Editing Canaanite languages (section)

== Classification ==
{{More citations needed section|date=August 2020}}
Analogous to the Romance languages, the Canaanite languages operate on a spectrum of [[mutual intelligibility]] with one another, with significant overlap occurring in syntax, morphology, phonology, and semantics. This family of languages also has the distinction of being the first historically attested group of languages to use an [[alphabet]], derived from the [[Proto-Canaanite alphabet]], to record their writings, as opposed to the far earlier [[Cuneiform]] [[logographic]]/[[Syllabary|syllabic]] writing of the region, which originated in [[Mesopotamia]] and was used to record [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]], [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]], [[Eblaite language|Eblaite]], [[Elamite language|Elamite]], [[Hurrian language|Hurrian]] and [[Hittite language|Hittite]].

They are heavily attested in [[Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions|Canaanite inscriptions]] throughout the [[Levant]], [[Mesopotamia]], [[Anatolia]] and the [[Eastern Mediterranean]], and after the founding of [[Carthage]] by [[Phoenicia]]n colonists, in coastal regions of [[North Africa]] and [[Iberian Peninsula]] also. Dialects have been labelled primarily with reference to [[Biblical geography]]: [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] ([[Israelian Hebrew|Israelian]], Judean/[[Biblical Hebrew|Biblical]], [[Samaritan Hebrew|Samaritan]]), [[Phoenician language|Phoenician]]/[[Punic language|Punic]], [[Amorite language|Amorite]], [[Ammonite language|Ammonite]], [[Moabite language|Moabite]], [[Sutean language|Sutean]] and [[Edomite language|Edomite]]; the dialects were all mutually intelligible, being no more differentiated than geographical varieties of Modern English.{{sfn|Rendsburg|1997|p=66}}

The Canaanite languages or dialects can be split into the following:{{sfn|Rendsburg|1997|p=65}}<ref name="wo8">{{Harvcoltxt|Waltke|O'Connor|1990|pp=8}}: "The extrabiblical linguistic material from the Iron Age is primarily epigraphic, that is, texts written on hard materials (pottery, stones, walls, etc.). The epigraphic texts from Israelite territory are written in Hebrew in a form of the language which may be called Inscriptional Hebrew; this 'dialect' is not strikingly different from the Hebrew preserved in the Masoretic text. Unfortunately, it is meagerly attested. Similarly limited are the epigraphic materials in the other South Canaanite dialects, Moabite and Ammonite; Edomite is so poorly attested that we are not sure that it is a South Canaanite dialect, though that seems likely. Of greater interest and bulk is the body of Central Canaanite inscriptions, those written in the Phoenician language of Tyre, Sidon, and Byblos, and in the offshoot Punic and Neo-Punic tongues of the Phoenician colonies in North Africa.

"An especially problematic body of material is the Deir Alla wall inscriptions referring to a prophet Balaam (c. 700 BC), these texts have both Canaanite and Aramaic features. W. R. Garr has recently proposed that all the Iron Age Canaanite dialects be regarded as forming a chain that actually includes the oldest forms of Aramaic as well."</ref>

===North Canaan===
* [[Philistine language|Philistine]] – attested by several dozen inscriptions in Phoenician script scattered along Israel's southwest coast, in particular the [[Ekron Royal Dedicatory Inscription]]. It is noted as being similar to Phoenician, in particular the Byblian dialect.<ref>Gitin, Dothan, and Naveh, 1997, p. 15, quote: "If so, one may ask why should a seventh century BCE inscription be written at Ekron in a language close to Phoenician and reminiscent of Old Byblian. Phoenician was the prestige language in the tenth and ninth century BCE. To find an inscription, however, in seventh century BCE Philistia, where a script from the Hebrew tradition was used, is something of an enigma."</ref><ref name=Ekronite>[https://web.archive.org/web/20061222225051/http://femto.tau.ac.il/~oyd11/tau/ekron.html Jaacob Callev, "The Canaanite Dialect of the Dedicatory Royal Inscription from Ekron"].</ref>
* [[Phoenician language|Phoenician]] – The main sources are the [[Ahiram#Sarcophagus|Ahiram sarcophagus inscription]], the [[sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II]], the [[Tabnit sarcophagus]], the [[Kilamuwa Stela]], the [[Cippi of Melqart]], and the other [[Byblian royal inscriptions]]. There were two main dialects of Phoenician, with Byblian being confined to Byblos, and Tyro-Sidonian being spread as Phoenician settlements were founded along the Mediterranean. Tyro-Sidonian is further split into eastern and western dialects, the latter being that from which the [[Punic language]] would emerge.<ref>Charles R. Krahmalkov. ''Phoenician-Punic Dictionary''. p. 10. 2000.</ref> For later Punic: in [[Plautus]]' play ''[[Poenulus]]'' at the beginning of the fifth act.

