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Languages of the world: Semitic languages. Ethiosemitic languages

Semitic languages(שפות שמיות ‎) - the languages of the peoples of the so-called Semitic family (see Semites): Jews and their relatives (Moabites, Ammonites and Edomites), Phoenicians, Arabs, Ethiopians, Babylonians and Assyrians and various Aramaic tribes. Like the Indo-Germanic dialects, the various dialects of the Semitic language family belong to the group of inflected languages (that is, languages that express different grammatical relationships by changing the sounds of the root or attaching different endings to the root). In both families, the agglutinative stage of development (i.e., the attachment of prefixes and words to the root) has passed (or did not exist at all), and word combination does not occur through “composition,” but through the mutual “subordination” of various parts of speech. But this is where the analogy between the Semitic and Indo-Germanic language families ends; the differences between them are so significant that they should be seen as two separate types of human speech that developed independently of one another. The most characteristic feature of the Semitic languages is the so-called “three-letter” nature of their roots. With very few exceptions, these roots consist of three consonants, e.g. ktl, קטל ‎; The main meaning, the idea of the word, is associated with these three consonants, and vowel sounds only accompany the consonants and serve to express shades of meaning, for example. katala- he killed, kutila- he was killed, katlun- murder. Further, in S. Ya. there are no special forms to indicate the time of action; such a designation can only be achieved syntactically. Etymologically, these languages can mark an action as either completed (perfective), still in progress (imperfective), or to be done (imperative). Finally, the nature of the action and its exact relationship to the subject or object are expressed in S. Ya. in special ways, alien to Indo-Germanic dialects (the so-called “verbal stems”, בנינים‎). A certain change in the vowels of the root indicates a passive character (katala - he killed, kutila - he was killed); doubling the middle consonant of the root marks the intensity of the action or its spread to a large number of objects (kattala - he killed a lot or he killed many); by prefixing the root of the prefix ’a ( ha or scha) a causative (causal) meaning is achieved, prefix n or prefix (less often infix) t- reflexive (reflexive) meaning. But if we must recognize the deep difference between the Semitic and Indo-Germanic language groups, there is no doubt about the close relationship between the Semitic languages and Egyptian, which belongs to the Hamitic family. This relationship is based on the following general features: 1) the identity of many roots, 2) the ending of the feminine gender -t in the only -wt in plural number; 3) ending -j duality numbers; 4) similarity of personal pronouns and pronominal suffixes; 5) “three-letter” roots, characteristic of the Egyptian language; 6) ways of indicating character etc. actions. In addition, the Egyptian language preserved remnants of a system that was quite reminiscent of the perfective system in the Semitic languages.

The various dialects of the Semitic family are in close connection with each other, approximately in the same way as the dialects of the Slavic root - Russian, Polish, Serbian, Bulgarian, etc. They are usually divided into two large groups - South and North Semitic, into which the Proto-Semitic people broke up in ancient times.

South Semitic the group is distinguished by the greatest completeness of content in lexical, etymological, and syntactic terms; it is therefore considered by semitologists as the ideal of the development of the Arabic language. The various dialects of the Arabic language are of particular importance for the comparative study of the Arabic language. These dialects contain the most complete range of characteristic guttural and sibilant sounds and are extremely rich in vowels. The number of verbal and nominal forms has also grown to extraordinary proportions in Arabic dialects. This last remark applies mainly to the so-called. “classical” Arabic, i.e. the language of the Koran and classical Arabic literature. The number of verbal stems in it is increased to 15, the number of nominal forms is about 50. This dialect is also distinguished by the correctness and strict sequence of changes in grammatical forms and an abundance of syntactic possibilities. The dialects of northern Arabic inscriptions and modern tribes are more crude and poorer in construction: Syriac and Egyptian-Arab, Tunisian, Algerian, Maltese, Omani, etc. - All these dialects, like the northern Arabic, can be contrasted with the southern Arabic dialects, the main exponents of which are adverbs Ethiopian language: proper Ethiopian, or g'ez, Abyssinian, or Amharic, tigrê, tigrinya, harâri and gurâgê; then follow two South Arabic dialects proper - Sabaean and Minean, as well as modern dialects - Mehri and Soqotri. The Sabaean and Minaean inscriptions, written in a special alphabet, preserved only 9 verbal stems instead of the 15 of classical Arabic. The difference between these adverbs is based mainly on the peculiarities in the formation of the causal basis: the prefix sa characteristic of the Minaan language in Sabaean is replaced by ha, which is similar in use. - The oldest Ethiopian inscriptions were written in Sabaean script, and only from 380 AD. A special G'ez script comes into use. The G'ez language is the sacred language of Abyssinia, much like the Latin language in the worship of the Romance peoples. Having many similarities with Arabic dialects, e.g. “broken” or “internal” formation of the plural (not by means of a prefix, but by changing vowel sounds), the Ethiopian language at the same time approaches the dialects of the North Semitic group (for example. k in the 1st person perfect form of verbs). A feature of the Ethiopian language is the symmetrical development of verbal stems in it. Modern Abyssinian dialects differ somewhat from Ethiopian, with Tigre and Tigrinya forming one, and Amha, Harari and Gurâgê another, closely knit groups.

Northern Semitic dialects less closely related to each other than the South Semitic ones. The oldest representatives of this group are the languages of the inhabitants of Mesopotamia - Babylonians And Assyrians. Speaking about the features represented by these two languages, it should be borne in mind that their development from the very beginning was influenced by a very important factor: they were squeezed into the framework of a writing alien to them (the so-called “cuneiform”). This explains the complete loss of laryngeals (except for h and the g that passed into it; all other laryngeal sounds partly completely disappeared from the language, partly were reduced to retained in some cases ’); further, the same reason determines the noticeable tendency in the Babylonian language to replace the velar k with the sound g, emphatic s - z and emphatic t - d. The Assyrian language, which received “cuneiform” from the Babylonians in a somewhat “Osemitized” form, more strictly maintains the distinctions between k and g, s and z, t and d; on the contrary, it rather shows a tendency to convey k through k and d through t. Both of these languages have one extremely interesting feature: along with perfect ( permanent) view, from the general Semitic imperfect view they developed two separate types, of which one serves to express the past, the other - the present. The formation of verb stems in these two languages also presents some features. - The oldest of the Babylonian inscriptions (Esar, king of Adab) dates back to the fourth millennium BC; the last document compiled in Babylonian is dated 5 by the king of Persia Piharish, i.e. 81 AD. Modern acquaintance with Canaanite S. Ya.’s group is limited, with the exception of several inscriptions (Mesh, Eshmunazar, Marseille tariff, etc.), to only one Jewish tongue (see). The oldest monument of this language is the song of Deborah (Judges, V), probably dating back to the 2nd millennium BC. The main feature of the Canaanite group is the use of the consecrative "vav". This feature is seen exclusively in Mesha's inscription and in the Biblical Hebrew language; in the late Hebrew, Phoenician and Punic languages it disappears. - The Canaanite group uses the following verb stems: kal (simple stem), pi'el and pu'al (active and passive intensifying stems), hiφ'îl (in Phoenician jiφîl) and hoφ'al (active and passive causative stems), hiθpa 'el (reflexive of an intensifying stem), and niφal (reflexive of a simple stem); other forms are rare.

