Can two walk together without agreeing to meet? (Amos 3:3): On Canaanite/Arabic Language Contact in the Anthroponyms of Persian Era Idumean

The surprising presence of Arabic anthroponyms in the Aramaic ostraca of Idumea, several centuries before the earliest known Arabic texts, reveals unexpected insights into interesting morphological phenomenon. This paper examines the Arabic anthroponyms found in this corpus to explore the status of...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Cohen, Ohad 1971- (Author) ; Karni, Tamar (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Published: 2025
In: Journal of Semitic studies
Year: 2025, Volume: 70, Issue: 2, Pages: 663-692
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
Description
Summary:The surprising presence of Arabic anthroponyms in the Aramaic ostraca of Idumea, several centuries before the earliest known Arabic texts, reveals unexpected insights into interesting morphological phenomenon. This paper examines the Arabic anthroponyms found in this corpus to explore the status of case endings in ancient Arabic during the Persian Period. Current research on Arabic largely focuses on the internal historical and genealogical development of its case system. The corpus of anthroponyms of Persian Idumea uniquely reflect an intense language contact situation, a multi-ethnic and multilingual milieu which captures linguistic features from oral dialects otherwise not reflected in the historical epigraphic sources. Applying modern linguistic methodology, including cognitive linguistics, sociolinguistics, and language contact studies, we conceptualize the complex dynamics of oral communication in this setting. Specifically, we analyze the interaction between the lingua franca and lingua receptiva axes which likely shaped this linguistic phenomenon.
ISSN:1477-8556
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of Semitic studies
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1093/jss/fgaf019