The Canaanite languages, sometimes called the Canaanite dialects, are one of four subgroups of the Northwest Semitic languages of Western Asia, alongside the still spoken Aramaic and the now extinct Ugaritic and Amorite languages. These closely related languages originated in the Levant and Upper Mesopotamia, and ancient Semitic speaking peoples spoke them across an area encompassing what is today Israel, Palestine, Jordan, the Sinai Peninsula, Lebanon, Syria, and parts of southwestern Turkey, Iraq and the northwestern corner of Saudi Arabia. From the ninth century BCE they also spread to the Iberian Peninsula, Malta, Sicily and North Africa in the form of Phoenician.
Facts
RegionThe Levant and Upper Mesopotamia: what is today Israel, Palestine, Jordan, the Sinai Peninsula, Lebanon, Syria, and parts of southwestern Turkey, Iraq and northwestern Saudi Arabia; spread from the ninth century BCE to the Iberian Peninsula, Malta, Sicily and North Africa as Phoenician. 1 Sources
1. Wikipedia: Canaanite Languages
Wikimedia Foundationlead section, second paragraphQuote, lead section, second paragraph
Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples spoke them in an area encompassing what is today Israel, Palestine, Jordan, the Sinai Peninsula, Lebanon, Syria, as well as some areas of southwestern Turkey, Iraq, and the northwestern corner of Saudi Arabia. From the 9th century BCE, they also spread to the Iberian Peninsula, Malta, Sicily and North Africa in the form of Phoenician.
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