JAL328H1 Lecture : JAL328 Lec 6 Semitic Scripts.pdf
Document Summary
Semitic scripts and semitic family have some overlaps. Akkadian is a semitic language, borrowed the language from sumerian (which isnt semitic) Most of the world is using a derivative of semitic. Malay and achay were once written in arabic script and sometimes still are. From cuneiform to egyptian, chinese and korean/japanese, semitic moves away from logograms. Both cuneiform (with akkadian) and egyptian came close to phonological writing, but kept determiners and logograms throughout. Each of these was used in a relatively conservative cultural center with ties going back to the origins of writing. The near east was not such a center. Writing was not developed here, it was borrowed. The west semitic languages are at the crossroads between. Large empires and powers all met in the aramaic sections (middle east section) It was here that the determinatives and logograms were finally discarded. Here no large empire ruled and a good number of dialects and languages.
