03-21-2004, 03:45 PM
shlomo oh bar_khela,
This is a dialogue I had with a professor at a university:
-I pointed out to him that what he was teaching was incorrect in regards to the middle-east.
-After debating with him and giving him my proofs.
-I asked him if he had physically done some imperical research on the subject.
-His answer to me was that they had to depend on the researchers from the middle-east and trust them at their word. He and other western researchers depdend on them to write up theories and books.
I come from the middle-east, and in the middle-east there are several theories as to the origin of the Arabic language:
-Religious Muslims claim that it came down from God as a language and that the Quran is the only pure Arabic Book that should be learned to know this language, which they call the language (Arabic) of God.
-Researchers claim that it came from Yemen, and that it was spoken in the area of the Arabian Peninsula by the Arab tribes. And also the Arabic that was spoken by the Arab Tribes differs from that found in the Quran. What is refered to as classical Arabic, is the Arabic found in the Quran.
-Researchers also claim that Arabic is a slang version of Aramaic, which over time due to the isolation of the Arab tribes have diverted from Aramaic.
The schools in the middle-east refer to the Arabic alphbet as "hroof al-abgadiye" which means the "ABGD" alphabet, and that Arabic descends from Aramaic. Also Arabic is called the language of "dad" becuase it has a letter which is unique to it.
On official Arabic government documents the first six pages are numbered as follow: abgad, hawaz, hati, kalman, s'fas, qrsht. As you all know these word represents the Aramaic alphabet, since the Arabic alphabet differs from the "abgd" listing.
Here's the Arabic alphabet:
a, b, t, th, g, h, kh, d, dh, r, z, s, sh, s, d, t, z, ', gh, f, q, k, l, m, n, h, w, y
1: <- Arabic
Here's the Aramaic alphabet:
a, b, g, d, h, w, z, h, t, y, k, l, m, n, s, ', p, s, q, r, sh, t
2: <- Aramaic
Alphabet comparison:
1:a = 2:a
1:b = 2:b
1:t = 2:t
1:th = 2:th ('t' and 'th' in Aramaic are the same letters) (notice how Arabic has them listed next to each other)
1:g = 2:g
1:h = 2:h ('h' and 'kh' in Eastern Aramaic are the same letters in reference only to 'h')
1:kh = 2:kh ('k' and 'kh' are the same letter, but are not the same as the 'h' of before) (Here we notice that in Arabic "h" and "kh" follow each other a clear indication of Eastern Aramaic influence)
1:d = 2:d
1:dh = 2:dh ('d' and 'dh' are the same letter in Aramaic) (Also notice how the Arabic alphabet lists them one after the other)
1:r = 2:r
1:z = 2:z
1:s = 2:s
1:sh = 2:sh
1:s = 2:s
1:d = 2: (The "dad" is not found in Aramaic) (It's because of this letter that Arabic is called the language of "dad")
1:t = 2:t
1:z = 2:z (The "zah" is not found in Aramaic)
1:' = 2:'
1:gh = 2:gh ('g' and 'gh' are the same letter)
1:f = 2:f ('p' and 'f' are the same letter)
1:q = 2:q
1:k = 2:k
1:l = 2:l
1:m = 2:m
1:n = 2:n
1:h = 2:h
1:w = 2:w
1:y = 2:y
Let's compare some Arabic words with Aramaic (i.e. those words that have letters not found in Aramaic):
ar'a <- Earth (Aramaic)
ard <- Earth (Arabic) (The 'd' here is the 'dad')
(There's an Arabic pattern of writing some Aramaic 'ayn into dad)
---
hmas <- sour (Aramaic) (Here the 's' is 'sodh')
hmad <- sour (Arabic) (Here the 'd' is 'dad')
(There's an Arabic pattern of writing Aramaic sodh as dad. Notice that the Arabic lists sod and dad next to each other)
---
tlam <- oppress (Aramaic) (The 't' is the 'teth', also called in Arabic 'tah')
zlam <- oppress (Arabic) (The 'z' is the 'Zah')
(There's an Arabic pattern of writing Aramaic teth as Zah. Notice that Arabic lists the zah after the tah)
Here's some other patterns found in Arabic in relation to Aramaic:
sha-??l <- Ask (Aramaic)
sa-ala <- Ask (Arabic)
sayfa <- Sword (Aramaic)
sayf <- Sword (Arabic)
sa'ra <- Hair (Aramaic)
sha'r <- Hair (Arabic)
(There's an Arabic pattern of writing Aramaic 's' as 'sh' or vice versa, or keeping them the same. We see that 's' and 'sh' are listed in Arabic one after the other)
