Semitic languages

The Semitic languages are a group of languages that belong to the larger Afroasiatic language family. Some well-known Semitic languages include Arabic, Amharic, Tigrinya, Aramaic, Hebrew, Maltese, and the Modern South Arabian languages. These languages are spoken by more than 460 million people in places like West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and Malta, as well as in many other parts of the world.

Arabic is the most widely spoken Semitic language, with over 411 million native speakers. It is the most common language in both Africa and West Asia. Other important Semitic languages include Amharic, spoken by around 35 million people, and Hebrew, spoken by about 5 million people. Each of these languages holds special significance in its region and culture.

Semitic languages have a long history, with some of the earliest written records dating back to around 2600 BCE in West Asia. These languages often use special writing systems called abjads, where the main focus is on consonants, and vowels are added as needed. This unique way of forming words helps make these languages interesting to study and understand.

Name and identification

People have known about the similarities between Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic for a very long time. Scholars in Europe learned about these languages because of their contact with countries close by and through studying the Bible. In 1538, a writer named Guillaume Postel wrote about comparing these three languages. Much later, another scholar named Hiob Ludolf talked about how these languages are related to languages spoken in Ethiopia.

The word "Semitic" was first used by historians in Göttingen, Germany. One of them, August Ludwig von Schlözer, started using the term in 1781. The name comes from Shem, who was one of Noah’s sons in the Bible. Another scholar, Johann Gottfried Eichhorn, helped make the term popular in 1795. He explained that the name made sense because these languages use special writing systems, unlike other groups of people who used picture writing at first.

Before this, these languages were often called "Oriental languages" in Europe. By the 1800s, “Semitic” became the common name, although some writers later used the term “Syro-Arabian languages” instead.

History

Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples

Main article: Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples

Semitic languages were used and written across much of the Middle East and Asia Minor during the Bronze Age and Iron Age. The earliest known Semitic language is East Semitic Akkadian, spoken in places like Akkad, Assyria, Isin, Larsa, and Babylonia, dating back to the third millennium BC.

The origin of people who spoke Semitic languages is still debated. Some think it started in Mesopotamia, the Levant, Ethiopia, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Arabian Peninsula, or North Africa. Recent studies suggest Semitic languages began in the Levant around 3750 BC and later spread to the Horn of Africa around 800 BC. Another idea is that Semitic languages came from an earlier language in North Africa, spreading to Ethiopia and West Asia due to changes in the environment.

Many closely related languages called Canaanite languages, such as Edomite, Hebrew, Ammonite, Moabite, Phoenician, Punic/Carthaginian, Samaritan Hebrew, and Ekronite, were spoken in areas that are now Israel, the Palestinian territories, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and parts of the Sinai Peninsula. They were also spoken in places like southwest Turkey, coastal Tunisia (Carthage), Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Spain, and possibly Malta. Ugaritic, another related language, was used in the kingdom of Ugarit in northwestern Syria.

A mixed language called Canaano-Akkadian developed in Canaan during the 14th century BC, combining elements from Akkadian and Canaanite languages.

Aramaic, an ancient language still spoken today, first appeared in the 12th century BC in the northern Levant. It became very important after the Neo-Assyrian Empire adopted it as their main language. The Chaldean language, possibly related to Aramaic, disappeared after its speakers adopted Akkadian and Aramaic.

Old South Arabian languages were used in kingdoms like Dilmun, Sheba, Ubar, Socotra, and Magan, covering parts of modern Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, and Yemen. These languages likely spread to the Horn of Africa around the 8th century BC, where the Geʽez language developed.

First century to twentieth century CE

Classical Syriac, a dialect from the 200 CE, became an important literary language in early Christianity and continued to be used during the early Islamic period.

Arabic began in the Arabian Peninsula in the 1st to 4th centuries CE. With the expansion of the early Arab conquests in the 7th and 8th centuries, Arabic replaced many local Semitic languages in the Near East. The spread of Arab tribes brought Arabic to North Africa, where it replaced languages like Coptic and many Berber languages. Arabic also reached the Iberian Peninsula (Spain, Portugal, and Gibraltar) and Malta for a time.

