RG ST 82 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Phoenician Alphabet, East Semitic Languages, Afroasiatic Languages

• School: UCSB
• Department: Religious Studies
• Course: RG ST 82
• Professor: Dwight Reynolds

Document Summary

Role of the arabic language in arab identity formation. Most verbs have three main consonants, and nouns are formed from the verb. Each root has meanings clustered around a central idea: k-t-b is the root having to do with writing. To make a causative verb, double the middle letter. Arabic script evolved later than the other ancient languages and like all alphabets, it evolved from the phoenician alphabet. Ancient (pre-islamic) arabic poetry shows a mixture of dialects: koine. The language of the qur"an is close to the koine. No standard language emerges naturally - it requires the intervention of governments. The conquests created a vast audience for knowledge about arabic. A small, arabic-speaking elite ruled a huge population of non-arabic speakers. Conversion to islam required at least a smattering of arabic. Ancient poetry + qur"an + medieval grammar = classical arabic. Classical arabic remained the only written form of the language. Classical arabic was spoken only in special circumstances.