A Brief Introduction to the Semitic Languages

With a written history of nearly five thousand years, the Semitic languages comprise one of the world's earliest and longest attested families. This volume provides an overview of this important language family, including both ancient and modern languages. After a brief introduction to the history of the family and its internal classification, subsequent chapters cover topics in phonology, morphology, syntax, and lexicon. Each chapter describes features that are characteristic of the Semitic language family as a whole, as well as some of the more extraordinary developments that take place in the individual languages.

Contenu

Table of Contents (page 5) Preface (page 7) Acknowledgements (page 9) Abbreviations (page 11) Introduction (page 13) 1 Languages and Classification (page 15)

• 1.1 Akkadian (page 18)
• 1.2 Eblaite (page 19)
• 1.3 Modern South Arabian (page 19)
• 1.4 Ethiopian Semitic (page 20)
• 1.5 Arabic (page 22)
• 1.6 Sayhadic (Old South Arabian) (page 25)
• 1.7 Ugaritic (page 27)
• 1.8 Canaanite (page 27)

• 1.9 Aramaic (page 30) 2 Phonology (page 35)

• 2.1 Semitic Consonants (page 35)
• 2.2 Semitic Vowels (page 38)

• 2.3 Roots and Root Integrity (page 38) 3 Morphology (page 41) 3.1 Pronouns (page 41)

• 3.1.1 Independent Pronouns (page 41)
• 3.1.2 Suffixed Pronouns (page 44)

• 3.1.3 Reflexive and Reciprocal Pronouns (page 45) 3.2 Nominal System (page 46)

• 3.2.1 Gender and Number (page 46)
• 3.2.2 Nominal Case (page 48)
• 3.2.3 Nominal State (page 50)

• 3.2.4 Articles (page 52) 3.3 Numerals (page 53) 3.4 Verbal System (page 55)

• 3.4.1 Verbal Stems (page 56)
• 3.4.2 Voice (page 59)
• 3.4.3 Verbal Tense/Aspect (page 60)
• 3.4.4 Mood (page 64)

• 3.4.5 Phrasal Verbs (page 67) 3.5 Adverbs (page 68) 4 Syntax (page 71)

• 4.1 Word Order (page 71)
• 4.2 Positional Relations (page 72)
• 4.3 Agreement (page 74)
• 4.4 Comparison (page 77)
• 4.5 Coordination (page 78)
• 4.6 Copular Clauses (page 79)
• 4.7 Existential Clauses (page 81)
• 4.8 Possession (page 82)
• 4.9 Interrogatives (page 83)
• 4.10 Relative Clauses (page 84)
• 4.11 Subordinate Clauses (page 87) 5 Lexicon (page 89) 6 Guide to Further Reading (page 91) Bibliography (page 97)