Arabic became a major literary language due to support from leaders and its use in religious texts. It took time for Arabic to become the everyday language for most people outside the Arabian Peninsula. As Arab tribes settled in new areas, Arabic grew to become the main language in places like Yemen, the Fertile Crescent, and Egypt. It later spread through the Maghreb and to parts of al-Andalus. After the fall of the Nubian kingdom of Dongola, Arabic moved south into modern Sudan, and later spread to Mauritania.

Semitic languages from southern Arabia diversified in Ethiopia and Eritrea, influenced by local languages. This led to languages like Amharic and Tigrinya. As Ethiopia grew, Amharic became the main language, replacing others like Gafat and Weyto, though Geʽez remains important for religious uses.

Present distribution

Arabic is the main language spoken by many people from Mauritania to Oman, and from Iraq to Sudan. Classical Arabic is important because it is the language of the Quran. The Maltese language comes from an old form of Arabic once spoken in Sicily. Today, Maltese uses the Latin script with some extra letters.

Some Semitic languages are very important for major world religions. For example, Arabic is linked to Islam, and Hebrew and Aramaic are linked to Judaism. Many people learn these languages to read sacred texts.

Modern Hebrew was brought back to life in the late 1800s and is now the main language of Israel. In places like Yemen and Oman, some tribes still speak older forms of South Arabian languages.

Ethiopia and Eritrea are home to many Semitic languages. Amharic is the official language of Ethiopia, while Tigrinya is widely used in Eritrea. Other languages like Tigre and Gurage languages are also spoken in these areas.

Phonology

The sounds of languages from the Semitic family are studied from a comparative view. This means looking at how sounds match up between different Semitic languages. The study of these sounds started mostly with Arabic, which has kept many original sounds unchanged.

When looking at the sounds made by consonants (letters like b, d, k), the patterns are quite clear. But changes in vowel sounds (a, e, i, o, u) happen more often and are less predictable.

Consonants

Each original sound in Proto-Semitic, the early version of the language family, helps explain why certain sounds match between different Semitic languages. Latin letters are used to show these old sounds, but we don’t know exactly how they were pronounced.

Most languages have combined some of these original sounds, but South Arabian keeps all of them.

In Aramaic and Hebrew, some sounds changed after vowels, leading to differences that later became important.

In languages where certain sounds are made deeper in the throat, an original sound changed to a uvular sound [q].

Note: the fricatives *s, *z, *ṣ, *ś, *ṣ́, and *ṱ may also be interpreted as affricates (/t͡s/, /d͡z/, /t͡sʼ/, /t͡ɬ/, /t͡ɬʼ/, and /t͡θʼ/).

Some sounds were still pronounced in Biblical Hebrew, but the letters used to write them were not enough to show the difference. Later, the sounds changed, but the old spellings stayed.

Hebrew and Aramaic changed some stop sounds to softer sounds after vowels. This happened after certain older sounds disappeared and is known to have occurred in Hebrew by the 2nd century CE.

In some languages, a sound at the start of a word changed, like in Hebrew where "yeled" means "boy."

In Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, some sounds are missing, but they are kept in special speaking among priests.

The sound change of a Proto-Semitic sound to Arabic /d͡ʒ/ might be linked to how another sound is spoken in the Arabian Peninsula.

Ugaritic writing showed the vowel after a sound made by the voice box.

The Arabic letter jīm (ج) can be pronounced in three ways depending on the region.

ṱ can be written ẓ, and always is in Ugaritic and Arabic. In Ugaritic, it sometimes changes to ġ, as in ġmʔ 'thirsty'.

Early Amharic might have had different sounds.

The sounds for ʿAyin and Ḥet are still used by some older speakers, but most modern speakers use different sounds.

The links between Proto-Semitic sounds and Modern South Arabian languages are not always simple, as some sounds combined, changed, or split apart.

Plain sibilants

Sibilants are sounds like "s" and "sh" and have been very interesting to language experts. They agree that Proto-Semitic had three basic sibilant sounds, called S₁, S₂, and S₃, or š, ś, and s. There is debate about how these sounds were actually pronounced long ago.

The easiest to agree on is S₂, which is widely accepted to be a lateral sound [ɬ]. This sound has merged with S₁ or S₃ in all Semitic languages except Modern South Arabian. Because of this merger, widely spoken languages like Arabic, Amharic, Hebrew, and Tigrinya only have two sibilant sounds instead of the original three. This merger happened at different times and in different ways, leading to differences in words across these languages.