The third group of North Semitic languages consists of Aramaic dialects. The Arameans appear in history around 1500 BC. At this time there was an Aramaic movement westward from Mesopotamia to Syria; The Arameans thus became, as it were, intermediaries between the Semitic peoples, and their language was already used in international relations, replacing both the Babylonian and Canaanite languages. The oldest known examples of the Aramaic language are represented so far by short notes on Babylonian documents and two steles from Zendzhirli (8-7 centuries BC). During the Persian era, Aramaic was the official language of the western provinces. The few inscriptions available from this era have recently been abundantly supplemented by the discovery of Aramaic papyri in Elephantine (see Egypt in post-Biblical times). The Palestinian Jewish-Aramaic dialects are somewhat different from this language: the Biblical Aramaic dialect, which developed under the influence of the Hebrew language, and some others closely adjacent to it. In all of them the causative stem is formed by the prefix ha(instead of Eastern Aramaic ’a). The transitional stage to purely Aramaic dialects is represented by Samaritan an adverb that still contains some Jewish elements; it, as well as some other Palestinian dialects (the language of the Jerusalem Talmud, etc.), is characterized by a mixture of gutturals. The language of the inscriptions of the Nabataean kingdom, which flourished for 2-3 centuries, also belongs to the Aramaic group; its capital Petra was destroyed by Trajan in 105. According to Theodor Neldeke, the Nabateans were an Arab tribe who used Aramaic exclusively as a literary language. - IN Palmyra inscriptions have been found covering two or three centuries to the third Christian century. The language of the Palmyra inscriptions, which in many respects is adjacent to the Western Aramaic group, has some features (for example, the plural on), bringing it closer to the Eastern Aramaic group. The study of the dialect of north-central Syria is limited to the Syriac inscriptions collected by Littmann (Semitic Inscriptions, pp. 1-56), which provide little grammatical material. Yet they reveal some dialectical differences, e.g. 3rd l. units h. nesov. type with prefix n. A clear exponent of the Aramaic group is Syriac language- the language of Christian Aramaic translations of the Bible, dating back to the 2nd century, and of a vast Christian literature. In the eastern part of the Roman Empire, it, along with Greek, was the most common language until the Arab conquest. Its characteristic features are nonsense. view from n and status emphaticus on â . The Babylonian Talmud was written in Babylonian-Aramaic language, not entirely clean, however. The tongue is attached to it Mandaeans, a half-Christian, half-pagan sect whose members lived in various parts of Babylonia. This language is purer and free of traces of Jewish influence. He uses in ness. form or n, or l . In the territory of ancient Assyria, in Kurdistan and Urmia, some Christians and Jews also used the Aramaic dialect. The Urmian dialect was developed by American missionaries into a new literary language, differing from the old one, mainly in verbal forms. The Aramaic group is characterized by extreme poverty of vowel sounds. Moreover, its relation to other Semitic languages can be illustrated by listing its verbal stems, especially developed in Syriac (Edessa) and Mandaean. They have four active stems: a simple, an intensifying and two causal ('af'el and šaf'el), and 4 reflexive stems to them, formed by adding the prefix A. In the Jewish-Palestinian dialect, šaf'el and its reflective stem are absent. In Biblical Aramaic and in the inscriptions from Zanjirli, haf'el appears instead of ’af’el, and it does not have a reflexive basis. - Wed. works: F. Müller, Die semitischen Sprachen, in his Grundriss der Sprachwissenschaft, III, II, Vienna, 1887; E. Renan, Histoire générale et système comparé des langues sémitiques, 3rd ed., Paris, 1863; T. Nöldeke, Die semitischen Sprachen, eine Skizze, 1st ed., 1872 (arrangement of his famous article in the Encyclopaedia Britannica), 2nd ed., Leipzig, 1899; id., Beiträge zur semitischen Sprachwissenschaft, Strasbourg, 1904; id., Beiträge zur semitishen Sprachwissenschaft, 2nd edition, 1912; Hermann Reckendorf, Zur Charakteristik der semitischen Sprachen, in Actes du X-e congr. des orient., sect. II, Leiden, 1896; William Wright, Lectures on the comparative grammar of the Semitic languages, Cambridge, 1890; O. E. Lindberg, Vergleichende Grammatik der semitischen Sprachen, 1897; Henrich Zimmern, Vergleichende Grammatik der semitischen Sprachen, Elemente der Laut- und Formenlehre, Berlin, 1898; Carl Brockelman, Semitische Sprachwissenschaft, Leipzig, 1906; id., Grundriss der Vergleichender Grammatik der semitischen Sprachen, 1907-1912 (in two volumes); id., Kurzgefasste vergleichende Grammatik d. semitischen Sprachen, I, Berlin, 1908 (in the series Porta; Linguarum Orientalium, XXII); P. Haupt, Ueber die semitischen Sprachlaute u. deren Umschrift, in Abhandl. d. Berl. Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1861; D. H. Müller, Zur Geschichte d. semitischen Zischlaute, in Verhandlungen des VII Internat. Orientalisten-Kongresses, sem. Sektion, Vienna, 1888; H. Zimmern, Zur assyrischen und vergleichenden semitischen Lautlehre, in Zeitschrift für Assyriologie, V, 1890; J. Barth, Zur vergleichenden Semitischen Grammatik, I-IV, in ZDMG. (1894), XLVIII; Abel H. Huizinga, Analogy in the Semitic languages, Baltimore, 1891; S. Fraenkel, Zum sporadischen Lautwandel in den semitischen Sprachen, in Beiträge z. Assyriologie, III (1895); H. Hupfeld, System der semitischen Demonstrativbildung und der damit zusammenhängenden Pronominal- und Partikelnbildung, in Zeitschrift f. d. Kunde d. Morgenl., II (1839); C. Vogel, Die Bildung des persönlichen Fürwortes in Semitischen, 1866; P. Jensen, Ausruf, Frage u. Verneinung in d. semitischen Sprachen, in Zeitschr. für Fölkerpsychologie, XVII (1888); J. Barth, Beiträge zur Suffixlehre des Nordsemitischen, in Amer. journ. of Semitic languages, XVII; P. Haupt, Studies on the comparative grammar of the semitic languages, 1878. On the relation of the Semitic language group to the Indo-European, see Schleiher, Beiträge zur vergl. Sprachforschung, 1861, II; T. Nöldeke, in Orient u. Occident, 1863, II; Brugmann, Grundriss d. vergleichender Grammatik, I, 1897. On the relation of the Semitic language group to the Hamitic, see: Ermann, Das Verhältnisse des aegyptischen zu den semitischen Sprachen, in ZDMG., XLVI (1892), 93-126; id., Die Flexion des aegyptischen Verbums, in Sitzungsberichte der Königlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, 1900, pp. 317-353; id., Aegyptische Grammatik (in the series Porta Linguarum Orientalium), 2nd ed., Berlin, 1902; Steindorf, Koptische Grammatik, 2nd ed., ib., 1904, in the above series). cm.

