Among the Semitic languages, Samalian shows most similarities toAramaic. It has been earlier often considered an outright early dialect of Aramaic, possibly influenced byCanaanite. Strong evidence is however absent, and Samalian is best considered an independent member of theNorthwest Semitic group,[2][3] or, together with theDeir Alla Inscription, a sister variety of Aramaic in an "Aramoid" or "Syrian" group.[2][4]
Features connecting Samalian with Aramaic include:
a change *n >r in the wordbr 'son', though this is attested only as a part of personal names and may not have been the native word. The same phenomenon appears also in a Phoenician text from Sam'al (theKilamuwa Stela).[5][6]
loss of *ʔ in the wordḥd (< *ʔḥd) 'one'.[5] This occurs sporadically also in biblical Hebrew and in the Phoenician dialect ofByblos.[6]
a change *ɬʼ >q, e.g.ʔrq 'earth', known as an orthographic device also inOld Aramaic[5] (in later Aramaic, Proto-Semitic *ɬʼ shifts instead to/ʕ/).
Pat-El & Wilson-Wright propose as additional general characteristics of Samalian the development of nasal vowels, as expected word-finaln after long vowels is systematically absent in the Panamuwa inscriptions;[7] as well as an object markerwt, cognate with Arameanləwāt 'with'.[8]
Dion, Paul-E. (1978). "The Language Spoken in Ancient Samʾal".Journal of Near Eastern Studies.37 (2):115–18.JSTOR545138. Accessed 6 July 2023.
Giusfredi, Federico; Pisaniello, Valerio (2021). "THE POPULATION, THE LANGUAGE AND THE HISTORY OF YADIYA/SAM'AL". In Payne, Annick; Velhartická, Šárka; Wintjes, Jorit (eds.).Beyond All Boundaries: Anatolia in the First Millennium BC.Peeters Publishers. pp. 189–223.doi:10.2307/j.ctv2tjd71x.12.
Gzella, Holger (2014). "Language and Script". In Niehr, Herbert (ed.).The Aramaeans in Ancient Syria. Handbook of Oriental Studies. Vol. 106. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. pp. 71–107.doi:10.1163/9789004229433_005.ISBN978-90-04-22943-3.
Gzella, Holger (2015). "The Emergence of Aramaic Dialects in the Fertile Crescent".A Cultural History of Aramaic. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. pp. 72–77.doi:10.1163/9789004285101_003.ISBN978-90-04-28510-1.
Noorlander, Paul (2012). "Sam'alian in Its Northwest Semitic Setting: A Historical-Comparative Approach".Orientalia.81 (3):202–38.JSTOR43077430. Accessed 6 July 2023.
