Arabic Evidence for Proto-Semitic */awa/ and */o
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2868545 |
|---|---|
| Authors | William Cowan (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1960 |
| Volume | 36 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 60 |
| Publication date | 1960-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Language (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0097-8507 • E-ISSN: 1535-0665 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/410623 |
| OpenAlex | W2334126288 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
The Proto-Semitic vowels, as usually reconstructed, are identical with those of Classical Arabic: short */i a u/, long /*ī ā ū/. In addition, a number of the long vowels are recognized, on the basis of morphophonemic alternation, as resulting from earlier sequences of short vowels and */y/ or */w/. For example, on the basis of the cognate set Heb. /dān/, Acc. /dānu/, Syr. /dān/, Arab. /dāna/ ‘he judged’, Gray reconstructs Proto-Semitic */dāna/. Since this long-vowel correspondence contrasts, however, with that of the set Heb. /šālōš/, Acc. /šalāšu/, Syr. /tәlā θ /, Arab. / θ alā θ un/, Eth. /šalās/ ‘three’, where he also reconstructs an */-ā-/, he posits a presumably pre-Proto-Semitic */aya/ for the first set on the basis of the imperfects Heb. /yāÐīn/, Acc. /ˀidīn/, Syr. /nәÐīn/, and Arab. /yadīnu/. The methodological error here is immediately apparent: if the long vowel of */dāna/ contrasts in its reflexes in the descendent languages with the long vowel of */θalāθu/, then the contrast existed in Proto-Semitic, and the morphophonemic alternation is irrelevant in determining it. A similar situation exists with respect to the verb Heb. /qām/, Syr. /qām/, Arab. /qāma/, Eth. /qōma/ ‘he stood’ (for the Acc. reflex cf. Acc. /kānu/ ‘he existed’, Arab. /kāna/ 'he was'), where Gray reconstructs */qāma/. To explain the Heb. reflexes one has to resort to an analogical formation from the forms with suffixes (/dantā/ 'you judged', /qamtā/ ‘you stood‘) where the vowel remained short, with subsequent stress lengthening of the reestablished short vowel in the simple forms. For Eth. one must recognize an */aw/ nucleus in the suffixed forms which went to /ō/ and was reestablished in the simple form. It is much easier, however, to recognize that */aya/ and */awa/ existed in Proto-Semitic
Ancient history · Arabic · Linguistics · Semitic languages · Ancient Near East History · Historical and Linguistic Studies · History · Language, Linguistics, Cultural Analysis · Philosophy
| Citations per year | 0.08 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1966 - 2014 (49) |
| Highly cited | No |