SEMITIC LANGUAGES - a group of languages of the Middle East, which had a more or less extensive geographical distribution at various periods. Some of these languages played the role of major cultural languages of global importance. K S. language include: Babylonian-Assyrian language. (see), which for a number of centuries, starting from the 4th millennium BC, was the most important language of the Ancient East; Hebrew language (cm.); Phoenician language (cm.); Aramaic languages and dialects (see), which spread throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, starting from the 10th-9th centuries. BC. and who subsequently also occupied the territory of the Babylonian-Assyrian and Hebrew languages; Syriac language (see), Arabic. (see), which emerged as a world cultural language starting from the 7th century. AD, Semitic languages. Abyssinia (Amhara, Ge'ez, etc.), an ancient South Arabian language. and etc.
S. language form a fairly close group, mutual connections and similarities between individual representatives of the cut appear quite clearly. The proximity of Arabic and Hebrew. was noted by Jewish grammarians of the 10th century. (Ibn Quraysh); the closeness of Aramaic to ancient Hebrew is even more obvious. The unity of this entire group of languages was recognized by Western European orientalists already in the 17th century, when this group was given the name S. language. Particularly much has been done for the comparative study of S. languages. in the 19th century, after the cuneiform monuments of Assyria and Babylonia and South Arabian and Phoenician inscriptions were deciphered.
In addition to the larger number of common roots of S. language. have a number of common grammatical and phonetic features. The main meaning of the root words is associated in S. language. with consonant sounds, and vowels play a auxiliary role without being part of the root. So, in Arabic. from the root “ktb”, using various vowels, the following words are obtained: “kataba” - “he wrote”, “kutiba” - “he was written”, “katib-un” - “writing”, “kitab-un” - “book” ", "kutub-un" - books, "katab-un" - "writing", "a-ktubu" - "I write", "ma-ktub-un" - "letter" - "ma-ktab-un" - “a place where they write” (= school), etc. Most roots consist of three and only a small number of two or four consonants. Word formation and inflection occur beyond the “internal vowel change” just mentioned, with the help of both suffixes and prefixes. There are two grammatical genders. Declension is poorly developed, and it exists only in classical Arabic, where there are three cases, but in other languages there are only traces. The tenses in the verb are poorly developed: in most S. languages. There are only two times - finished and unfinished. Various verbal forms have great development to express the intensification of action, transitivity, reciprocity, recurrence, repetition, compulsion, passivity, etc. Suffixation is quite developed for denoting a direct object with verbs and an indirect object with prepositions. The syntax is dominated by forms of composing sentences.
S. language have very close connections with the Cushitic, Berber-Libyan languages and with the ancient Egyptian language. All these languages are united by most of the newest researchers into one Semitic-Hamitic group. Academician N.Ya. Marr proved the deep connections that exist between S. languages. and Japhetic. S. language are a more recent transformation of the early historical or “Japhetic” state of speech of the peoples of the Mediterranean. Hence the convergence of S. languages. with Japhetic ones, sometimes reaching to the details. Bibliography:
Renan E., Histoire generale du systeme comparee des langues semitiques, P., 1855; WrightW., Lectures on the comparative grammar of the semitic languages, Cambridge, 1890; ZimmernH., Vergleichende Grammatik der semitischen Sprachen, Berlin, 1898; Noldecke Th., Die semitischen Sprachen, Eine Skizze, Lpz., Bd. I, Berlin, 1908, Bd. II, Berlin, 1912; His, Kurzgefasste vergleich. Grammatik d. semitischen Sprachen, Berlin, 1908; Konig Ed., Herbaisch und semitisch. Prolegomena und Grundlinien einer Geschichte d. semit. Sprachen, Berlin, 1901; DhormeB.P., Langues et ecritures semitiques, P., 1930; Cohen M., Langues chamitosemitiques, in the book “Les langues du monde”, Edited by A. Meillet et M. Cohen., P., 1924; MarrN.Ya., Preliminary report on the kinship of the Georgian language. with Semitic, in his work “Basic tables for the grammar of the ancient Georgian language,” St. Petersburg, 1908 (reprinted in his “Selected Works,” vol. I, L., 1933); His, The Japhetic approach to the paleontology of Semitic languages, “Japhetic collection”, vol. I, P., 1922; Him, On the question of the origin of Arabic numerals, “Notes of the College of Orientalists,” vol. V, L., 1931; GrandeB., From the linguistic convergences of the Iberians of the Caucasus and Palestine, “Reports of the Academy of Sciences”, 1931.
Literary encyclopedia. - At 11 t.; M.: Publishing House of the Communist Academy, Soviet Encyclopedia, Fiction.Edited by V. M. Fritsche, A. V. Lunacharsky. 1929-1939 .

The name “Semitic” languages, “Semitic” language, is conditional, i.e. is not connected either with the grammatical structure of these languages, or with the place of their origin and distribution. The name of this family is borrowed from the genealogical classification of nations given in the Bible (Genesis 10). Most of the peoples who spoke languages related to Hebrew were considered to be the descendants of one of the sons of Noah - Shem. From this proper name the name “Semitic, Semitic” was derived. It was introduced into scientific use in the 18th century. German historian and philologist August Schlözer (1735–1809).

According to data from the late 1990s, the number of speakers of Semitic languages exceeds 200 million people (mainly due to speakers of modern Arabic).

The family of Semitic languages includes both living languages and dead ones that have fallen out of use due to various historical conditions. Living Semitic languages are widespread in Western Asia, on the Arabian Peninsula, in Northeast and North Africa. There are “islands” of the Arabic language in Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, “islands” of living Aramaic languages in the territories of Northern Iraq, Northwestern Iran, Eastern Turkey, and Transcaucasia.

The dead Semitic languages known to modern science include the following.

Akkadian language (aka Assyro-Babylonian), known since the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, which fell out of use at the turn of our era, was widespread in the territory of Mesopotamia (now the territory of Iraq) ().

Eblaite language, or the language of Ebla, is the language of a cuneiform archive discovered by archaeologists in the 1970s in Northwestern Syria. Cuneiform tablets date back to the second half of the 3rd millennium BC.

Amorite the language, known only by proper names recorded in Sumerian and Akkadian cuneiform texts, was widespread at the end of the 3rd - first half of the 2nd millennium BC. in the territory of Northwestern Syria and Western Mesopotamia.

Ancient Canaanite the language, known from individual names and phrases from Akkadian and ancient Egyptian texts, was widespread in the 3rd–2nd millennia BC. in the territories of ancient Palestine (now Israel and Jordan) and ancient Phenicia (modern Lebanon).

Ugaritic The language, represented by a large archive of cuneiform clay tablets, was discovered by archaeologists in 1930 in Northwestern Syria. Written monuments date back to the middle of the 2nd millennium BC, the language was in use in the ancient city-state of Ugarit.

Phoenician the language is known from inscriptions from the second half of the 2nd millennium BC; the latest inscriptions date back to the 2nd century. AD It was distributed in Phenicia (the territory of modern Lebanon), as a result of colonization it spread throughout the Mediterranean basin, along the shores of Cyprus, Southern Italy, Southern Spain and North Africa.

Hebrew the language is known from monuments of the 12th–3rd centuries. BC. (Biblical Hebrew). Presumably remained colloquial until the first centuries of our era. Until the 18th century used in post-biblical form as a written language. It was distributed in the territory of ancient Palestine. It is still used as a cult language to this day.

Aramaic language known since the 9th century. BC. as "Old Aramaic", later represented by the languages and dialects of the Middle Aramaic period, survived until about the 14th century. AD It was distributed in the territories of Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia up to Western Iran ().

Ancients South Arabian languages otherwise called "epigraphic South Arabian" ( Sabaean, Minaean, Katabanian And Hadhramaut), known from written monuments from the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. until the middle of the 6th century. AD They were distributed in the territory of modern Yemen and in the adjacent territories of South Arabia, including Oman.

