fbpx
Wikipedia

Classification of Arabic languages

October 05, 2023

This article is about the historical language group. For the modern general language (macrolanguage), see Arabic. For the separate South Semitic language group, see Modern South Arabian languages.

The Arabic language family is divided into several categories which are: Old Arabic, the literary varieties, and the modern vernaculars.[1]

Arabian
South Central Semitic
North Arabian
Geographic
distribution		North Africa, Middle East, Malta
Linguistic classificationAfro-Asiatic
Proto-languageProto-Arabic
Glottologarab1394

The genealogical position of Arabic within the group of the Semitic languages has long been a problem.[2]

Views on Arabic classification Edit

Semitic languages were confined in a relatively small geographic area (Greater Syria, Mesopotamia and the Arabian desert) and often spoken in contiguous regions. Permanent contacts between the speakers of these languages facilitated borrowing between them. Borrowing disrupts historical processes of change and makes it difficult to reconstruct the genealogy of languages.[3]

In the traditional classification of the Semitic languages, Arabic was in the Southwest Semitic group, based on some affinities with Modern South Arabian and Geʽez.[4]

Most scholars reject the Southwest Semitic subgrouping because it is not supported by any innovations and because shared features with South Arabian and Ethiopian were only due to areal diffusion.[5]

In 1976, linguist Robert Hetzron classified Arabic languages as a Central Semitic language:[6]

John Huehnergard, Aaron D. Rubin, and other scholars suggested subsequent modifications to Hetzron's model:[7]

However, several scholars, such as Giovanni Garbini, consider that the historical–genetic interpretation is not a satisfactory way of representing the development of the Semitic languages (contrary to Indo-European languages, which spread over a wide area and were usually isolated from each other).[8] Edward Ullendorff even thinks it is impossible to establish any genetic hierarchy between Semitic languages.[6] These scholars prefer a purely typological–geographical approach without any claim to a historical derivation.[4]

For instance, in Garbini's view, the Syrian Desert was the core area of the Semitic languages where innovations came from. This region had contacts between sedentary settlements—on the desert fringe—and nomads from the desert. Some nomads joined settlements, while some settlers became isolated nomads ("Bedouinisation"). According to Garbini, this constant alternation explains how innovations spread from Syria into other areas.[9] Isolated nomads progressively spread southwards and reached South Arabia, where the South Arabian language was spoken. They established linguistic contacts back and forth between Syria and South Arabia and their languages. That is why Garbini considers that Arabic does not belong exclusively to either the Northwest Semitic languages (Aramaic, Phoenician, Hebrew, etc.) or the South Semitic languages (Modern South Arabian, Geʽez, etc.) but that it was affected by innovations in both groups.[10]

There is still no consensus regarding the exact position of Arabic within Semitic languages. The only consensus among scholars is that Arabic varieties exhibit common features with both the South (South Arabian, Ethiopic) and the North (Canaanite, Aramaic) Semitic languages, and that it also contains unique innovations.[10]

There is no consensus among scholars whether Arabic diglossia (between Classical Arabic, also called "Old Arabic" and Arabic vernaculars, also called "New Arabic" or "Neo-Arabic") was the result of the Islamic conquests and due to the influence of non-Arabic languages or whether it was already the natural state in 7th-century Arabia (which means that both types coexisted in the pre-Islamic period).[11][12][13]

Modern spoken Arabic varieties Edit

According to Dutch linguist Kees Versteegh, modern vernaculars (also called dialects, colloquial varieties or spoken Arabic varieties) are classified as follows:[14][a][b]

See also Edit

Notes Edit

  1. ^ Versteegh does not mention Shihhi Arabic, Dhofari Arabic, Judeo-Yemeni Arabic, Judeo-Moroccan Arabic, and Judeo-Tripolitanian Arabic.
  2. ^ Algerian Arabic, Moroccan Arabic, and Tunisian Arabic are koines.

