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Language Family

Northwest Semitic

Eurasian Language Families

Northwest Semitic is a division of the Semitic languages comprising indigenous languages of the Levant. It emerged from Proto-Semitic in the Early Bronze Age and is first attested in proper names identified as Amorite in the Middle Bronze Age. The oldest coherent texts are in Ugaritic, dating to the Late Bronze Age, joined by Old Aramaic by the time of the Bronze Age collapse, and by Sutean and the Canaanite languages in the Iron Age.

Facts
Region
Concentrated in the Middle East 1
Proto-Language Status
Northwest Semitic emerged directly from Proto-Semitic during the Early Bronze Age, with no separately named intermediate proto-language in general use. It is first attested in Amorite proper names of the Middle Bronze Age. 1
Northwest Semitic
Filter Results2 entries

Aramaic

Northwest Semitic

Ugaritic

Northwest Semitic
Connections

Includes

Aramaic, Languages
Source Aramaic language (Wikipedia)
Ugaritic, Languages
Source Glottolog: Ugaritic
In the Other Atlases

Includes

Aramaic

Also in Divinity Atlas: included in this subject.

Biblical Hebrew

Also in Divinity Atlas: included in this subject.

Canaanites

Also in Divinity Atlas: included in this subject.

Classical Mandaic

Also in Divinity Atlas: included in this subject.

Classical Syriac

Also in Divinity Atlas: included in this subject.

Hebrew

Also in Divinity Atlas: included in this subject.

Israelites

Also in Divinity Atlas: included in this subject.

Medieval Hebrew

Also in Divinity Atlas: included in this subject.

Mishnaic Hebrew

Also in Divinity Atlas: included in this subject.

Phoenicians

Also in Divinity Atlas: included in this subject.

Samaritans

Also in Divinity Atlas: included in this subject.

Ugaritic

Also in Divinity Atlas: included in this subject.

Found In

The Middle East

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Sources
1. Wikipedia: Northwest Semitic languages
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Infobox region field, English Wikipedia article Northwest Semitic languages
    Concentrated in the Middle East
  • Lead paragraph, English Wikipedia article Northwest Semitic languages
    It emerged from Proto-Semitic in the Early Bronze Age. It is first attested in proper names identified as Amorite in the Middle Bronze Age.
View the Source
Wikidata: Northwest Semitic
Wikidata Q162996, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source
Glottolog: Ugaritic
GlottologIncludes: Ugaritic, Endangerment comment
Quote, Includes: Ugaritic, Endangerment comment
Ugaritic, an extinct ancient Northwest Semitic language whose existence is well-known, is not found in E16/E17/E18/E19/E20/E21/E22/E23/E24/E25/E26/E27/E28 ( William M. Schniedewind and Joel H. Hunt 2007 ).
View the Source
Aramaic language (Wikipedia)
Includes: Aramaic, Lead
Quote, Includes: Aramaic, Lead
Aramaic is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written and spoken in different varieties for over 3,000 years.
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