Ancient Ethiopian tongue, or geez known from the oldest royal inscriptions of Aksum from the mid-4th century. AD; it existed as a colloquial language until about the 10th century. AD During this period, it was distributed in the territory of the ancient state of Aksum and in the adjacent northeastern regions of modern Ethiopia and Eritrea. It is still used as the cult language of the Ethiopian Christian Church.

Old Arabic the language apparently existed as a collection of ancient tribal dialects of nomadic and sedentary inhabitants and is known from a small number of epigraphic texts dating back to the first centuries BC. and the first centuries AD In the pre-Islamic period, it was distributed in the territories of Central and Northern Arabia, and in connection with the migration of tribes at the beginning of our era. spread to the territories of Palestine, Syria and Mesopotamia.

Living Semitic languages

are represented both by some descendants of the ancient Semitic languages known to us, and by languages that do not have their own written history.

Modern Arabic the language, represented by a single literary form and a number of oral and spoken forms (dialects), is widespread in Western Asia, North-East and North Africa in all Arab states, as well as in some neighboring African countries. In terms of the number of speakers (according to various sources, from 190 to 250 million people) it is one of the largest languages in the world.

Maltese the language (derived from one of the Arabic dialects) is widespread on the island of Malta. According to 1990 data, the number of speakers of this language in Malta is 365 thousand, the total number of Maltese speakers is about 500 thousand people.

Amharic language is the official written and spoken language of Ethiopia. The number of speakers, according to data from the 1980s–1990s, is more than 15 million people. The first known written evidence of the Amharic language dates back to the 14th century. How the literary language has developed since the end of the 19th century. ().

Hebrew(or modern Hebrew) is a literary and spoken language, one of the two official languages of the State of Israel. According to data from the late 1980s, the number of speakers is about 5 million.

New Aramaic The languages are currently represented by several groups of dialects: Western (in three villages in Syria northeast of Damascus), Eastern, widespread in southeastern Turkey, northern Iraq, northwestern Iran; and Mandaean language spoken on the southern border between Iraq and Iran and Assyrian a language widespread in islands in Northern Iran, Northern Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, as well as among the Assyrian diaspora. The total number of Assyrian speakers, according to 1990 data, is about 330 thousand people.

Modern South Arabian languages: mehri, harsusi, bathhari, hobyot, jibbali(shahri) are common in the south of the Arabian Peninsula, in the territories of Yemen and Oman; language soqotri- on the island of Socotra. In general, the number of speakers of these languages, according to 1977 data, is about 200 thousand people.

Modern Ethiosemites languages (besides Amharic) are represented by the northern and southern groups of languages.

The language belongs to the northern group tigrai(or Tigrinya), considered a descendant of the ancient Ge'ez. Distributed in Eritrea and northern Ethiopia. The number of speakers is, according to 1995 data, about 4 million people. Language tiger distributed in Eritrea and border areas of Sudan. According to data from the 1990s, the number of speakers is about 1 million.

The southern group (in addition to Amharic) includes argobba, harari And eastern gurage, northern and western gurage, gafat and a number of other closely related languages. Distributed in Ethiopia and neighboring countries. The number of speakers for each group ranges from 500 thousand to several thousand.

According to the hypothesis put forward by A.Yu. Militarev in the early 1980s, the supposed ancestral home of the Semitic-speaking population was in the 5th millennium BC. in the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

The Semitic proto-language (base language) in this distant era was hardly united; most likely it represented a group of closely related tribal dialects.

In the history of the study of Semitic languages, many different principles for the classification of Semitic languages and, accordingly, the classifications themselves have been proposed. At the same time, the names of the main groups of Semitic languages record their territorial and geographical distribution.

The traditional classification of Semitic languages is based on a set of the most indicative features of phonological and grammatical systems.

In Russian Semitology, the traditional classification of Semitic languages is modified in accordance with the degree of archaism of the phonological and morphological systems or, on the contrary, the “advancement” of the changes that have occurred in them. Thus, according to I.M. Dyakonov, the genealogical classification of Semitic languages is represented by the following scheme:

northern peripheral (northeastern) group - Akkadian language with its dialects;

north-central (northwestern) group - Eblaitic, Amorite, Canaanite, Ugaritic, Phoenician, Hebrew with a modern form - Hebrew, Aramaic (ancient and modern);

south-central group – classical Arabic, modern Arabic, Arabic dialects, Maltese;

southern peripheral group – South Arabian epigraphic, modern South Arabian;

Ethiosemitic group, divided into northern (Ge'ez, Tigray, Tigre) and southern (Amharic, Gurage group and a number of other languages and dialects) subgroups.

The latest and most recognized in the 1990s was the classification of the American scientist Robert Hetzron, later supplemented by a number of Western semitologists. Hetzron's approach is based on taking into account the morphological and phonological innovations common to a particular group of languages. The resulting classification looks like this:

Eastern Semitic languages - Akkadian, Eblaite;

Western Semitic languages:

central – Arabic;

northwestern - Ugaritic, Canaanite (Hebrew, Phoenician, etc.), Aramaic (and others);

Southern Semitic languages:

eastern – soqotri; Mehri, Kharsusi, Jibbali (i.e. modern South Arabian);

Western - ancient South Arabian (i.e. South Arabian epigraphic);

Ethiosemitic:

Northern Ethiopian - Geez, Tigre, Tigrai;

Southern Ethiopian - Amharic (and others).

When comparing the two classifications, one can notice that in the second of them the Eblaite language is grouped with Akkadian, the Arabic language is grouped not with the southern, but with the Western Semitic, in relation to which it occupies a special - central - position. Within the Western group, Arabic is opposed to the Northwestern, and together with the entire large "Western" group, Arabic is opposed to the "Eastern" and "Southern" Semitic languages.

In recent years, in Russian Semitic studies, the method of glottochronology has been used to classify Semitic languages according to the chronology of their division, starting from the base language up to the identification of languages known to us. Below is the chronology of the division of Semitic languages, developed by A.Yu. Militarev.

From the given glottochronological table it follows that the earliest division of the Semitic proto-language occurs into northern and southern branches. Currently, the southern branch is represented by its descendants: the Soqotri, Mehri, Jibbali (Shahri) languages, i.e. modern South Arabian. The northern branch, to which all other (dead and living) Semitic languages ultimately descend, has undergone more divisions through some supposed linguistic communities over the course of five millennia. So, in the 4th millennium BC. the northern branch is divided into two main sub-branches: northwestern and northeastern. Northeastern subbranch in the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. represented by a single group of Akkadian (with dialects). But the northwestern subbranch is divided into central and peripheral groups, which in turn “branch off” most of the Semitic languages known to us. Moreover, the Ethiosemitic languages go back directly to the northwestern subbranch, like the central group. The Arabic language goes back directly to the central group, as does the entire group of Ugaritic, Canaanite, Hebrew, Aramaic languages (cf. the genealogical classification of R. Hetzron).

Since the glottochronological classification is based on a lexical feature (i.e., the degree of preservation of the common basic vocabulary in each of the languages being compared), this classification may not coincide with classifications based on phonological and morphological features of languages.

Partially, such discrepancies are due to the fact that each language develops in its own way (which is why the division of the proto-language occurs). Features and differences can be embedded in the depths of the primary closely related dialects of the proto-language (as mentioned above, hardly any proto-language was completely unified). On the other hand, the division of languages was associated with the separation, settlement and migration of their speakers. This process took place not only in time, but also in a specific geographical space, which was filled with neighboring peoples and tribes who spoke other, in some cases, non-Semitic languages. Interlingual contacts could have influenced the structure and vocabulary of each of the separated Semitic languages.

