The Arabic Language

3.3 Nabataean and Palmyrene
The inscriptions mentioned in the preceding paragraph were distinguished by 
their use of the article 
h(n)-
. For the earliest testimonies of a type of Arabic that 
has the article 
ʾal-
, we must turn to two other groups of inscriptions, Nabataean 
and Palmyrene. Both of them are written in Aramaic, the 
lingua franca
of the area, 
but they originated in an environment in which Arabic was the spoken language. 
In these inscriptions we find many traces of this spoken Arabic, which as far as 
we can ascertain is closely related to Classical Arabic.
3.3.1 Nabataean
The Nabataean inscriptions stem from the Nabataean kingdom, with the capital 
Petra, which flourished until 106 ce. The inscriptions date from the first century 
bce to the first century ce; the youngest is from 355/356 ce
. Although the texts 
are in a form of Aramaic script and language, the inhabitants of the Nabataean 
kingdom must have spoken a colloquial language that was related to later 
Classical Arabic, as we can see in the form of most proper names and in numerous 
loanwords. The article in these names and loanwords is 
ʾl-
, although sometimes it 
is replaced by the Aramaic definite article 
-ā
, for example, 
ʾlʿbd
(
al-ʿabd
), alongside 
ʿbdʾ
(
ʿabdā
). Most proper names end in 
-w
, for example, 
yzydw
(
yazīd
), 
ḥrtw
(
ḥāriṯ
, 
with 
t
for Classical Arabic 
ṯ
). In theophoric names (names containing the name 
of a deity), one sometimes finds 
-y
as an ending, for example, 
ʿbdʾlhy
(
ʿabdallāhi
). 
The endings 
-w
and 
-y
are usually regarded as case endings for the nominative 
and the genitive. They occur only in proper names and are sometimes omitted. 
In general, there are many inconsistencies in their use (e.g., 
mlk nbṭw
‘the king 
of the Nabataeans’, 
šrkt tmwdw
‘the community of the Ṯamūd’, where one would 
have expected a genitive ending). This pattern of use has led to the conclusion 
that the endings are merely orthographic. In later Classical Arabic, there is one 
proper name in which the ending 
-w
is still found as an orthographic device, 
ʿmrw
(
ʿamr
), to distinguish it from the homographic 
ʿmr
(
ʿumar
). In the discussion about 
the alleged loss of case endings in pre-Islamic Arabic dialects, the testimony of 
the Nabataean inscriptions has become a crucial element (cf. below, Chapter 4). 
According to some scholars, the Arabic substratum in these inscriptions belongs 
to the periphery of the pre-Islamic Arabic-speaking world. Presumably, the 

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The Arabic Language
variety of Arabic spoken here had undergone various changes due to the contact 
its speakers had with other languages.
3.3.2 Palmyrene
The group of Palmyrene inscriptions stems from the oasis of Tadmur (Palmyra), 
which was destroyed in 273 
ce
by the Romans. This oasis must have been an Arab 
settlement, and at one time even the ruling dynasty was of Arab stock. Most of the 
inscriptions date from the second and third centuries 
ce
, but much earlier inscrip
-
tions have also been found. Like the Nabataean inscriptions, the inscriptions from 
Palmyra are written in the