The semitic-languages tag has no wiki summary.
4
votes
3answers
186 views
Linguistic or etymological relationship between the words “Sabbath” and “seven”
The words for "Sabbath" and "seven" seem similar in both Hebrew and Aramaic. Is there an etymological relationship between them?
Sabbath (Shabbat), שַׁבָּת, is Strong's H7676. It is spelled ...
3
votes
1answer
88 views
What is the Aramaic transliteration system used in the “Aramaic of Jesus” Wikipedia article?
The Wikipedia article "Aramaic of Jesus" contains many instances of transliterated Aramaic, using a system I have not seen before. Some of the notations are well-established, like ŝ for /ʃ/ and ...
3
votes
5answers
297 views
Plural “you” in different language families connoting respect
I recently found out that French has two different words for "you."
From here:
Tu is the familiar "you," which demonstrates a certain closeness and informality. ... Vous is the formal "you." It ...
12
votes
1answer
535 views
Was there a Semitic influence on Proto-Germanic?
One of the hypotheses supported by Theo Vennemann and other linguists is that Proto-Germanic was influenced by some Semitic language. The evidence they present for their case includes:
Loss of some ...
16
votes
3answers
864 views
Can Modern Hebrew be considered an Indo-European language?
According to this Wikipedia page
Zuckermann argues that Israeli Hebrew, which he calls "Israeli", is
genetically both Indo-European (Germanic, Slavic and Romance) and
Afro-Asiatic (Semitic). ...