References Edit

  1. ^ Jallad, Ahmad (2020). "Al-Jallad. A Manual of the Historical Grammar of Arabic". Academia.edu.
  2. ^ Versteegh 2014, p. 18
  3. ^ Versteegh 2014, p. 13
  4. ^ a b c Versteegh 2014, p. 11
  5. ^ Al-Jallad, Ahmad (2020). "0. Arabic defined and its subgroupings". A Manual of the Historical Grammar of Arabic. pp. 8, 11 – via Academia.
  6. ^ a b c Versteegh 2014, p. 15
  7. ^ a b Brustad & Zuniga 2019, pp. 3–6
  8. ^ Versteegh 2014, p. 21
  9. ^ Versteegh 2014, pp. 15–16
  10. ^ a b Versteegh 2014, pp. 21–22
  11. ^ Brustad & Zuniga 2019, pp. 367–369.
  12. ^ Versteegh 2014, pp. 58–59.
  13. ^ Abboud-Haggar, Soha. "Dialects: Genesis". In Edzard, Lutz; de Jong, Rudolf (eds.). Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics. doi:10.1163/1570-6699_eall_EALL_COM_0088.
  14. ^ Versteegh 2014, pp. 192–220.
  15. ^ Versteegh 2014, p. 306.
  16. ^ Versteegh 2014, p. 307.

Sources Edit

  • Brustad, Kristen; Zuniga, Emilie (6 March 2019). "Chapter 16: Levantine Arabic". In Huehnergard, John; Pat-El, Na'ama (eds.). The Semitic languages (2nd ed.). London & New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. pp. 403–432. doi:10.4324/9780429025563. ISBN 978-0-429-02556-3. S2CID 166512720.
  • Cantineau, Jean (1955). "La dialectologie arabe", Orbis 4:149–169.
  • Fischer, Wolfdietrich; Jastrow, Otto (1980). Handbuch der arabischen Dialekte (in German). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. ISBN 3-447-02039-3. OCLC 7308117.
  • Greenfield, Jonas C.; Winnett, F. V.; Reed, W. L. (1970). "Ancient Records from North Arabia". Journal of Biblical Literature. 89 (4): 483. doi:10.2307/3263463. ISSN 0021-9231. JSTOR 3263463.</ref>
  • Kaye, Alan S., & Judith Rosenhouse (1997). "Arabic Dialects and Maltese", The Semitic Languages. Ed. Robert Hetzron. New York: Routledge. Pages 263–311.
  • Hélène., Lozachmeur (1995). Présence Arabe dans le Croissant Fertile avant l'Hégire : actes de la table ronde internationale ; le 13 novembre 1993. Éd. Recherche sur les Civilisations. ISBN 2-86538-254-0. OCLC 313039144.
  • MACDONALD, M. C. A. (2000). "Reflections on the linguistic map of pre-Islamic Arabia". Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy. 11 (1): 28–79. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0471.2000.aae110106.x. ISSN 0905-7196.
  • Scagliarini, F., (1999). "The Dedanitic inscriptions from Jabal 'Ikma in north-western Hejaz" Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 29, 143–150 ISBN 2-503-50829-4
  • Sobelman, Harvey; Ferguson, Charles A.; Harrell, Richard S. (1962). Arabic dialect studies : a selected bibliography. Washington, D.C.: MLA. OCLC 63382915.
  • Versteegh, C. H. M. (2014). The Arabic Language. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-4528-2. OCLC 872980196.

