The East Semitic languages constitute one of the three major subdivisions of Semitic languages, the others being West Semitic and South Semitic. The East Semitic group is attested by two distinct languages, Akkadian and Eblaite, both of which have been long extinct. The East Semitic languages stand apart from other Semitic languages in a number of respects.

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  • The East Semitic languages constitute one of the three major subdivisions of Semitic languages, the others being West Semitic and South Semitic. The East Semitic group is attested by two distinct languages, Akkadian and Eblaite, both of which have been long extinct. The East Semitic languages stand apart from other Semitic languages in a number of respects. Historically, it is believed that this linguistic situation came about as speakers of East Semitic languages wandered further east, settling in Mesopotamia during the third millennium BCE, as attested by Akkadian texts from this period. By the beginning of the second millennium BCE, East Semitic languages, in particular Akkadian, had come to dominate the region. They were influenced by the non-Semitic Sumerian language and adopted cuneiform writing. Modern understanding of the phonology of East Semitic languages can only be derived from careful study of written texts and comparison with the reconstructed Proto-Semitic. Most striking is the loss of the glottal stop, or aleph, and the voiced pharyngeal fricative, or ayin, both of which are prominent features of West Semitic languages (for example, Akk. bēl 'master' < PS. *ba‘al). Also, East Semitic languages do not possess a series of three back fricatives: *h, *ḥ, *ġ. Their elision appears to give rise to the presence of an e vowel, where it is not found in other Semitic languages (for example, Akk. ekallu 'palace/temple' < PS. *haykal). It also appears that the series of interdental fricatives became sibilants (for example, Akk. šalšu 'three' < PS. *ṯalaṯ). However, the exact phonological make-up of the languages is not fully known, and the absence of features may have been the result of the inadequacies of Sumerian orthography to describe the sounds of Semitic languages rather than their real absence. The word order in East Semitic may also have been influenced by Sumerian, being Subject Object Verb rather than the West Semitic Verb Subject Object order.
  • Die ostsemitischen Sprachen bilden neben den westsemitischen Sprachen einen von zwei Hauptzweigen der semitischen Sprachen. Er besteht aus zwei ausgestorbenen Sprachen: Dem Akkadischen und Eblaitischen (welches bisweilen auch als Dialekt des Akkadischen angesehen wird). Das Akkadische und das Eblaitische weisen gegenüber den übrigen semitischen Sprachen zwei gemeinsame Neuerungen auf, die es rechtfertigen, sie zu einem ostsemitischen Zweig zusammenzufassen: Sie bilden den Nominativ Plural der Adjektive auf -ūt (z. B. akkadisch dannum „stark“, Plural dannūtum) und haben bei den pronominalen Suffixen spezielle Dativformen entwickelt.
  • El semític oriental representa una de les tres branques principals de la família de les llengües semítiques, al costat del semític occidental i del semític meridional, i comprèn l'accadi i l'eblaïta, ambdues llengües extingides des de l'antiguitat.
  • Østsemittiske språk er en av de to store undergruppene av semittiske språk. Den andre gruppa kalles vest-semittiske språk. Den øst-semittiske gruppa består av to språk, akkadisk og eblaittisk, som begge ble snakka i Mesopotamia. Språka ble skrevet med kileskrift.
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  • Afro-Asiatic
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  • East Semitic
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  • The East Semitic languages constitute one of the three major subdivisions of Semitic languages, the others being West Semitic and South Semitic. The East Semitic group is attested by two distinct languages, Akkadian and Eblaite, both of which have been long extinct. The East Semitic languages stand apart from other Semitic languages in a number of respects.
  • Die ostsemitischen Sprachen bilden neben den westsemitischen Sprachen einen von zwei Hauptzweigen der semitischen Sprachen. Er besteht aus zwei ausgestorbenen Sprachen: Dem Akkadischen und Eblaitischen (welches bisweilen auch als Dialekt des Akkadischen angesehen wird).
  • El semític oriental representa una de les tres branques principals de la família de les llengües semítiques, al costat del semític occidental i del semític meridional, i comprèn l'accadi i l'eblaïta, ambdues llengües extingides des de l'antiguitat.
  • Østsemittiske språk er en av de to store undergruppene av semittiske språk. Den andre gruppa kalles vest-semittiske språk. Den øst-semittiske gruppa består av to språk, akkadisk og eblaittisk, som begge ble snakka i Mesopotamia. Språka ble skrevet med kileskrift.
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  • East Semitic languages
  • Ostsemitische Sprachen
  • Semític oriental
  • Østsemittiske språk
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