Philological and Linguistic Variety in Northwest Semitic languages (late 2nd and 1st mill. BCE)
Panel hosts: Dr. Jonathan Stökl, Prof. Dr. Anna Elise Zernecke
The Northwest Semitic Languages are a well-defined sub-group of Semitic languages, but their inner differentiation is a difficult task. Aramaic and Canaanite can be distinguished, but not all sources can clearly be classified; a prime example being the Deir Alla text. Within the Canaanite continuum, diagnostic traits are rare and hazy. Nevertheless, "Phoenician", "Hebrew", "Moabite", etc. are used to characterise linguistic features and even "languages" in scholarly literature about the available sources. The linguistic varities within the texts of the Hebrew Bible present an even more complex set of problems, as this corpus of diverse tradition literature is also the result of a process of canonisation and Masoretic standardisation. Furthermore, in the discussion of epigraphic material, the linguistic classification seems sometimes to be influenced by non-linguistic categories. What are the methods, parameters and pinpoints of defining languages, language variation, dialect or register within the often sparse and inconsistent source material of Northwest Semitic? Which methodology is appropriate to interpret the variety in Biblical texts within their broader Northwest Semitic environment? How can sources such as the inscriptions from Kuntillet Agrud and also Deir Alla be classified? And finally what is the value of the category "language" for Northwest Semitic texts?