The Canaanite languages (also Canaanite [1] ) are the subfamilies of the Semitic languages spoken by the peoples of ancient Canaan — Jews , Phoenicians, Amorites , Moabites , Edomites, and Carthaginians . All these languages ceased to be spoken at the beginning of our era (when the Punic died - it is unknown). Hebrew continued to be literary and liturgical language among Jews and Samaritans .
| Canaan languages | |
|---|---|
| Taxon | branch |
| Homeland | Canaan |
| Area | Near East |
| Classification | |
Nostratic languages (hypothesis)
| |
| Composition | |
| Phoenician, Hebrew | |
| Language group codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | - |
| ISO 639-5 | - |
Content
Classification
The two main branches of this subfamily are Hebrew and Phoenician. The Canaan languages, along with Aramaic and Ugaritic, form the North Semitic subgroup.
Distinctive features
Typological features of the Hannan languages in comparison with Aramaic:
- the prefix h- is used as an article (in Aramaic - postfix -a ). Most likely, this is the Canaanite innovation.
- The first person pronoun ʼnk (אנכ anok (i) , in Aramaic - ʼnʼ / ʼny ) - which brings them closer to Akkadian, Ancient Egyptian and Berber .
- Shift vowels ā > ō (Canaanite shift).
- The inverted use of the temporal union wa, which is expressed when, when wa stands before the verb at the beginning of a sentence, it gives the past, or "perfect" form of the verb, the meaning of future tense, and vice versa, the future, or " imperfect " form of the verb [1] .
Hanan texts
The main sources for the study of the Canaanic languages are the Tanach and the ancient inscriptions:
- Moabite : Stella Mesha , Inscription from El Kerak
- Hebrew language : Calendar from Gezer , Khirbet Keifa
- Phoenician language : Sarcophagus of king Ahiram , the inscription on the sarcophagus of Eshmunazor II , biblical inscription [2] .
- Punic language : in Puniet’s play Puniet (Poenulus) at the beginning of the fifth act.
The inscription Deir Alla written in Aramaic with South Canaanic features, and classified by Hetzron as Canaanite.
See also
- West Semitic languages
- Ugaritic languages
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 HANAANEAN LANGUAGES . Encyclopedia Krugosvet Universal popular science online e. The appeal date is July 29, 2015.
- ↑ George Athas. The Tel Dan Inscription: A Reappraisal and a New Introduction . The appeal date is July 29, 2015.
- The Semitic Languages. Routledge Language Family Descriptions. Edited by Robert Hetzron. New York: Routledge, 1997.
- Garnier, Romain; Jacques, Guillaume. The North American Semitic Newsletter (Eng.) // Bulletin of the School of Law. - 2012. - Vol. 75.1 . - P. 135-145 . - DOI : 10.1017 / s0041977x11001261 .
Links
- Some West Semitic Inscriptions
- How the Alphabet Was Born from Hieroglyphs Biblical Archeology Review
Literature
Dyakonov I.M. Languages of Ancient Fore-Asia. M., 1967