To date, no definite traces of non-Semitic languages have been found on the territory of the Arabian Peninsula, although it is assumed that the south and southeast of the peninsula were inhabited in ancient times by non-Semitic-speaking peoples. But even in such relatively “favorable” conditions, the diverging Semitic languages, together with their speakers, found themselves in mutual “secondary” contacts with their distant, previously separated relatives living and migrating in a single space.

There was an overlap of closely related influences, which further complicated the picture of the development and changes of Semitic languages.

So, if the hypothetical ancestral home of the Semitic-speaking population was in the 5th millennium BC. in the area between the Tigris and Euphrates, the first separated group of languages, the descendants of which are located in the extreme south of the Arabian Peninsula and the island of Socotra, had to travel a long way in the historical and geographical space of the Arabian Peninsula or its coast.

The ancestors of the Ethiosemitic and epigraphic South Arabian languages must have traveled no less a long way through time and space. And only the ancestors of the Arabic-speaking tribes occupied a not so distant territory - apparently, these were then still free territories of Central Arabia, suitable only for a nomadic lifestyle. Speakers of the “proto-Arabic” language (or dialects) turned out to be a middle link between the “Arabian” languages that spread to the south and their northwestern relatives. It is for this reason that in the system of the Arabic language one can find features that bring it closer both to the southern (phonological system, methods of forming the so-called “broken” plural) and to the northwestern, especially Aramaic: the endings of the suffixal plural of names, the system of personal perfect endings (one of the aspectual verb forms).

The most general typological characteristic of Semitic languages takes into account the way morphemes are combined in a word. On this basis, Semitic languages are defined as inflectional-agglutinative. This definition was put forward back in the 19th century. F.F.Fortunatov. With a number of more detailed clarifications, this definition has been retained by the Semitic languages to the present day.

On the contrary, according to the way words are connected together in phrases and sentences, different Semitic languages are characterized differently. For example, even within the Arabic language there is a typological divergence between its literary form and Arabic dialects. The structure of classical and modern literary Arabic is defined as synthetic, and the structure of modern Arabic dialects is defined as synthetic-analytical, i.e. with a shift towards the development of analytical structures in syntax.

As the Semitic languages split and developed independently, their particular typological characteristics also changed.

The Proto-Semitic language represented the features of the inflectional-agglutinative system most fully: word-formation and inflectional forms had a developed system of external morphemes (prefixes, suffixes, infixes, endings) and internal morphemes, traditionally called internal inflection (alternation of vowels at the base of a word, doubling of root consonants). The relationships between words in a sentence and phrase were expressed by word forms: case endings, agreement forms, endings of personal verbal forms. The number of function words included only prepositions. Therefore, the original type of the Proto-Semitic language is assumed to be a synthetic type.

The phonological system of the Proto-Semitic language represented a type of regular oppositions of consonants according to the characteristics “voiceless: voiced: emphatic (i.e. glottalized or velarized)”; in addition, there was an opposition of consonants on the basis of “lateral: non-lateral”.

As the Semitic languages divide and develop in their own ways, changes in the original typological structure occur in each of them. Some languages retain a type close to the original one, others are characterized by a reduction of the phonological system, the loss of ancient inflections and, at the same time, the development of new grammatical forms and methods, new syntactic constructions. Thus, some of the Semitic languages known to us retain a more archaic structure and typology, others are characterized by typological innovations and strong changes in the syntactic structure.

On the basis of archaicity/innovation, all Semitic languages can be classified into one of three main stages of development - this classification was proposed in the 1970s by I.M. Dyakonov.

CLASSIFICATION OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES ACCORDING TO THE DEGREE OF ARCHAICITY
Stage of development	Group
	Ethiosemite.	South	Central	North-west	North-East
Ancient		epigraphic: Sabaean, mi-Neisky and others. I thousand BC – sir. 1st millennium AD	Old Arabic, Classical Arabic	Eblaite III thousand BC, CanaanitesChinese, Ugaritic II millennium BC	Akkadian III millennium BC
Average	ancient Ethiopian ski-geez (to the line I–II millennium AD	Himyarite language (before 9th century AD)	ancient Arabic dialects (epi graph. Arabian)	Hebrew, Old Aramaic 10 V. BC.	Late Babylonian to early AD
Late	north Ethiopian: Tigre, Tigrinya (living), south. Ethiopian: Amharicskiy, gurage, etc. (live)	modern South ArabiaChinese: mehri, shakhri, soqotri, etc. (live)	Arabic dialects; maltium Chinese language (living)	New Aramaic languages; let's modernize Hebrew (live)

It should be emphasized that this scheme classifies Semitic languages according to the degree of development of their phonological and morphological structure, but does not at all indicate a greater or lesser degree of their genetic relatedness. So, if modern South Arabian languages are in the “late stage” column, this does not mean that they are genetically closer to modern Arabic dialects or to New Aramaic languages.

This classification takes into account only the degree of difference between the structure of the language and the hypothetically initial model of the general Semitic state (transverse graphs) and the approximate geographical location of ancient and modern languages. Languages that are more closely related may find themselves at different stages of development, as is the case with literary Arabic and Arabic dialects.

As characteristics common to most Semitic languages, we can note: the stable consonantal composition of the root, the predominance of the triconsonant composition of the root, the presence of so-called “root variants” (or “phonetic variants”) of the consonantal part of the root. The latter phenomenon is represented by metathesis (rearrangement) of root consonants or alternation of one (or more) root consonant with a similar method and/or place of articulation without changing the basic meaning of the root (or with transparent modifications of this meaning).

General Semitic structural and typological features can also include a single (mostly) type of word-formation and inflectional systems and, along with external affixation, the widespread functioning of the method of internal inflection (according to another interpretation, the use of intermittent morphemes, or transfixes).

Most Semitic languages are characterized by lexico-grammatical and grammatical categories of masculine and feminine, singular and plural (in some languages the category of the dual number is also retained); From a historical perspective, the case system appears to be a dying category. Common to the verb system are the categories of person, number and gender. Species-temporal categories are in the process of forming different systems in different Semitic languages. A common Semitic feature is the lexico-grammatical category of extended verb stems, the so-called “breeds”: intensive, causative, directive, reflexive, etc.

Most Semitic languages are characterized by two possible syllable structures - CV and CVC (C - consonant, V - vowel), as well as a ban on the confluence of consonants at the beginning of a syllable and a ban on the confluence of vowels. At the same time, in many living Semitic languages (New Aramaic, some Arabic dialects, Hebrew), the destruction of the original Semitic restrictions on syllable structure is noted. In many ways, this process is facilitated by the development of a weak stress into a strong one.

In the field of phonetic-phonological systems, with all the changes occurring in the Semitic languages throughout the period known to us, one can note as a common feature the preservation of the triple opposition of some consonants: voiced - voiceless - “emphatic”.

It should also be noted that some historical changes observed in a number of Semitic languages occur according to a “general scenario”: verbalization of participles and reduction of the case system in the field of morphology; reduction of interdental, decline of plosive laryngeal - in the field of phonetic-phonological system.

In general, we can say that in each of the living Semitic languages, although “in its own way,” there is a shift towards analyticism.

The history of the study of Semitic languages begins with the emergence of the first national grammar schools among native speakers of these languages ( cm. NATIONAL LINGUISTIC TRADITIONS).

