The Semitic Languages

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:

• new introductory chapters on Proto-Semitic grammar and Semitic linguistic typology,
• an additional chapter on the place of Semitic as a subgroup of Afroasiatic, 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-by-word 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.

John Huehnergard is Professor of Semitic Languages and Linguistics in the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.

Na’ama Pat-El is Assistant Professor of Comparative Semitic Linguistics at the University of Texas at Austin.