October 05, 2023
classification, arabic, languages, this, article, about, historical, language, group, modern, general, language, macrolanguage, arabic, separate, south, semitic, language, group, modern, south, arabian, languages, arabic, language, family, divided, into, sever. This article is about the historical language group For the modern general language macrolanguage see Arabic For the separate South Semitic language group see Modern South Arabian languages The Arabic language family is divided into several categories which are Old Arabic the literary varieties and the modern vernaculars 1 ArabianSouth Central SemiticNorth ArabianGeographicdistributionNorth Africa Middle East MaltaLinguistic classificationAfro AsiaticSemiticWest SemiticCentral SemiticArabianProto languageProto ArabicGlottologarab1394The genealogical position of Arabic within the group of the Semitic languages has long been a problem 2 Contents 1 Views on Arabic classification 2 Modern spoken Arabic varieties 3 See also 4 Notes 5 References 6 SourcesViews on Arabic classification EditSemitic languages were confined in a relatively small geographic area Greater Syria Mesopotamia and the Arabian desert and often spoken in contiguous regions Permanent contacts between the speakers of these languages facilitated borrowing between them Borrowing disrupts historical processes of change and makes it difficult to reconstruct the genealogy of languages 3 In the traditional classification of the Semitic languages Arabic was in the Southwest Semitic group based on some affinities with Modern South Arabian and Geʽez 4 Traditional classification of the Semitic languages 4 Proto SemiticWest SemiticEast Semitic Akkadian Northwest SemiticSouthwest SemiticCanaanite Hebrew Phoenician AramaicArabicSouth ArabianEthiopianMost scholars reject the Southwest Semitic subgrouping because it is not supported by any innovations and because shared features with South Arabian and Ethiopian were only due to areal diffusion 5 In 1976 linguist Robert Hetzron classified Arabic languages as a Central Semitic language 6 The genealogy of the Semitic languages Hetzron 1974 1976 6 Proto SemiticWest SemiticEast Semitic Akkadian South SemiticCentral SemiticAramaicArabo CanaaniteEthiopianEpigraphic South ArabianModern South ArabianArabicCanaaniteJohn Huehnergard Aaron D Rubin and other scholars suggested subsequent modifications to Hetzron s model 7 Huehnergard amp Pat El s classification of Semitic languages 7 Proto SemiticWest SemiticEast Semitic Akkadian Ethio SemiticModern South ArabianCentral SemiticNorth ArabianAncient ArabianNorthwest SemiticArabic SafaiticArameo CanaaniteUgariticSamalianArabic vernaculars inc Levantine Classical Arabic andModern Standard ArabicSafaiticDadanitic Taymanitic Hismaic etc However several scholars such as Giovanni Garbini consider that the historical genetic interpretation is not a satisfactory way of representing the development of the Semitic languages contrary to Indo European languages which spread over a wide area and were usually isolated from each other 8 Edward Ullendorff even thinks it is impossible to establish any genetic hierarchy between Semitic languages 6 These scholars prefer a purely typological geographical approach without any claim to a historical derivation 4 For instance in Garbini s view the Syrian Desert was the core area of the Semitic languages where innovations came from This region had contacts between sedentary settlements on the desert fringe and nomads from the desert Some nomads joined settlements while some settlers became isolated nomads Bedouinisation According to Garbini this constant alternation explains how innovations spread from Syria into other areas 9 Isolated nomads progressively spread southwards and reached South Arabia where the South Arabian language was spoken They established linguistic contacts back and forth between Syria and South Arabia and their languages That is why Garbini considers that Arabic does not belong exclusively to either the Northwest Semitic languages Aramaic Phoenician Hebrew etc or the South Semitic languages Modern South Arabian Geʽez etc but that it was affected by innovations in both groups 10 There is still no consensus regarding the exact position of Arabic within Semitic languages The only consensus among scholars is that Arabic varieties exhibit common features with both the South South Arabian Ethiopic and the North Canaanite Aramaic Semitic languages and that it also contains unique innovations 10 There is no consensus among scholars whether Arabic diglossia between Classical Arabic also called Old Arabic and Arabic vernaculars also called New Arabic or Neo Arabic was the result of the Islamic conquests and due to the influence of non Arabic languages or whether it was already the natural state in 7th century Arabia which means that both types coexisted in the pre Islamic period 11 12 13 Modern spoken Arabic varieties EditAccording