Notes: s₁ (š) is \ʃ}, sometimes [h} and [j^ɦ} (in [Soqotri) - \ʃ} and [ɕ^w} (for some speakers of [Jibbali).

The table below shows how different sounds changed in Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic, and Maltese using similar words:

1. possibly affricated (/dz/ /tɬʼ/ /ʦʼ/ /tθʼ/ /tɬ/)

Vowels

See also: Proto-Afroasiatic language § Consonant correspondences

Proto-Semitic vowel sounds are harder to figure out because the way these languages form words does not simply add sounds together. Because of how vowels changed over time, it’s difficult to make a full chart of how they match up. Only the most common patterns can be listed:

1. in a stressed open syllable
2. in a stressed closed syllable before a geminate
3. in a stressed closed syllable before a consonant cluster
4. when the proto-Semitic stressed vowel remained stressed
5. pS *a,*ā > Akk. e,ē in the neighborhood of pS *ʕ,*ħ and before r
6. i.e. pS *g,*k,*ḳ,*χ > Geʽez gʷ, kʷ,ḳʷ,χʷ / _u

Grammar

The Semitic languages share many grammar rules, though they also differ in some ways over time.

Word order

The oldest form of these languages used a word order of verb–subject–object (VSO). This is still used in Classical Arabic and Biblical Hebrew. But in modern Arabic and Hebrew, the order changed to subject–verb–object (SVO). Ethiopian Semitic languages use a different order: subject–object–verb (SOV).

Cases in nouns and adjectives

Early Semitic languages had three cases for nouns and adjectives: nominative, accusative, and genitive. These are mostly lost in modern everyday speech, though some forms keep small reminders of them.

Number in nouns

Originally, these languages had three numbers: singular, dual, and plural. Classical Arabic still uses the dual form for two items. Hebrew has a few dual forms as well. Some languages have special plural forms called “broken plurals”.

Verb aspect and tense

All these languages have two main ways to form verbs. One adds endings to the verb (suffix conjugation), and the other uses both prefixes and endings (prefix conjugation). These systems are very old, coming from a time at least 10,000 years ago.

Morphology: triliteral roots

A special feature of these languages is that many words come from three-consonant roots. By adding vowels or changing the pattern, many different words can be made from one root. For example, the root k-t-b relates to writing and creates words like “book”, “writer”, and “library”.

Independent personal pronouns

Cardinal numerals

These show basic number words without special endings for gender. In older languages, the form of numbers from 3 to 10 would change based on whether the thing being counted was masculine or feminine.

Typology

Some very early Semitic languages might have had weak features of ergative structure.

Common vocabulary

Semitic languages share many words and roots because they come from the same ancient language. However, some words can change meaning between languages. For example, the word for "white" in Arabic can also mean "egg," but in Hebrew it only means "egg." Similarly, the word for "milk" in Arabic means "white" in Hebrew.

Sometimes, words in these languages have completely different meanings. For instance, the word for "knowledge" looks different in Hebrew compared to Arabic and Ethiopian languages. You can find more lists of these shared and different words in special language resources.

Classification

There are six main groups of Semitic languages: East Semitic, Northwest Semitic, North Arabian, Old South Arabian (also called Sayhadic), Modern South Arabian, and Ethiopian Semitic. These groups are sometimes organized in different ways, and scholars still debate how some languages fit together.

The most accepted way to classify these languages was created by Robert Hetzron in 1976, with updates by John Huehnergard and Rodgers. Some experts still think Arabic belongs to South Semitic, and a few see Modern South Arabian as a separate branch. However, a newer idea places Old South Arabian in a group called Central Semitic.

Roger Blench notes that the Gurage languages are quite different and suggests they might be an early branch of the Afroasiatic family. There is also no clear agreement on where to draw the line between separate languages and dialects, especially in Arabic, Aramaic, and Gurage. The many influences between Arabic dialects make it hard to organize them into clear family groups.

A study by Kitchen and others in 2009 suggests Semitic languages began in the Levant around 3750 BCE during the Early Bronze Age. The Himyaritic and Sutean languages might have been Semitic, but there isn't enough information to say for sure.

