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2008, Language and Linguistics Compass
https://doi.org/10.1111/J.1749-818X.2007.00044.X…
24 pages
The Semitic languages have enjoyed a long tradition of linguistic study, and remain one of the most widely studied of the world's language families. The large amount of scholarship that is generated on both the ancient and modern languages continues to have an effect on our understanding of the internal subgrouping of the Semitic family. Unfortunately, for both the specialist and non-specialist, reliable and up-to-date treatments of this topic are not easily found. This article will survey the current views on Semitic subgrouping and highlight recent scholarship on the issue.
AI



Language Processing and Acquisition in Languages of Semitic, Root-Based, Morphology, 2003
The distinctive character of a Semitic stem is usually identified by the root-andpattern structure, whereby a stem consists of two interdigitated segmental units, a consonantal root and a vocalic pattern. 1 Interdigitation is governed by a prosodic template which determines the syllabic structure of the stem, i.e. the number of syllables, vowel length, and gemination. The vocalic pattern and the prosodic template together form a binyan, which may be accompanied by an affix. This type of word structure appears quite different from the more familiar structure involving morpheme concatenation. Is Semitic morphology indeed so different? Within this volume, which highlights the distinctive aspects of Semitic morphology, I reconsider this question, claiming that the Semitic stem structure is not so peculiar, at least not to the extent that is usually believed. I will show that phonological phenomena constituting evidence for the consonantal root, the vocalic pattern, and the prosodic template in Semitic languages can also be found in non-Semitic languages. I will argue that the difference between Semitic and non-Semitic languages is not a matter of type but rather a matter of degree and combination. The phenomena characterizing Semitic-type morphology, i.e. those which constitute evidence for the consonantal root, the vocalic pattern, and the prosodic template, can be found in other languages but often to a lesser degree. In addition, while each phenomenon can be found in other languages individually, their combination within the same language is not found outside the Semitic family. The discussion is divided into two parts, one concerned with the consonantal root (Section 1) and the other with the binyan (Section 2). Section 1.1 offers a brief review of McCarthy's (1981) structural interpretation of the classical view of the Semitic stem, based primarily on root cooccurrence restrictions. Cooccurrence restrictions in other languages are presented in 1.2 as evidence that in this respect Semitic languages are not unique. Section 1.3 discusses a universal approach to cooccurrence restrictions within the theoretical guidelines of Feature Geometry. Section 2.1 presents the phonological properties identifying a verb in Modern Hebrew, which include the vocalic pattern, the prosodic structure, and prefixes.
This PDF is a draft of Part I of an in-progress textbook on comparative and historical Semitic linguistics, which will be published in the open-access series Cambridge Semitic Languages and Cultures. My sincere thanks to the general editor of CSLC, Geoffrey Khan, for his kind permission to make this first part of the book available to students and colleagues while the rest of the book is in preparation.
The Semitic Languages, 2nd ed., 2019
The Semitic Languages presents a comprehensive survey of the individual languages and language clusters within this language family, from their origins in antiquity to their present-day forms. This second edition has been fully revised, with new chapters and a wealth of additional material. New features include the following: • new introductory chapters on Proto-Semitic grammar and Semitic linguistic typology • an additional chapter on the place of Semitic as a subgroup of Afro-Asiatic, and several chapters on modern forms of Arabic, Aramaic and Ethiopian Semitic • text samples of each individual language, transcribed into the International Phonetic Alphabet, with standard linguistic word-byword glossing as well as translation • new maps and tables present information visually for easy reference. This unique resource is the ideal reference for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students of linguistics and language. It will be of interest to researchers and anyone with an interest in historical linguistics, linguistic typology, linguistic anthropology and language development.
* * * FIG 2 now corrected * * * Review of Leonid Kogan, Genealogical Classification of Semitic. The Lexical Isoglosses (De Gruyter: Boston – Berlin, 2015) in Journal of Near Eastern Studies 77 (2018): 144-149.
Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, 2020
Despite the important contribution of Semitic to linguistics, the field has been in decline for many years: fewer students are interested in investing in languages, fewer positions exist to support it. In this paper some of the signs of decline are reviewed, such as the reduction of “Semitic” to mean only Arabic or Aramaic, and some of the underlying reasons for it are identified, such as the balkanization of the Semitic languages by religion: Hebrew is studied in Old Testament departments, Arabic in Institutes for the study of Islam, etc. I provide a few examples to illustrate how such practices are damaging to the health and progress of the field. Finally, a couple of tentative solutions are proposed to change course.

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Orbis, 1994
I once amused myself with making out a case why Ethiopic should be classified with Hebrew (on account of many startling lexical resemblances) or with Akkadian (by virtue of similarities in the vocalism of the imperfect-and phonetic developments in Akkadian and Amharic are surprisingly close) or with Syriac (for certain identical syntactical constructions) or Arabic (with like features in the sound pattern and the formation of internal plurals). ULLENDORFF (1961:13) 1 The fact that not all the languages under consideration in this article were spoken at the same time, and that another, temporal, classification exists, stemming to a considerable extent from the attempt to overcome this difficulty, should not concern us here. 2 I refrain from referring to specific studies, as the list is long, cannot and need not be exhaustive. The works and the views they express are basically well-known and need not be repeated.
The Semitic Languages, 2nd ed., 2019
The Semitic Languages, 2nd ed., 2019
Journal of Language Relationship
Addenda and conclusion of an etymology-based 100item wordlist for Semitic languages The paper concludes a series of four previous publications by the author that contained a detailed word-byword etymological analysis of 100item Swadesh wordlists for all known Semitic languages for which such a wordlist could be compiled. This concluding part is intended as a brief, but comprehensive summary of the preceding research, containing all the Proto-Semitic equivalents that the author was able to reconstruct for Swadesh list etyma, accompanied with brief notes. A new, improved lexicostatistical tree for Semitic languages is also given, together with some historical comments.
The Cambridge Handbook of African Linguistics, 2019
Families Major brunches Major sub-brunches Languages Hadza isolate Hadza (isolate) Sandawe isolate Sandawe (isolate) Khoe-Kwadi Kwadi Kwadi (isolate within Khoe-Kwadi)
The Cambridge Handbook of African Linguistics, 2019