Jump to content

Taymanitic

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Taymanitic
RegionTaymāʾ
Erasecond half of the 6th century BC
Ancient North Arabian
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
Glottologtaym1240

Taymanitic was the language and script of the oasis of Taymāʾ in northwestern Arabia, dated to the second half of the 6th century BC.[1]

Classification

[edit]

Taymanitic does not participate in the key innovations of Proto-Arabic, precluding it from being considered a member of the Arabic language family. It shares one key isogloss with Northwest Semitic: the change w > y in word-initial position. Examples include yrḫ for *warḫum 'moon, month' and ydʿ for wadaʿa 'to know'.[2]

It is clear that Taymanitic script expressed a distinct linguistic variety that is not Arabic and not closely related to Hismaic or Safaitic, while it can tentatively be suggested that it was more closely related to Northwest Semitic.[1]

Phonology

[edit]

Consonants

[edit]
Consonant phonemes[1]
Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Pharyn-
geal
Glottal
plain sibilant lateral
Nasal m n
Plosive/
Affricate
voiceless p t ts k ʔ
voiced b d dz ɡ
ejective tsʼ tɬʼ
Fricative voiceless s ɬ x ħ h
voiced ɣ ʕ
Liquid trill r
central l
Semivowel j w

Vowels

[edit]
Monophthong phonemes
Short Long
Front Back Front Back
Close i u
Open a

There were two diphthongs of a vowel and semivowel: /aj/ and /aw/.[1]

Characteristics

[edit]

Taymanitic exhibits two major features which are innovative:[2]

  1. The change w > y in word-initial position: yrḫ for *warḫum 'moon, month' and ydʿ for wadaʿa 'to know'.
  2. The mergers *z, * > *z, *s3, * > *s3, and *, * > * (loss of interdentals).

Unlike Arabic, Taymanitic does not exhibit the merger of Proto-Semitic [s] and [ts].

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d Kootstra, Fokelien (15 August 2016). "The Language of the Taymanitic Inscriptions and its Classification". Arabian Epigraphic Notes. LeiCenSAA: 68.
  2. ^ a b Al-Jallad, Ahmad (2018). "The earliest stages of Arabic and its linguistic classification". In Benmamoun, Elabbas; Bassiouney, Reem (eds.). The Routledge Handbook of Arabic Linguistics. Routledge. pp. 315–331. ISBN 9781315147062.