Detailed list

• Semitic
  • East Semitic (All extinct)
    • Akkadian
      • Old Akkadian
      • Babylonian
      • Assyrian
      • Canaano-Akkadian
    • Eblaite
    • Kishite
    • Dilmunite ?
  • West Semitic
    • Central Semitic
      • Northwest Semitic
        • Aramaic
          • Old Aramaic
            • Samalian (extinct)
            • Imperial Aramaic (extinct)
              • Biblical Aramaic (extinct)
            • Middle Aramaic
              • Eastern Aramaic (dialect continuum)
                • Eastern Middle Aramaic
                  • Classical Syriac
                  • Hatran Aramaic (extinct)
                  • Central Neo-Aramaic
                    • Turoyo (Surayt)
                    • Mlaḥsô (extinct)
                  • Northeastern Neo-Aramaic (dialect continuum)
                    • Sureth
                      • Assyrian Neo-Aramaic
                        • Christian Urmi Neo-Aramaic
                        • Bohtan Neo-Aramaic
                        • Senaya Neo-Aramaic
                      • Chaldean Neo-Aramaic
                    • Koy Sanjaq Christian Neo-Aramaic
                    • Hertevin Neo-Aramaic
                    • Qaraqosh Neo-Aramaic
                    • Jewish Assyrian Neo-Aramaic
                      • Lishanid Noshan
                      • Barzani Jewish Neo-Aramaic
                      • Hulaulá
                      • Lishana Deni
                      • Lishán Didán
                      • Betanure Jewish Neo-Aramaic
                      • Koy Sanjaq Jewish Neo-Aramaic
                  • Southeastern Aramaic
                    • Mandaic
                      • Neo-Mandaic
                    • Jewish Babylonian Aramaic (extinct)
              • Western Aramaic (dialect continuum)
                • Western Middle Aramaic
                  • Nabataean Aramaic (extinct)
                  • Palmyrene Aramaic (extinct)
                  • Western Neo-Aramaic
                  • Palestinian Aramaic (All extinct)
                    • Samaritan Aramaic
                    • Jewish Palestinian Aramaic
                      • Galilean dialect
                    • Christian Palestinian Aramaic
                  • Lebanese Aramaic (extinct)
              • Armazic (extinct)
        • Canaanite
          • North Canaanite
            • Phoenician (extinct)
              • Punic (extinct)
          • South Canaanite
            • Ammonite (extinct)
            • Moabite (extinct)
            • Edomite (extinct)
            • Biblical Hebrew
              • Mishnaic Hebrew
                • Medieval Hebrew
                  • Hebrew (Modern Hebrew) (revived)
              • Samaritan Hebrew (extinct (apart from modern liturgical uses))
        • Ugaritic (extinct)
        • Amorite (extinct)
        • Taymanitic ? (extinct)
      • North Arabian
        • Old Arabic
          • Pre-classical Arabic
            • Arabic
              • Classical Arabic
                • Modern Standard Arabic
              • Mashriqi Arabic (Eastern Arabic) (dialect continuum)
                • Peninsular Arabic (dialect continuum)
                  • Old Hijazi Arabic
                    • Hejazi Arabic
                  • Gulf Arabic
                    • Emirati Arabic
                    • Bahraini Gulf Arabic
                    • Kuwaiti Arabic
                    • Qatari Arabic
                  • Bahrani Arabic
                  • Omani Arabic
                  • Shihhi Arabic
                  • Dhofari Arabic
                  • Yemeni Arabic (dialect continuum)
                    • Hadhrami Arabic
                      • Indonesian Arabic
                    • Sanʽani Arabic
                    • Taʽizzi-Adeni Arabic
                      • Taʽizzi Arabic
                      • Adeni Arabic
                      • Djibouti Arabic
                    • Judeo-Yemeni Arabic
                    • Tihamiyya Arabic
                      • Zabidi dialect
                    • Yafi'i Arabic
                  • Northwest Arabian Arabic (Levantine Bedawi Arabic, Eastern Egyptian Bedawi Arabic)
                  • Najdi Arabic
                  • Bareqi Arabic
                • Egypto-Sudanic Arabic (dialect continuum)
                  • Egyptian Arabic (dialect continuum)
                    • Judeo-Egyptian Arabic
                    • Saʽidi Arabic
                    • Cairene Arabic
                  • Sudanese-Chadian Arabic (dialect continuum)
