Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
open access
2023-08-30T00:00:00Z
The Ancient South Arabian languages (ASA = Sabaic, Minaic, Qatabanic and Ḥaḍramitic) have traditionally been classified as South Semitic and since Nebes (1994) as Central Semitic, based on the...Show moreThe Ancient South Arabian languages (ASA = Sabaic, Minaic, Qatabanic and Ḥaḍramitic) have traditionally been classified as South Semitic and since Nebes (1994) as Central Semitic, based on the imperfect pattern of Sabaic in weak verbs, such as 2-W/Y. By analyzing inscriptions of all ASA languages from the CSAI-database, applying roughly the same method as Nebes (1994), this study does not only verify Nebes' conclusions for Sabaic, but also shows that not all ASA languages share the same imperfect pattern. Minaic is non-Central Semitic using the imperfect pattern *yVqattVl; the synchronic Qatabanic pattern b-yqtl could have originated from either *yVqtVl(u) or *yVqattVl(u); for Ḥaḍramitic the evidence is inconclusive. Therefore, ASA is no homogeneous group and the individual ASA languages should be reclassified within the Semitic language family.Show less
Research master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (research) (MA)
open access
This study describes the realization of Tense, Aspect and Modality (TAM) in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic, a specific variety of Western Aramaic, roughly attested during the first 1,500 years of the...Show moreThis study describes the realization of Tense, Aspect and Modality (TAM) in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic, a specific variety of Western Aramaic, roughly attested during the first 1,500 years of the common era. It compares it to the realization of TAM in both Biblical Hebrew (with which JPA was in contact through the legacy of the Bible) and Achaemenid Official Aramaic (which is more closely related in a genealogical sense).Show less
The Ancient Greek lexicon contains words that cannot be explained by an Indo-European origin. Many of such words can be explained as loanwords of a Pre-Greek substrate or as Semitic loanwords....Show moreThe Ancient Greek lexicon contains words that cannot be explained by an Indo-European origin. Many of such words can be explained as loanwords of a Pre-Greek substrate or as Semitic loanwords. However, some Greek words seem to originate from a Semitic language, but the morphology and phonology point towards a Pre-Greek origin. To solve this apparent discrepancy, the possibility that Semitic loanwords entered the Greek lexicon via Pre-Greek is examined in this thesis. A sample of fourteen obscure Greek words confirms this hypothesis. The words share semantical and phonological features with equivalent words in Semitic languages, but share phonological and morphological features with Pre-Greek as well. Especially the occurrence of Pre-Greek suffixes that are not present in the Semitic equivalents are strong arguments in favor of this hypothesis. Besides examples of Semitic influence on Pre-Greek, this thesis provides two possible examples of Pre-Greek loanwords in Semitic languages. These findings develop our knowledge of language contact in the Mediterranean region during the Bronze and Iron Age.Show less
Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
closed access
Study of the verbal system in the Ugaritic Baal Cycle. Primarily focusing on the reader effects of alternation between QTL-YQTL forms as well as long yaqtulu and short yaqtul forms in the poetic...Show moreStudy of the verbal system in the Ugaritic Baal Cycle. Primarily focusing on the reader effects of alternation between QTL-YQTL forms as well as long yaqtulu and short yaqtul forms in the poetic syntax.Show less
