Re: Proto-Semitic (was Re: markjjones@HOTMAIL.COM)
| From: | Rob Haden <magwich78@...> |
|---|
| Date: | Thursday, March 10, 2005, 16:17 |
|---|
On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 17:30:15 +0200, Steg Belsky <draqonfayir@...>
wrote:
>Not according to what i've seen...
>Sure we're talking about the right sound?
>voiced pharyngeal fricative(/approximant) = `ayin
>
>If i remember correctly, this sound is attested in almost all Semitic
>languages, except for Akkadian (which collapsed almost all of its
>'gutterals', leaving only /x/).
Whoops, you're right. I consulted the PDF file and saw that `ayin is
present in all modern and historic Semitic languages except Akkadian,
Maltese, and Eastern Aramaic.
It's interesting that, of all the Semitic languages, only Akkadian
underwent a radical collapse of most of its "gutterals". I wonder if it
actually didn't, but that it only appears so due to the inadequacies of
Sumerian cuneiform writing in representing Akkadian phonemes.
- Rob
Reply