrew]
  • Rainey, A. F. 1986 “The Ancient Hebrew Prefix Conjugation in the Light of Amarnah Canaanite,” Hebrew Studies 27:1-19.
  • Rainey, A. F. 1990. “The Prefix Conjugation Patterns of Early Northwest Semitic,” pp. 407-420 in Abusch, Tz., Huehnergard, J. and Steinkeller, P., eds. Lingering over Words, Studies in Ancient Near Eastern Literature in Honor of William L. Moran. Atlanta: Scholars.
  • Renz, J. 1995. Handbuch der althebräischen Epigraphik. 3 volumes. Darmstadt.
  • Vaughn, A. 1999 “Palaeographic Dating of Judean Seals and Its Significance for Biblical Research,” BASOR 313:43-64.


See also

  • Aramaic language
    Aramaic language

    Aramaic is a Semitic languages with a 3,000-year history. It has been the language of administration of empires and the language of divine worship....
  • Hebrew language
    Hebrew language

    Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
  • Ugaritic language
    Ugaritic language

    The Ugaritic language, discovered by France archaeology in 1928, is known only in the form of writings found in the lost city of Ugarit, near the modern village of Ras Shamra, Syria....
  • Semitic Languages
    Semitic languages

    File:Amarna Akkadian letter.pngThe Semitic languages are a group of related languages whose living representatives are spoken by more than 467 million people across much of the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa....
  • Proto-Semitic language
    Proto-Semitic language

    Proto-Semitic is the hypothetical proto-language of the Semitic languages. The earliest attestations of a Semitic language are in Akkadian language, dating to ca....