                    • Sudanese Arabic
                    • Chadian Arabic
                • Levantine Arabic (dialect continuum)
                  • North Levantine Arabic
                    • Cilician Arabic
                    • Aleppine Arabic
                    • Damascene Arabic
                    • Judeo-Syrian Arabic
                    • Lebanese Arabic
                  • South Levantine Arabic
                    • Palestinian Arabic
                      • Modern Palestinian Judeo-Arabic
                    • Jordanian Arabic
                • Mesopotamian Arabic/Iraqi Arabic (dialect continuum)
                  • Gilit Dialects (dialect continuum)
                    • Baghdadi Arabic
                    • Shawi Arabic
                    • Khuzestani Arabic
                    • South Mesopotamian Arabic
                  • Qeltu Dialects (dialect continuum)
                    • North Mesopotamian Arabic
                    • Anatolian Arabic
                    • Judeo-Iraqi Arabic
                      • Jewish Baghdadi Arabic
                    • Cypriot Arabic
                • Central Asian Arabic (dialect continuum)
                  • Bakhtiari Arabic
                  • Bukharian Arabic
                  • Kashkadarian Arabic
                  • Khorasani Arabic
                • Shirvani Arabic (extinct)
              • Maghrebi Arabic (Western Arabic) (dialect continuum)
                • Pre-Hilalian dialects
                  • Pre-Hilalian Urban Arabic dialects
                    • Fessi dialect
                  • Jebli Arabic
                  • Jijel Arabic
                  • Maghrebi Judeo-Arabic
                    • Judeo-Moroccan Arabic
                    • Judeo-Tripolitanian Arabic
                    • Judeo-Tunisian Arabic
                    • Judeo-Algerian Arabic
                  • Siculo-Arabic
                    • Maltese
                      • Cottonera Dialect
                      • Gozitan dialects
                      • Qormi dialect
                      • Żejtun dialect
                      • Maltralian
                      • Corfiot Maltese (extinct)
                  • Andalusi Arabic (extinct)
                  • Eastern pre-Hilali Dialects
                    • Tunisian Arabic
                  • Western pre-Hilali dialects
                • Hilalian dialects
                  • Sulaym dialects
                    • Libyan Arabic
                      • Western Egyptian Bedawi Arabic
                  • Eastern Hilali dialects
                  • Central Hilali dialects
                    • Algerian Saharan Arabic
                  • Western Hilali dialects
                  • Maqil dialects
                    • Hassaniya Arabic
                • Koines
                  • Algerian Arabic
                  • Moroccan Arabic
            • ˀAzd dialect (extinct)
            • Huḏayl dialect (extinct)
            • Ṭayyiˀ dialect (extinct)
          • Safaitic (extinct)
          • Hismaic (extinct)
          • Hasaitic (extinct)
          • Nabataean Arabic (extinct)
        • Dadanitic ? (extinct)
        • Thamudic ? (extinct)
    • South Semitic
      • Western South Semitic
        • Ethiopic
          • North Ethiopic
            • Geʽez (Classical Ethiopic)
              • Dahalik
              • Tigre
            • Tigrinya
          • South Ethiopic
            • Transversal South Ethiopic
              • Amharic–Argobba
                • Amharic
                • Argobba
              • Harari–East Gurage
                • Harari
                • East Gurage
                  • Silt'e
                  • Zway
            • Outer South Ethiopic
              • n-group
                • Gafat (extinct)
                • Soddo
              • tt-group
                • Mesmes (extinct)
                • Muher
                • West Gurage
                  • Mesqan
                  • Sebat Bet
                    • Sebat Bet Gurage
                    • Inor
        • Old South Arabian (Ṣayhadic)
          • Sabaic (extinct)
          • Minaean (extinct)
          • Qatabanian (extinct)
            • Awsānian (extinct)
          • Hadramautic (extinct)
          • Razihi ?
          • Faifi ?
          • Himyaritic ? (extinct)
      • Modern South Arabian (Eastern South Semitic)
        • Baṭḥari
        • Ḥarsusi
        • Hobyót
        • Mehri
        • Shehri
        • Soqotri
  • Unclassified
    • Sutean (extinct)