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Genealogical Classification of Semitic
This volume is the first of its kind to offer a detailed, monographic treatment of Semitic genealogical classification. The introduction describes the author's methodological framework and surveys the history of the subgrouping discussion in Semitic linguistics, and the first chapter provides a detailed description of the proto-Semitic basic vocabulary. Each of its seven main chapters deals with one of the key issues of the Semitic subgrouping debate: the East/West dichotomy, the Central Semitic hypothesis, the North West Semitic subgroup, the Canaanite affiliation of Ugaritic, the historical unity of Aramaic, and the diagnostic features of Ethiopian Semitic and of Modern South Arabian.
The book aims at a balanced account of all evidence pertinent to the subgrouping discussion, but its main focus is on the diagnostic lexical features, heavily neglected in the majority of earlier studies dealing with this subject. The author tries to assess the subgrouping potential of the vocabulary using various methods of its diachronic stratification. The hundreds of etymological comparisons given throughout the book can be conveniently accessed through detailed lexical indices.
eBook
A Grammar of the Christian Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Diyana-Zariwaw
A study of a Neo-Aramaic variety by Lidia Napiorkowska in this volume is a contribution to the documentation of spoken Aramaic, covering the phonological, morphological and syntactic notions of the dialect.
eBook
Motion, Voice, and Mood in the Semitic Verb
This book explores the relationship between the so-called
ventive morpheme in Akkadian ( -am ) and the related
suffixes -n and -a in other Semitic languages,
including Amarna Canaanite, Ugaritic, Hebrew, and Arabic. Using
formal reconstructions of the various morphemes and a functional
analysis of their different usages, Ambjörn Sjörs convincingly
argues that these endings are cognate morphemes that were formally
and functionally related to the ventive morpheme in Akkadian.
Sjörs provides a systematic description of non-allative ventive
verbs in Old Babylonian, the energic and volitive in Amarna
Canaanite, the energic and lengthened prefix conjugation in
Ugaritic, the lengthened imperfect consecutive in Biblical Hebrew,
and the subjunctive and energic in Classical Arabic. Sjörs explains
how these verb forms were used within the framework of
grammaticalization theory and demonstrates how the suffixes are
historically related.
Clearly and persuasively argued, Motion, Voice, and Mood in
the Semitic Verb sheds valuable light on the Akkadian ventive
and its relationship to the other related morphemes. It will be
welcomed by linguists specializing in Akkadian, Amarna Canaanite,
Ugaritic, Hebrew, and Arabic.
eBook
Alphabet scribes in the land of cuneiform : sهepiru professionals in Mesopotamia in the neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid periods
This book discusses the alphabetic scribes (sهepiru) mentioned in Mesopotamian documents of the Neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid periods - specifically, of the 6th-5th centuries BCE. The period in question saw a wide diffusion of writing in the Northwest Semitic alphabetic script - mostly in Aramaic - in Mesopotamia; yet, alphabetic texts were normally written in ink on perishable materials and did not survive to be discovered by modern archaeologists. In contrast, cuneiform tablets written on clay have been found in large numbers, and they document different aspects of the alphabetic scribes' activities. This book presents evidence for understanding the Akkadian term sهepiru as a designation for an alphabetic scribe and discusses the functions of these professionals in different administrative and economic spheres. It further considers the question of the ethnic origins of the alphabetic scribes in Mesopotamia, with special attention to the participation of Judeans in Babylonia in this profession. Bloch also provides translations of over 100 cuneiform documents of economic, legal and administrative content.
Book
The origin of the Semitic relative marker
All Semitic languages use a relative marker as at least one strategy of relativization, and all branches show reflexes or relics of reflexes of an interdental relative marker. The wide consensus that the relative pronoun was originally identical to the proximal demonstrative is based on the formal identity between the bases of the two in West Semitic, and on the wide attestation of the process Demonstrative > Relative in world languages. In this paper, we will show that there are a number of significant problems with the reconstruction of the relative pronoun, which, when taken together, make tracing its origin to the demonstrative highly unlikely. Instead we will argue that the opposite is true: the demonstrative in West Semitic is a secondary formation on the basis of the relative marker.
Journal Article
Language Processing and Acquisition in Languages of Semitic, Root-Based, Morphology
This book puts together contributions of linguists and psycholinguists whose main interest here is the representation of Semitic words in the mental lexicon of Semitic language speakers. The central topic of the book confronts two views about the morphology of Semitic words. The point of the argument is: Should we see Semitic words' morphology as \"root-based\" or \"word-based?\" The proponents of the root-based approach, present empirical evidence demonstrating that Semitic language speakers are sensitive to the root and the template as the two basic elements (bound morphemes) of Semitic words. Those supporting the word-based approach, present arguments to the effect that Semitic word formation is not based on the merging of roots and templates, but that Semitic words are comprised of word stems and affixes like we find in Indo-European languages. The variety of evidence and arguments for each claim should force the interested readers to reconsider their views on Semitic morphology.
eBook