Moabite language

The Moabite language is an extinct Canaanite language, spoken in Moab (modern day central-western Jordan ) in the early first millennium BC. Most of our knowledge about Moabite comes from the Mesha Stele , as well as the El-Kerak Stela ;. The main features distinguishing Moabite from fellow Canaanite languages such as Hebrew are: a plural in -în rather than -îm (e.g. mlkn "kings" for Biblical Hebrew məlākîm ), like Aramaic and Arabic ; retention of the feminine ending -at which Biblical Hebrew reduces to -āh (e.g. qryt "town", Biblical Hebrew qiryāh ) but retains in the construct state nominal form (e.g. qiryát yisrael "town of Israel"); and retention of a verb form with infixed -t- , also found in Arabic and Akkadian ( w-’ltḥm "I began to fight", from the root lḥm .)

Moabite is an extinct Canaanite language formerly spoken in Moab (modern day central-western Jordan ) in the early 1st millennium BC. An altar inscription written in Moabite and dated to 800 BC was revealed in an excavation in Motza. It was written using a variant of the Phoenician alphabet . Most knowledge about Moabite comes from the Mesha Stele , which is the only known extensive text in the language. In addition, there is the three-line El-Kerak Inscription and a few seals. The main features distinguishing Moabite from fellow Canaanite languages such as Hebrew are: a plural in -în rather than -îm (e.g. mlkn "kings" for Biblical Hebrew məlākîm ), like Aramaic and Arabic ; retention of the feminine ending -at or "-ah", which Biblical Hebrew reduces to -āh only (e.g. qiryat or qiryah , "town", Biblical Hebrew qiryāh ) but retains in the construct state nominal form (e.g. qiryát yisrael "town of Israel"); and retention of a verb form with infixed -t- , also found in Arabic and Akkadian ( w-’ltḥm "I began to fight", from the root lḥm ). According to Glottolog , referencing Huehnergard & Rubin (2011), Moabite was not a distinct language from Hebrew. Moabite differed only dialectally from Hebrew, and Moabite religion and culture was related to that of the Israelites . On the other hand, although Moabite itself had begun to diverge, the script used in the 9th century BC did not differ from the script used in Hebrew inscriptions at that time. While knowledge of Moabite is limited primarily to the Mesha Stele and a few seals, it is clear that Moabite, together with Ammonite and Edomite , belonged to the dialect continuum of the Canaanite group of northwest Semitic languages , together with Hebrew and Phoenician . "Biblical War Revealed on 2,800-Year-Old Stone Altar: The altar reveals new details about a rebellion against the Kingdom of Israel" . "isbn:0805446796 - Sök på Google" . books.google.se (in Swedish) .

Ancient Semitic language of Moab (Jordan) The Moabite language , also known as the Moabite dialect , is an extinct sub-language or dialect of the Canaanite languages , themselves a branch of Northwest Semitic languages , formerly spoken in the region described in the Bible as Moab (modern day central-western Jordan ) in the early 1st millennium BC. The body of Canaanite epigraphy found in the region is described as Moabite; this is a very small corpus limited primarily to the Mesha Stele and a few seals. Moabite, together with the similarly poorly-attested Ammonite and Edomite , belonged to the dialect continuum of the Canaanite group of northwest Semitic languages , together with Hebrew and Phoenician . Diversity in Pre-Exilic Hebrew . The major problem with the study of the Moabite language is the lack of material upon which to base a study. We are fortunate to have a major inscription in the Mesha Stone . This is a basalt stele found in Diban, Transjordan, dating from sometime after 850 BC, set up by Mesha, king of Moab, to celebrate his victory over Israel. Apart from this text, however, we have only two other fragmentary ninth century inscriptions, with various seals to represent later Moabite. The better preserved of these two inscriptions seems to be a fragment of another inscription by Mesha… the second preserves only a few letters which can be made into a couple of conjectured words…. our knowledge of the grammar and other linguistic features of Moabite is dependent almost completely on one inscription alone.

Ancient Semitic language of Moab (Jordan) The Moabite language , also known as the Moabite dialect , is an extinct sub-language or dialect of the Canaanite languages , themselves a branch of Northwest Semitic languages , formerly spoken in the region described in the Bible as Moab (modern day central-western Jordan ) in the early 1st millennium BC. The body of Canaanite epigraphy found in the region is described as Moabite; this is a very small corpus limited primarily to the Mesha Stele and a few seals. Moabite, together with the similarly poorly-attested Ammonite and Edomite , belonged to the dialect continuum of the Canaanite group of northwest Semitic languages , together with Hebrew and Phoenician . Diversity in Pre-Exilic Hebrew . The major problem with the study of the Moabite language is the lack of material upon which to base a study. We are fortunate to have a major inscription in the Mesha Stone . This is a basalt stele found in Diban, Transjordan, dating from sometime after 850 BC, set up by Mesha, king of Moab, to celebrate his victory over Israel. Apart from this text, however, we have only two other fragmentary ninth century inscriptions, with various seals to represent later Moabite. The better preserved of these two inscriptions seems to be a fragment of another inscription by Mesha… the second preserves only a few letters which can be made into a couple of conjectured words…. our knowledge of the grammar and other linguistic features of Moabite is dependent almost completely on one inscription alone.