Semitic languages

The Semitic languages are a family of languages spoken by more than 250 million people across much of the Middle East, where they originated, and North and East Africa. They constitute the northeastern subfamily of the Afro-Asiatic languages, and the only family of this group spoken in Asia.

History

Since Semitic is a member of Afro-Asiatic, a principally African family, the first speakers of proto-Semitic are generally believed to have arrived in the Middle East from Africa, although this question is still much debated. Within recorded history, the spread of Semitic languages has consisted largely of a series of migrations from Arabia, overwhelming the populations of more fertile areas. When records begin in the third millennium BC, the Semitic-speaking Akkadians and Amorites were entering Mesopotamia from the deserts to the south, and were probably already present in places such as Ebla in Syria. By the end of the millennium, East Semitic languages dominated in Mesopotamia, while West Semitic languages were probably spoken from Syria to Yemen, although data is sparse. Akkadian became the dominant literary language of the Fertile Crescent, using the cuneiform script they adapted from the Sumerians, while the sparsely attested Eblaite disappeared with the city, and Amorite is attested only from proper names.

Related Topics:
Proto-Semitic - Africa - Akkad - Amorite - Mesopotamia - Ebla - Yemen - Akkadian - Fertile Crescent - Cuneiform script - Sumer - Eblaite - Amorite

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For the following millennium, somewhat more data is available, thanks to the spread of an invention first used to capture the sounds of Semitic languages - the alphabet. In this millennium, brief Proto-Canaanite texts yield the first undisputed attestations of a West Semitic language, soon followed by the much more extensive Ugaritic tablets of northern Syria. Akkadian continued to flourish, splitting into Babylonian and Assyrian dialects, despite the incursions of nomadic Aramaeans from the Syrian desert.

Related Topics:
Alphabet - Proto-Canaanite - Ugaritic - Aramaeans

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In the first millennium BC, the alphabet spread much further, giving us a picture not just of Canaanite but also of Aramaic, and Old South Arabian. During this period, the case system, still vigorous in Ugaritic, seems to have started decaying in Northwest Semitic. Phoenician colonies spread their Canaanite language throughout much of the Mediterranean, while its close relative Hebrew became the vehicle of a religious literature, the Torah and Tanakh, that would have global ramifications. However, as an ironic result of the Assyrian Empire's conquests, Aramaic became the lingua franca of the Fertile Crescent, gradually pushing Akkadian, Hebrew, Phoenician, and several other languages to extinction and developing a substantial literature. Meanwhile, speakers of Semitic languages from Yemen spread south into Ethiopia, where their language would develop into Ge'ez, still the liturgical language there.

Related Topics:
Canaanite - Aramaic - Old South Arabian - Phoenician - Hebrew - Torah - Tanakh - Assyria - Lingua franca - Ethiopia - Ge'ez - Liturgical language

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With the emergence of Islam, the ascendancy of Aramaic was dealt a fatal blow by the Arab conquests, which made another Semitic language - Arabic - the official language of an empire stretching from Morocco to Pakistan. With the patronage of the caliphs and the prestige of its liturgical status, it rapidly became one of the world's main literary languages. Its spread among the masses took much longer; however, as natives abandoned their tongue for Arabic and as Bedouin tribes settled in conquered areas, it became the language not only of central Arabia, but also of Yemen, the Fertile Crescent, and Egypt. Most of the Maghreb followed, particularly in the wake of the Banu Hilal's incursion in the 11th century, and Arabic became the native language even of many inhabitants of Spain. After the collapse of the Nubian kingdom of Dongola in the 14th century, Arabic began to spread south of Egypt; soon after, the Beni Hassan brought Arabization to Mauritania. The spread of Arabic continues even today in Sudan and Chad, both by peaceful sociolinguistic processes and by wars such as the Darfur conflict.

Related Topics:
Islam - Arab - Arabic - Morocco - Pakistan - Caliph - Liturgical - Bedouin - Maghreb - Banu Hilal - Spain - Nubia - Dongola - Beni Hassan - Arabization - Mauritania - Sudan - Chad - Sociolinguistic - Darfur conflict

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Meanwhile, Semitic languages were diversifying in Ethiopia and Eritrea, where, under heavy Cushitic influence, they split into a number of languages, including Amharic and Tigrinya. With the expansion of Ethiopia under the Solomonid dynasty, Amharic, previously a minor local language, spread throughout much of the country, replacing languages both Semitic (such as Gafat) and non-Semitic (such as Weyto) and replacing Ge'ez as the principal literary language; this spread continues to this day, with Kemant set to disappear in another generation.

Related Topics:
Ethiopia - Eritrea - Cushitic - Amharic - Tigrinya - Solomonid dynasty - Gafat - Weyto - Kemant

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