A Cultural History of the Semitic Languages (original) (raw)
This history emphasizes the continuous linguistic accumulation, manifold connections and mutual enrichment among various Semitic languages, which have shared a long and complex history. The Middle East is the oldest field of cultural interaction where the most ancient languages and the most influential ideas were born, evolved, and intermingled. Every Semitic language emerged from this diverse cultural environment and drew upon a common repertoire of inherited and imported expressions such as oral languages (including constantly changing regional dialects and various scripts), music (Semitic and non-Semitic), visual images, and foreign languages. This constant linguistic flux became the driving force behind the development of a culture that experienced a relentless linguistic reorientation throughout its ancient and medieval history and has lasting consequences on the formation and transformation of its modern languages. The main origins of this linguistic flexibility lie in the age long discrepancy (or inconsistency including periodical temporary unity) between written and oral language and between the conventionalized symbols and the actual sound of language. This discrepancy drove a continuous cycle of birth and death of a stream of languages in the Middle East. Although Semitic language was the original inventor of alphabetic script, the alphabet form of writing did not come easily within the Semitic language group because of this inherited discrepancy. During the third Millennium BC, most ancient Semitic languages adopted cuneiform, a highly conservative and logographic script. It was not until 1100 BC that a semi-alphabetic script was created. Several alphabetic scripts emerged and became extinct during the next fifteen centuries because an important part of the Semitic languages, the vowels that defined meaning and grammatical structure, were not fully presented. As a result, only spelling (not the way to be read) of the written language was standardized; thus the pronunciation of the written language remained unregulated and fluid. Consequently, local languages and dialects disappeared as quickly as they appeared. The authority of written languages was often challenged by active and innovative oral languages and quickly branched out after every minor phonetic shift.
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