12
The Arabic Language
and the rest, the West Semitic languages. Around 2000 bce
, a split took place in
the West Semitic group between the North-west (or North) and the South-west
(or South) Semitic languages. Finally, around 1000
bce, North-west Semitic split
into Canaanite and Aramaic, whereas the South-west Semitic languages divided
into Arabic, South Arabian and Ethiopic. The discovery of Ugaritic and Eblaite
have modified this picture considerably. Both are nowadays usually regarded as
North-west Semitic languages, but the precise relations between the languages of
this group are still disputed, and according to some scholars it belongs rather to
the North-east Semitic languages (see Figure 2.1).
Kienast (2001) rejects this classification of the Semitic languages into North-
east Semitic, North-west Semitic and South-west Semitic as being based solely on
geographical location, without taking into account the time frame of the devel
-
opment. In his view, the Semitic languages represent one language type that was
brought in successive waves by nomads into the rich agricultural area, first by
the Akkadians, then the Canaanites, then the Aramaeans and finally the Arabs.
Accordingly, he classifies these languages in chronological terms as Old Semitic
(
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