===South Canaan===
* [[Ammonite language|Ammonite]] – an extinct Canaanite dialect of the [[Ammon|Ammonite people]] mentioned in the Bible. The main sources are the [[Amman Citadel Inscription]] and [[Tel Siran inscription]].
* [[Edomite language|Edomite]] – an extinct Canaanite dialect of the [[Edomites|Edomite people]] mentioned in the Bible and Egyptian texts.
* [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] – the only Canaanite language that is a [[living language]], and the most successful example of a revived [[dead language]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Austin |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q3tAqIU0dPsC&dq=Hebrew+the+only+canaanite+language+in+use&pg=PA149 |title=One Thousand Languages: Living, Endangered, and Lost |date=2008 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-25560-9 |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Moabite language|Moabite]] – an extinct Canaanite dialect of the [[Moabites|Moabite people]] mentioned in the Bible. The main sources are the [[Mesha Stele]] and [[El-Kerak Stela]].

===Other===
Other possible Canaanite languages:
* [[Ugaritic]] is possibly also a Northwest Semitic language, but likely not Canaanitic.<ref>{{cite book | last=Sivan | first=D. | title=A Grammar of the Ugaritic Language: Second impression with corrections | publisher=Brill | series=Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 1 The Near and Middle East | year=2001 | isbn=978-90-474-2721-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nu15DwAAQBAJ|pages=2–3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Lipiński|first=Edward|author-link=Edward Lipiński (orientalist)|title=Semitic Languages: Outline of a Comparative Grammar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IiXVqyEkPKcC&pg=PA50|year=2001|publisher=Peeters Publishers|isbn=978-90-429-0815-4|page=50}}</ref>
* The [[Deir Alla inscription]], written in a dialect with [[Aramaic]] and South Canaanitic characteristics,{{Citation needed|date=December 2024|reason=Any evidence that it's South Canaanite?}} which is classified as Canaanite in Hetzron.
* [[Sutean language|Sutean]], a Semitic language, possibly of the Canaanite branch.
* Amarna Canaanite – attested only through the [[Canaano-Akkadian language]] of the [[Amarna letters]]. Hetzron notes that it has distinctive features that mark it as a separate language from the other Canaanite dialects rather than a direct ancestor to any of them.
* In 2022, two large, 3,800-year-old, Amorite-[[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] bilingual tablets were published, yielding a large corpus of [[Northwest Semitic languages|Northwest Semitic]].<ref name="tablets22">{{cite journal |last1=George |first1=Andrew |last2=Krebernik |first2=Manfred |title=Two Remarkable Vocabularies: Amorite-Akkadian Bilinguals! |journal=Revue d'assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale |date=12 December 2022 |volume=116 |issue=1 |pages=113–166 |doi=10.3917/assy.116.0113 |url=https://www.cairn.info/revue-d-assyriologie-2022-1-page-113.htm |access-date=24 January 2023|url-access=subscription }}</ref>  The [[Amorite language|Amorite]] text is notably very similar to other Canaanite languages.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Aderet |first1=Ofer |title=Two 3,800-year-old Cuneiform Tablets Found in Iraq Give First Glimpse of Hebrew Precursor |url=https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/2023-01-20/ty-article/two-3-800-year-old-cuneiform-tablets-found-in-iraq-give-first-glimpse-of-hebrew-precursor/00000185-ca23-d3a8-a3cf-cf3326430000 |access-date=24 January 2023 |work=Haaretz |date=20 January 2023 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230121070718/https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/2023-01-20/ty-article/two-3-800-year-old-cuneiform-tablets-found-in-iraq-give-first-glimpse-of-hebrew-precursor/00000185-ca23-d3a8-a3cf-cf3326430000 |archive-date=21 January 2023 |language=en}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=February 2025|reason=The proposed classification should be attributed to an academic source, not a news outlet}} Until then, Amorite was only known from personal names attested in Akkadian texts and its position within Northern Semitic languages was vague.