---
'lab <- to have the upper hand (Aramaic)
ghalab <- to have the upper hand (Arabic)
(There's an Arabic pattern of writing Aramaic 'ayn as a ghayn. We see also that the Arabic alphabet lists the ghayn after the 'ayn)
---
tlath <- Three (Aramaic)
thlath <- Three (Arabic)
(There's an Arabic pattern of writing the Aramaic 't' as 'th'. We note that in Aramaic the 't' and 'th' are the same letter. We also note the Arabic lists the 't' and 'th' one after the other)
---
htaf <- snatch (Aramaic)
khatf <- snatch (Arabic)
madhbha <- Alter (Aramaic)
madhbah <- Alter (Arabic)
(There's an Arabic pattern of writing the Aramaic 'h' (Heth) as 'kh'. As noted before in Eastern Aramaic the heth is pronounced by 'kh'. We notice that 'h' and 'kh' are listed in Arabic one after the other) (In other circumstances the heth stays as heth. We also notice that in some cases Arabic retains the changing of letter pronunciation, which in Arabic is taught that that's how the word is pronounced, but Aramaic we have rules that govern these changes of pronunciations: as in the Aramaic word 'madhbha" which due to the rules changes the 'd' into a 'dh', but in Arabic there's no explanation as to the 'dh' of 'madhbah' )
---
lkhoon <- for you (Aramaic)
lkoom <- for you (Arabic)
(There's an Arabic pattern of writing the Aramaic 'kh' as 'k', and the Aramaic 'n' as 'm'. And in other cases the 'n' stays an 'n', the 'm' stays as 'm; and the 'k' stays 'k')
---
lahma <- Bread (Aramaic)
lahm <- Flesh (Arabic)
(We see a clear Christian influence on the Arabic language, because in Christianity we say that our Lord Transformed Bread into His Flesh)
---
shareera <- True (Aramaic)
shareer <- Evil (Arabic)
(We see here a Quranic influence, because in Aramaic we refer to Jesus (in the context of God) as 'shareera' (i.e. we say "bsh??m aba wabra wrooha dqoodsha had alaha shareera ameen" = "In the name of the Father, and Son, and the Holy Spirit One True God verily). And since the Quran considers that Jesus is not God, and that the people who profess it are sinners, thus the Arabic word 'shareer' became known as evil)
I could continue listing these patterns forever, but I think I've shown a solid pattern of Arabic coming from Aramaic.
poosh bashlomo habr,
keefa-moroon
This is a dialogue I had with a professor at a university:
-I pointed out to him that what he was teaching was incorrect in regards to the middle-east.
-After debating with him and giving him my proofs.
-I asked him if he had physically done some imperical research on the subject.
-His answer to me was that they had to depend on the researchers from the middle-east and trust them at their word. He and other western researchers depdend on them to write up theories and books.
I come from the middle-east, and in the middle-east there are several theories as to the origin of the Arabic language:
-Religious Muslims claim that it came down from God as a language and that the Quran is the only pure Arabic Book that should be learned to know this language, which they call the language (Arabic) of God.
-Researchers claim that it came from Yemen, and that it was spoken in the area of the Arabian Peninsula by the Arab tribes. And also the Arabic that was spoken by the Arab Tribes differs from that found in the Quran. What is refered to as classical Arabic, is the Arabic found in the Quran.
-Researchers also claim that Arabic is a slang version of Aramaic, which over time due to the isolation of the Arab tribes have diverted from Aramaic.
The schools in the middle-east refer to the Arabic alphbet as "hroof al-abgadiye" which means the "ABGD" alphabet, and that Arabic descends from Aramaic. Also Arabic is called the language of "dad" becuase it has a letter which is unique to it.
On official Arabic government documents the first six pages are numbered as follow: abgad, hawaz, hati, kalman, s'fas, qrsht. As you all know these word represents the Aramaic alphabet, since the Arabic alphabet differs from the "abgd" listing.