The Arabic linguistic school and tradition was formed in the first centuries of Islam with the goal of preserving the sacred language of the Koran, normative processing and standardization of the written and literary language. Its first representatives and authorities - ad-Duali (7th century), al-Khalil, Sibawayhi, al-Kisai (8th century) laid the foundations of traditional grammatical and phonetic analysis. The development of the system was carried out by Arab philologists of the 10th–13th centuries. The system of concepts and grammatical analysis developed by the Arabic tradition has had and continues to have a great influence on both modern Arabic linguistics and Western Arabic studies.

The Jewish school of linguistics also arises in connection with textual work and the preservation of the text of the Old Testament. From 10th–12th centuries The systematic study of the Hebrew language begins in the works of Yehuda ben David Hayyuj, Merwan ibn Janah. At the beginning of the 12th century. Isaac ibn Barun in his work A book comparing Hebrew with Arabic compares two related languages grammatically and lexically. Further popularization work by representatives of the Jewish linguistic school also served as the basis for the development of Semitic studies in the West.

The study of the Syriac language (one of the Aramaic languages) also begins among Syrian philologists who studied the texts of the Holy Scriptures. The works of Syrian grammarians of the 7th century are known. (Jacob of Edessa), 11th century. (Ilya Tirhansky), 12th century. (Yakov bar Ebrey).

In the West, attention to the languages of sacred texts - Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic - arose and intensified during the Renaissance. Subsequent scientific advances in deciphering ancient Semitic inscriptions contribute to the expansion of Semitic research. Western Semitology from the 17th to the beginning of the 20th century. develops as a complex historical and philological science, which laid the material foundations of the future of Semitic linguistics: deciphering and publishing written monuments, studying Jewish and Arabic manuscripts of the medieval period. This trend is also characteristic of Russian Semitology of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

At the same time, the successes of comparative historical linguistics in the field of Indo-European languages and other language families attract semitologists to this direction. The development of Semitic comparative studies is also facilitated by new archaeological discoveries and decipherments: deciphering ancient South Arabian epigraphy (M. Lidzbarsky, T. Nöldeke, F. Pretorius, D. Muller, I. Mordtmann, G. Reyckmans, N. Rodokanakis), publication of written monuments of the ancient Ethiopian language (Ge'ez) and their analysis (17th–20th centuries), creation of the first Ethiopian dictionaries and grammars (August Dilman, 1823–1894), decipherment of Akkadian cuneiform in the mid-19th century. (Henry Rawlinson, Julius Oppert, William Talbot, Edward Hinks).

During the 18th–19th centuries. The range of knowledge about Aramaic languages is expanding. Grammar and dictionaries on the main Semitic languages are published: the Arabic grammar of Sylvester de Sacy (early 19th century), Arabic dictionaries of G. Freytag, A. Biberstein-Kazimirsky, E. Lane, R. Dosi (during the 19th century), works on Akkadian (J. Oppert, 19th century), ancient Ethiopian, epigraphic South Arabian languages. By the beginning of the 20th century. The first works on living Semitic languages appear: Arabic and Aramaic dialects, Ethiosemitic languages. All these prerequisites contributed to the appearance of the first consolidated fundamental work on the comparative grammar of Semitic languages by Karl Brockelmann (C. Brockelmann. Grundriss der vergleichenden Grammatik der semitischen Sprachen. Bd. I–II, Berlin, 1908–1913). The scientist draws on all the Semitic material available for his time. The starting point of this work was the hypothesis that the Arabic language is the oldest representative of the Semitic languages, and therefore the reconstruction of the ancient state was oriented towards the Arabic language system. The further development of Semitic linguistics and the involvement of new materials from Semitic languages refutes this hypothesis. The Akkadian language is beginning to be considered the prototype of the oldest type of language.

20th century was marked by the discovery and decipherment of monuments of the Ugaritic and Eblaite languages, each of which makes its own adjustments to the idea of the genetic connections of the Semitic languages. Grammar, dictionaries, comparative historical and typological studies on individual Semitic languages and dialects are published.

From generalizing works of the 20th century. on Semitic languages in the West should be mentioned Introduction to Comparative Grammar of Semitic Languages Italian semitologist Sabatino Moscati (1969), work by Giovanni Garbini Semitic languages (1972), Dictionary of Semitic roots French semitologist David Cohen (1970 - present), the final collective work on Semitic languages, published by R. Hetzron (1997, see bibliography).

In Russian Semitology, the linguistic direction itself emerged in the 1920s. N.V. Yushmanov summarizes all the material of Semitic languages known to his time, uses the results of observations of the most authoritative representatives of national Arabic grammar and Western Semitic scholars and puts forward his hypothesis about the formation of the Semitic root. The scientist analyzes the phenomena of compatibility/incompatibility of root consonants, the phenomenon of root variants, and identifies a system of class indicators for nominal roots. As a result, he puts forward hypotheses about the development of the Semitic triconsonant root from a biconsonant one, about the development of the Semitic phonological system from a limited group of “diffuse” archiphonemes.

Fundamental problems of the structure and composition of the Semitic root, the features of Semitic consonantism remain the focus of attention of domestic Semitologists throughout the 20th century. S.S. Maisel (1900–1952), based on an analysis of root variants found in various Semitic languages, puts forward the hypothesis that this phenomenon has become one of the ways to expand the root stock of Semitic languages. A.M. Gazov-Ginsberg proposes an original hypothesis about the sound-image nature of Semitic consonantism and vocalism. The founder of the school of Moscow Semitologists B.M. Grande (1891–1974) develops the concept of syllabic phoneme as the minimum unit of a Semitic word. An unconventional approach to the structure of the Semitic word was developed by the Moscow Semitic scientist V.P. Starinin (1903–1973), who put forward the concept of an intermittent morpheme.

From the middle of the 20th century. The Semitic school in Tbilisi is actively developing. Its representatives are G.V.Tsotskhadze, T.V.Gamkrelidze, A.S.Lekiashvili, V.G.Akhvlediani, K.G.Tsereteli, L.V.Tsotskhadze, N.Kh.Zhvania, M.N.Meparishvili , M.E. Nedospasova, G. Chikovani and many others - develop problems of both individual Semitic languages and general theoretical issues.

The range of semitological research is also expanding in Moscow and Leningrad (St. Petersburg). A series of scientific conferences is taking place, the materials of which are published in a series of collections “Semitic languages”, a series of essays on individual Semitic languages is being published. In the early 1990s, a volume from the series “Languages of Asia and Africa”, dedicated to Semitic languages, was published.

The renewal of Semitic comparative studies began in the last quarter of the 20th century. the works of I.M. Dyakonov (1915–1999) and a group of his students and younger colleagues (A.Yu. Militarev, V.Ya. Porkhomovsky, O.V. Stolbova) in the field of not only Semitic, but also other languages of the Afroasiatic macrofamily. Reconstruction of the Afroasiatic phonological system, the structure of the Afroasiatic root, the reconstruction of specific Afroasiatic roots - all this allows Semitic scientists to see the facts of Semitic languages against a broader Afroasiatic background.

The comparative historical direction in Russian Semitic studies continues in the works of A.Yu. Militarev, who develops fundamental issues of the genesis of Semitic languages: the problem of the ancestral homeland of the Semitic-speaking population, the problem of etymology and reconstruction of the basic Semitic root word, the chronology of the division of Semitic languages. Currently, A.Yu.Militarev and L.E.Kogan have prepared the first in world semitology Semitic Etymological Dictionary(Part 1). The first part of the dictionary contains more than four hundred reconstructed Proto-Semitic roots related to human and animal anatomy. The continuation of this dictionary on other topics is expected.