to Dutch linguist Kees Versteegh modern vernaculars also called dialects colloquial varieties or spoken Arabic varieties are classified as follows 14 a b Peninsular North east Arabian ʿAnazi including Kuwaiti Arabic Bahrain Sunni Arabic and Gulf Arabic Sammar including some Bedouin dialects in Iraq Syro Mesopotamian Bedouin including the Bedouin dialects of North Israel and Jordan and the Dawaġrah dialect South west Arabian Yemeni Arabic including Sanʽani Arabic Hadhrami Arabic and Taʽizzi Adeni Arabic Shiʿite Baḥarna and Omani Arabic Ḥijazi West Arabian Bedouin dialects of the Hejaz and the Tihamah Includes Mecca and Medina Northwest Arabian Negev Sinai southern Jordan eastern coast of the Gulf of Aqaba and some regions in north western Saudi Arabia Syro Lebanese Lebanese Central Syrian including all Lebanese dialects Damascus Arabic Druze Arabic and Cukurova Arabic Versteegh notes that Cypriot Arabic is usually included in this group although it also has North Mesopotamian Arabic qeltu features North Syrian including Aleppo Arabic Palestinian Jordanian Palestinian urban madani Central Palestinian rural fellahi South Palestinian rural and Jordanian including the Hauran Greater Mesopotamian qǝltu Tigris Jewish Baghdadi and Christian Baghdadi Euphrates Anatolian Central Asian Arabic Uzbekistan Arabic gilit Muslim Baghdadi Urban Khuzestani Egyptian Sudanese Chad Sudan Chadian Arabic Bagirmi Nigeria Cameroon and part of Chad Urban dialects of Chad including N Djamena and Abbeche Sudanese Arabic Juba Arabic 15 Nubi Arabic 16 Egyptian proper Nile Delta Eastern Delta Sarqiyya Western Delta Cairene Arabic Middle Egypt Giza to Asyut Upper Egyptian Between Asyut and Nag Hammadi Between Nag Hammadi and Qena Between Qena and Luxor Between Luxor and Esna Maghrebi Pre Hilali all urban Eastern pre Hilali Libya Tunisia including Judeo Tunisian eastern Algeria Western pre Hilali western Algeria and Morocco Maltese Andalusian Arabic extinct Hilali Bedouin dialects of North Africa Sulaym Libyan Arabic and southern Tunisia Eastern Hilal central Tunisia and eastern Algeria Central Hilal south and central Algeria especially areas bordering the Sahara Maʿqil western Algeria and Moroccan plains HassaniyaSee also EditArab disambiguation Etymology of ArabNotes Edit Versteegh does not mention Shihhi Arabic Dhofari Arabic Judeo Yemeni Arabic Judeo Moroccan Arabic and Judeo Tripolitanian Arabic Algerian Arabic Moroccan Arabic and Tunisian Arabic are koines References Edit Jallad Ahmad 2020 Al Jallad A Manual of the Historical Grammar of Arabic Academia edu Versteegh 2014 p 18 Versteegh 2014 p 13 a b c Versteegh 2014 p 11 Al Jallad Ahmad 2020 0 Arabic defined and its subgroupings A Manual of the Historical Grammar of Arabic pp 8 11 via Academia a b c Versteegh 2014 p 15 a b Brustad amp Zuniga 2019 pp 3 6 Versteegh 2014 p 21 Versteegh 2014 pp 15 16 a b Versteegh 2014 pp 21 22 Brustad amp Zuniga 2019 pp 367 369 Versteegh 2014 pp 58 59 Abboud Haggar Soha Dialects Genesis In Edzard Lutz de Jong Rudolf eds Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics doi 10 1163 1570 6699 eall EALL COM 0088 Versteegh 2014 pp 192 220 Versteegh 2014 p 306 Versteegh 2014 p 307 Sources EditBrustad Kristen Zuniga Emilie 6 March 2019 Chapter 16 Levantine Arabic In Huehnergard John Pat El Na ama eds The Semitic languages 2nd ed London amp New York Routledge Taylor amp Francis Group pp 403 432 doi 10 4324 9780429025563 ISBN 978 0 429 02556 3 S2CID 166512720 Cantineau Jean 1955 La dialectologie arabe Orbis 4 149 169 Fischer Wolfdietrich Jastrow Otto 1980 Handbuch der arabischen Dialekte in German Wiesbaden Harrassowitz ISBN 3 447 02039 3 OCLC 7308117 Greenfield Jonas C Winnett F V Reed W L 1970 Ancient Records from North Arabia Journal of Biblical Literature 89 4 483 doi 10 2307 3263463 ISSN 0021 9231 JSTOR 3263463 lt ref gt Kaye Alan S amp Judith Rosenhouse 1997 Arabic Dialects and Maltese The Semitic Languages Ed Robert Hetzron New York Routledge Pages 263 311 Helene Lozachmeur 1995 Presence Arabe dans le Croissant Fertile avant l Hegire actes de la table ronde internationale le 13 novembre 1993 Ed Recherche sur les Civilisations ISBN 2 86538 254 0 OCLC 313039144 MACDONALD M C A 2000 Reflections on the linguistic map of pre Islamic Arabia Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 11 1 28 79 doi 10 1111 j 1600 0471 2000 aae110106 x ISSN 0905 7196 Scagliarini F 1999 The Dedanitic inscriptions from Jabal Ikma in north western Hejaz Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 29 143 150 ISBN 2 503 50829 4 Sobelman Harvey Ferguson Charles A Harrell Richard S 1962 Arabic dialect studies a selected bibliography Washington D C MLA OCLC 63382915 Versteegh C H M 2014 The Arabic Language Edinburgh University Press ISBN 978 0 7486 4528 2 OCLC 872980196 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Classification of Arabic languages amp oldid 1172718373, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.