Here's the Arabic alphabet:
a, b, t, th, g, h, kh, d, dh, r, z, s, sh, s, d, t, z, ', gh, f, q, k, l, m, n, h, w, y
1: <- Arabic
Here's the Aramaic alphabet:
a, b, g, d, h, w, z, h, t, y, k, l, m, n, s, ', p, s, q, r, sh, t
2: <- Aramaic
Alphabet comparison:
1:a = 2:a
1:b = 2:b
1:t = 2:t
1:th = 2:th ('t' and 'th' in Aramaic are the same letters) (notice how Arabic has them listed next to each other)
1:g = 2:g
1:h = 2:h ('h' and 'kh' in Eastern Aramaic are the same letters in reference only to 'h')
1:kh = 2:kh ('k' and 'kh' are the same letter, but are not the same as the 'h' of before) (Here we notice that in Arabic "h" and "kh" follow each other a clear indication of Eastern Aramaic influence)
1:d = 2:d
1:dh = 2:dh ('d' and 'dh' are the same letter in Aramaic) (Also notice how the Arabic alphabet lists them one after the other)
1:r = 2:r
1:z = 2:z
1:s = 2:s
1:sh = 2:sh
1:s = 2:s
1:d = 2: (The "dad" is not found in Aramaic) (It's because of this letter that Arabic is called the language of "dad")
1:t = 2:t
1:z = 2:z (The "zah" is not found in Aramaic)
1:' = 2:'
1:gh = 2:gh ('g' and 'gh' are the same letter)
1:f = 2:f ('p' and 'f' are the same letter)
1:q = 2:q
1:k = 2:k
1:l = 2:l
1:m = 2:m
1:n = 2:n
1:h = 2:h
1:w = 2:w
1:y = 2:y
Let's compare some Arabic words with Aramaic (i.e. those words that have letters not found in Aramaic):
ar'a <- Earth (Aramaic)
ard <- Earth (Arabic) (The 'd' here is the 'dad')
(There's an Arabic pattern of writing some Aramaic 'ayn into dad)
---
hmas <- sour (Aramaic) (Here the 's' is 'sodh')
hmad <- sour (Arabic) (Here the 'd' is 'dad')
(There's an Arabic pattern of writing Aramaic sodh as dad. Notice that the Arabic lists sod and dad next to each other)
---
tlam <- oppress (Aramaic) (The 't' is the 'teth', also called in Arabic 'tah')
zlam <- oppress (Arabic) (The 'z' is the 'Zah')
(There's an Arabic pattern of writing Aramaic teth as Zah. Notice that Arabic lists the zah after the tah)
Here's some other patterns found in Arabic in relation to Aramaic:
sha-??l <- Ask (Aramaic)
sa-ala <- Ask (Arabic)
sayfa <- Sword (Aramaic)
sayf <- Sword (Arabic)
sa'ra <- Hair (Aramaic)
sha'r <- Hair (Arabic)
(There's an Arabic pattern of writing Aramaic 's' as 'sh' or vice versa, or keeping them the same. We see that 's' and 'sh' are listed in Arabic one after the other)
---
'lab <- to have the upper hand (Aramaic)
ghalab <- to have the upper hand (Arabic)
(There's an Arabic pattern of writing Aramaic 'ayn as a ghayn. We see also that the Arabic alphabet lists the ghayn after the 'ayn)
---
tlath <- Three (Aramaic)
thlath <- Three (Arabic)
(There's an Arabic pattern of writing the Aramaic 't' as 'th'. We note that in Aramaic the 't' and 'th' are the same letter. We also note the Arabic lists the 't' and 'th' one after the other)
---
htaf <- snatch (Aramaic)
khatf <- snatch (Arabic)
madhbha <- Alter (Aramaic)
madhbah <- Alter (Arabic)
(There's an Arabic pattern of writing the Aramaic 'h' (Heth) as 'kh'. As noted before in Eastern Aramaic the heth is pronounced by 'kh'. We notice that 'h' and 'kh' are listed in Arabic one after the other) (In other circumstances the heth stays as heth. We also notice that in some cases Arabic retains the changing of letter pronunciation, which in Arabic is taught that that's how the word is pronounced, but Aramaic we have rules that govern these changes of pronunciations: as in the Aramaic word 'madhbha" which due to the rules changes the 'd' into a 'dh', but in Arabic there's no explanation as to the 'dh' of 'madhbah' )
---
lkhoon <- for you (Aramaic)
lkoom <- for you (Arabic)
(There's an Arabic pattern of writing the Aramaic 'kh' as 'k', and the Aramaic 'n' as 'm'. And in other cases the 'n' stays an 'n', the 'm' stays as 'm; and the 'k' stays 'k')
---
lahma <- Bread (Aramaic)
lahm <- Flesh (Arabic)
(We see a clear Christian influence on the Arabic language, because in Christianity we say that our Lord Transformed Bread into His Flesh)
---
shareera <- True (Aramaic)
shareer <- Evil (Arabic)
(We see here a Quranic influence, because in Aramaic we refer to Jesus (in the context of God) as 'shareera' (i.e. we say "bsh??m aba wabra wrooha dqoodsha had alaha shareera ameen" = "In the name of the Father, and Son, and the Holy Spirit One True God verily). And since the Quran considers that Jesus is not God, and that the people who profess it are sinners, thus the Arabic word 'shareer' became known as evil)
I could continue listing these patterns forever, but I think I've shown a solid pattern of Arabic coming from Aramaic.
poosh bashlomo habr,
keefa-moroon
bar_khela Wrote:Shlama Akhi Paul,
So you're saying that both Hebrew and Arabic were weened from the same mother, Aramaic. You're also saying that these sisters separated with Ishmael and Issac. Finally, you're saying the variation between the two languages is consequential to centuries of long distance. As a result, they developed their own characteristics. Right? I can accept this. But why do philologists compare Arabic and Hebrew to Akkadian if they descended from Aramaic?