As a result of the research work of semitologists by the end of the 20th century. Many “blank” spots in the history of Semitic languages began to disappear: their genetic connections were clarified, the possibility of a deep reconstruction of not only the consonantal part of the root, but also root vocalism was opened, the disappeared members of the phonological system, the primary structure of the root, and trends in language changes were reconstructed. General typology and sociolinguistics continue to be enriched with adequate data on Semitic languages and their history.

Literature:

Semitic languages. Ed. G.Sh.Sharbatova. M., 1963
Starinin V.P. Semitic word structure. M., 1963
Gazov-Ginsberg A.M. Was the language figurative in its origins?? M., 1965
Semitic languages. Proceedings of the first conference. on Semitic languages. Oct. 1964. Ed. G.Sh.Sharbatova, parts 1–2. M., 1965
Gazov-Ginsberg A.M. Symbolism of Proto-Semitic inflection. M., 1974
Dyakonov I.M. Languages of ancient Western Asia. M., 1976
Militarev A.Yu. Development of views on the Semitic root.– In the book: Eastern linguistics. M., 1976
Semitic languages. Sat. articles, vol. 3. Ed. G.Sh.Sharbatova. M., 1976
Maisel S.S. Ways of development of the root stock of Semitic languages. Rep. editor, compiler, author of the introductory article and additions A.Yu.Militarev. M., 1983
Semitic languages.– In the book: Languages of Asia and Africa, vol. IV, book. 1. Afroasiatic languages. M., 1991
Grande B.M. Introduction to the comparative study of Semitic languages. M., 1972; 2nd ed. M., 1998
Yushmanov N.V. Selected works. Works on general phonetics, semitology and Arabic classical morphology. M., 1998

language family in the Near and Middle East and North Africa; is part of the macrofamily of Afroasiatic languages, which unites several large language families connected by distant relationships.

The name “Semitic” languages, “Semitic” language, is conditional, i.e. is not connected either with the grammatical structure of these languages, or with the place of their origin and distribution. The name of this family is borrowed from the genealogical classification of nations given in the Bible (Genesis 10). Most of the peoples who spoke languages related to Hebrew were considered to be the descendants of one of the sons of Noah, Shem. From this proper name the name “Semitic, Semitic” was derived. It was introduced into scientific use in the 18th century. German historian and philologist August Schlözer (1735-1809).

According to data from the late 1990s, the number of speakers of Semitic languages exceeds 200 million people (mainly due to speakers of modern Arabic).

The dead Semitic languages known to modern science include the following.

Eblaite language, or the language of Ebla the language of a cuneiform archive discovered by archaeologists in the 1970s in Northwestern Syria. Cuneiform tablets date back to the second half of the 3rd millennium BC.

Amorite the language, known only by proper names recorded in Sumerian and Akkadian cuneiform texts, was widespread at the end of the 3rd and first half of the 2nd millennium BC. in the territory of Northwestern Syria and Western Mesopotamia.

Ancient Canaanite the language, known from individual names and phrases from Akkadian and ancient Egyptian texts, was widespread in the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. in the territories of ancient Palestine (now Israel and Jordan) and ancient Phenicia (modern Lebanon).

Hebrew the language is known from monuments of the 12th-3rd centuries. BC. (Biblical Hebrew). Presumably remained colloquial until the first centuries of our era. Until the 18th century used in post-biblical form as a written language. It was distributed in the territory of ancient Palestine. It is still used as a cult language to this day.

Semitic languages. Ed. G.Sh.Sharbatova. M., 1963
Starinin V.P. Semitic word structure. M., 1963
Gazov-Ginsberg A.M. Was the language figurative in its origins?? M., 1965
Semitic languages. Proceedings of the first conference. on Semitic languages. Oct. 1964. Ed. G.Sh.Sharbatova, part 12. M., 1965
Gazov-Ginsberg A.M. Symbolism of Proto-Semitic inflection. M., 1974
Dyakonov I.M. Languages of ancient Western Asia. M., 1976
Militarev A.Yu. Development of views on the Semitic root. In the book: Eastern linguistics. M., 1976
Semitic languages. Sat. articles, vol. 3. Ed. G.Sh.Sharbatova. M., 1976
Maisel S.S. Ways of development of the root stock of Semitic languages. Rep. editor, compiler, author of the introductory article and additions A.Yu.Militarev. M., 1983
Semitic languages. In the book: Languages of Asia and Africa, vol. IV, book. 1. Afroasiatic languages. M., 1991
Grande B.M. Introduction to the comparative study of Semitic languages. M., 1972; 2nd ed. M., 1998
Yushmanov N.V. Selected works. Works on general phonetics, semitology and Arabic classical morphology. M., 1998

Find "SEMITIC LANGUAGES" on

(certain emigrant groups - also on other continents); their number is about 200 million people (early 1990s). The science that studies Semitic languages (as well as the literature, culture and history of their speakers) is called Semitic.

According to the latest classification (developed by R. Hezron in 1973–74), the family of Semitic languages is divided into the following branches and groups:

I. The eastern branch is represented by the extinct Akkadian (or Assyro-Babylonian) language of 3-1 thousand BC. e. (see Akkad, Mesopotamia) and, possibly, the Eblaite language of 3 thousand BC. e. (in northwestern Syria, see Ebla).

II. Western branch:

A. Central Semitic languages: 1. Canaanite in the broad sense: a) Canaanite proper (see Canaan); Hebrew (see Hebrew language; ancient Hebrew is also called Hebrew), Phoenician 2–1 thousand BC. e. (see Phenicia) and the Punic languages derived from it (in Carthage) and the minor languages of Canaan: Moabite, Edomite (Edomite), Ammonite (see Moab, Edom, Ammon) and others; b) Ugaritic 2 thousand BC. e. (see Ugarit); c) probably Amorite (2 thousand BC) in the north-west of Mesopotamia and in the east of Syria (see Amorites); 2. Aramaic language; 3. Arabic, which includes many very different dialects, as well as the Maltese language derived from it. The traditional classification of Semitic languages differs from the newest one in that it classifies Arabic as a South Semitic language. According to many linguists, within the Central Semitic group the Canaanite and Aramaic languages can be combined into the northwestern subgroup of Semitic languages.

B. South Semitic languages: 1. ancient South Arabian language 1 thousand BC. e. (Sabean, Minaean, Qatabanian, Hadhramaut and other dialects in the south of the Arabian Peninsula, mainly in Yemen, and apparently the Ethiopian Semitic languages deriving from it (in Ethiopia and Eritrea): Old Ethiopian (whose literary form, Ge'ez, serves as a cult language Christians and Jews of Ethiopia) and modern Ethiopian languages: Amharic (central Ethiopia), Tigrinya (northern Ethiopia), Tigre (Eritrea), Harari (eastern Ethiopia), Argobba and Gimirra languages (southern Ethiopia); 2. modern New South Arabian languages in southern Arabia peninsulas: Meh Ri, X Arsusi and Jibbali (in the southwest of Oman), Soqotri (Socotra island in the Indian Ocean) and others.

The reconstructed Proto-Semitic language had a rich consonant system. Along with voiced and voiceless consonants, there were glottalized consonants (pronounced with closed vocal cords, as in many languages of the Caucasus). Glottalized consonants in Arabic were transformed into velarized ones, but were preserved in the New South Arabian and Ethiopian languages. They apparently were preserved in ancient Semitic languages, including Hebrew. In modern Hebrew, the contrast between glottalized (“emphatic”) and voiceless consonants is lost: the former glottalized ט [ṭ] and ק [ḳ] do not differ today from the voiceless ת [t] and כ [k]. In the Proto-Semitic language, 29 consonants are reconstructed: 1) stops: labials b And R, front lingual d, t And ṭ , posterior palatal (velar) g, k And ḳ , and 2) lingual fricatives: whistling z, s And ṣ (which may have been an affricate c̣̣), hissing š (w), anterior-dental δ (th in English this), θ (th in English thin), θ̣ (glottalized θ ), lateral: deaf ś and glottalized ṣ́, 3) throat: pharyngeal ‘ And h(as ע and ח in the pronunciation of Jews from Arab countries and Arabs), uvular fricatives ġ And ḫ, ’ (glottal stop) and h, 4) sonants m, n, l, r, w And y. Reflection of these consonants in Hebrew: b > ב , R > פ , d > ד , t > ת , ṭ > ט , g > ג , k > כ , ḳ > ק , z And δ > ז , s > ס , ś And θ > שׁ , ṣ, θ̣ And ṣ́ > צ , š > שׂ , ‘ And ġ > ע , ḥ And ḫ > ח , ’ > א , h > ה , m > מ , n > נ , l > ל , r > ר , y > י , w> י (at the beginning of a word). In the ancient South Arabian, Arabic and Ugaritic languages, the ancient consonants were better preserved, but there were changes there too (for example, in Arabic R > f, transformation of glottalized to velarized, ś > š, voicing θ̣ > δ̣ , change ṣ́ > ḍ). Proto-Semitic vowel system: short a, i, u and long ā , ī , ū .

During word formation (especially in the sphere of the verb) and morphology (for example, tenses, types, participles and genders of the verb) in Semitic languages, vowel alternation occurs, that is, the original vowel of the base is replaced by the vowel of the word-formation or morphology model. As a result, devocalization of the primary stem occurs: the primary verbal stem lmad - `to study` (in Hebrew, preserved in the forms יִלְמַד - `will learn` and לְמַד - `learn`, loses the original vowel in the participle לוֹמֵד - `student` (`learning`), replacing it with the vowel of the participle model -о-е-. The same thing happens in the derived verb לִמֵּד - `taught' and in the derived names לִימּוּד - `study`, לַמְדָּן - `scientist`, etc. As a result, the common element of related words (that is, the root ) there are only consonants (most often three consonants).

Let's give an example from classical Arabic and modern Hebrew:

root ktb- `write`

Arab	Hebrew	Transcription	Meaning
kataba	כָּתַב	katav	wrote
kātib	כּוֹתֵב	kotev	writing
maktub	כָּתוּב	katuv	written
kitāb	כְּתָב	ktav	letter (and other meanings)
'aktaba	הִכְתִּיב	hixtiv	forced me to write, dictated
takātaba	הִתְכַּתֵּב	hitkattev	corresponded

The plural of names can also be formed (and in Arabic - even without ending the number): in Arabic ra's- in Hebrew רֹאשׁ - `head`; in Arabic ru'ūs- in Hebrew רָאשִׁים - `heads`. In Arabic, the ending of the dual number has been preserved, in Hebrew - only in some groups of names: in Arabic yawmani, oblique case yawmayni- in Hebrew yomayim`two days`. There are two grammatical genders: masculine and feminine, the typical ending of the latter is t, and in the form -at it may fall off and be restored in certain cases: in Arabic malika (t+ case ending) - in Hebrew malka, in paired state (see below) malkat- `queen`, `queen`. Some Semitic languages have a definite article (member) written together: in Arabic al-, in Hebrew -הָ or -הַ, -הֶ.

The “conjugate state” (status constructus in Latin terminology) gives the combination of two nouns a meaning, which is usually translated into Russian by the genitive case of the second of them. This case is retained in Arabic. The first name is deprived of the article; in a number of Semitic languages, for example, in Hebrew, it can significantly change the form: בַּיִת - `house` (with the article - הַבַּיִת), בֵּית סֵפֶר - `school`, literally `house of the book` (with the article - בֵּית הַס ֵּפֶר ). This combination often plays the role of a complex name; fused compound words are not typical for Semitic languages, although they are created, especially in modern times (under the influence of Western languages). In addition, the second word of the combination often replaces the relative adjective (this last category is poorly developed in Semitic languages), for example, in Hebrew אוֹר כּוֹכָבִים - `starlight`, that is `starlight`, בּגְדֵי יְלָדִים - `children's clothing`. There is a special possessive noun with the suffix - ī , which can play the role of a noun or adjective: in Arabic yahūdī- in Hebrew יְהוּדִי - `Jew` (literally `Jew`) or `Jewish`.

In the field of personal pronouns, as well as verbs, a feature of Semitic languages is the presence of two grammatical genders, not only in the 3rd, but also in the 2nd person of both numbers: in Arabic anta- in Hebrew אַתָּה - `you` (masculine); in Arabic anti- in Hebrew אתְּ - `you` (feminine); etc. There are also suffixal forms of personal pronouns (with a name - possessive, with a verb - objective indicators): in Arabic 'abūua- in Hebrew אָבִי - `my father`; in Arabic ra'ānī, in Hebrew - רָאָנִי - `(he) saw me` (rarely used in modern Hebrew).

It is generally accepted in science that instead of tenses, the Proto-Semitic language had two verbal forms: perfect (punctuative) and imperfect (italic). Subsequently, the perfective form developed into the past tense, and the imperfective form into the future, and partly into the present (in modern Hebrew the latter is conveyed by the participle).

Particularly characteristic of the Semitic verb is the presence of so-called “breeds” (intensifying, coercive, reciprocal, reflexive and others; in Hebrew they are called “constructions” - binyanim. See above for Arabic and Hebrew examples meaning `wrote', `caused to write' and `corresponded').

Among the speakers of Semitic languages, the world's first alphabet arose (see also Paleography; Writing), from which (partly under the influence of which) apparently all other alphabetic systems of the world originate. The oldest written monuments of these languages are known in the Akkadian and Eblaite languages (mid-3rd millennium BC); they are written in cuneiform, borrowed from the Sumerians and not representing an alphabet. But already from the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. e. monuments of Semitic languages written in the consonantal alphabet have been preserved. Almost all Semitic languages use alphabets of West Semitic origin. Only a very small number of speakers of Semitic languages (Maltese, from the 19th century) switched to the Latin alphabet.

In addition to the Semitic languages, the Afroasiatic (Semitic-Hamitic) family includes Ancient Egyptian (its descendant - Coptic is the language of worship of Egyptian Christians); Berber-Libyan languages (see also Hebrew-Berber language; cf. Libya); Chadian languages (of which the Hausa language, the number of speakers of which reaches 30–40 million people, is a means of interethnic communication in West Africa and even in parts of Sudan); Cushitic languages (in northeastern and eastern Africa; among them - Agau, which was the spoken language of some Ethiopian Jews); some scientists distinguish part of the Cushitic languages into a special branch - the Omotian languages (for the etymology of the words “Hamites”, “Cushites”, see Ham).

Proponents of the theory of the existence of an even broader, so-called Nostratic language macrofamily also include the Afroasiatic languages (see Hebrew language. Introduction).

KEE, volume: 7.
Col.: 744–747.
Published: 1994.