Editing Semitic languages (section)

==Present distribution ==
[[File:Semitic 1st AD.svg|thumb|Approximate distribution of the Semitic languages around the 1st century AD]]
[[Arabic]] is currently the native language of majorities from [[Mauritania]] to [[Oman]], and from [[Iraq]] to [[Sudan]]. [[Classical Arabic]] is the language of the [[Quran]]. It is also studied widely in the non-Arabic-speaking [[Muslim world]]. The [[Maltese language]] is a descendant of the extinct [[Siculo-Arabic]], a variety of [[Maghrebi Arabic]] formerly spoken in [[Sicily]]. The modern [[Maltese alphabet]] is based on the [[Latin script]] with the addition of some letters with [[diacritic]] marks and [[Digraph (orthography)|digraphs]]. [[Maltese language|Maltese]] is the only Semitic official language within the [[European Union]].

Successful as second languages far beyond their numbers of contemporary first-language speakers, a few Semitic languages today are the base of the sacred literature of some of the world's major religions, including Islam (Arabic), [[Judaism]] (Hebrew and Aramaic ([[Biblical Aramaic|Biblical]] and [[Jewish Babylonian Aramaic|Talmudic]])), churches of [[Syriac Christianity]] (Classical Syriac) and [[Christianity in Ethiopia|Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Christianity]] (Geʽez). Millions learn these as a second language (or an archaic version of their modern tongues): many [[Muslim]]s learn to read and recite the [[Qur'an]] and [[Jews]] speak and study [[Biblical Hebrew]], the language of the [[Torah]], [[Midrash]], and other Jewish scriptures. The followers of the [[Assyrian Church of the East]], [[Chaldean Catholic Church]], [[Ancient Church of the East]], [[Assyrian Pentecostal Church]], [[Assyrian Evangelical Church]], and the [[Syriac Orthodox Church]] speak [[Eastern Aramaic languages]] and use [[Syriac language|Classical Syriac]] as their [[liturgical language]]. Classical Syriac is also used liturgically by the primarily Arabic-speaking followers of the [[Maronite Church]], [[Syriac Catholic Church]], and was originally the liturgical language of the [[Melkite|Melkites]] in [[Antioch]], and ancient [[Syria Prima|Syria]].<ref>{{cite book |title=CLASSICAL SYRIAC |publisher=Gorgias Handbooks |page=14 |language=English |quote=In contrast to "Nestorians" and "Jacobites", a small group of Syriacs accepted the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon. Non-Chalcedonian Syriacs called them "Melkites" (from Aramaic malka "king"), thereby connecting them to the Byzantine Emperor's denomination. Melkite Syriacs were mostly concentrated around Antioch and adjacent regions of northern Syria and used Syriac as their literary and liturgical language. The Melkite community also included the Aramaic-speaking Jewish converts to Christianity in Palestine and the Orthodox Christians of Transjordan. During the 5th-6th centuries, they were engaged in literary work (mainly translation) in Palestinian Christian Aramaic, a Western Aramaic dialect, using a script closely resembling the Estrangela cursive of Osrhoene.}}</ref><ref>"JACOB BARcLAY, Melkite Orthodox Syro-Byzantine Manuscripts in Syriac and Palestinian Aramaic" quote from the German book Internationale Zeitschriftenschau für Bibelwissenschaft und Grenzgebiete, p. 291</ref><ref>"However, in contrast to what went on in northern Syria and Mesopotamia, where Syriac competed well with Greek to remain a great cultural language, Syropalestinian was in a weak position with regard to Greek and, later, to Arabic." quote from the book The Fourth International Conference on the History of Bilād Al-Shām During the Umayyad Period: English section, p.31</ref><ref>"Some Chalcedonians of Palestine and the Transjordan chose to write in Christian Palestinian Aramaic (CPA) rather than Syriac." quote from the book A Companion to Byzantine Epistolography, p.68</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Arman Akopian |title=Introduction to Aramean and Syriac Studies |date=11 December 2017 |publisher=Gorgias Press |isbn=9781463238933 |pages=573 |language=English |chapter=Other branches of Syriac Christianity: Melkites and Maronites |quote= The main center of Aramaic-speaking Melkites was Palestine. During the 5th-6th centuries, they were engaged in literary, mainly translation work in the local Western Aramaic dialect, known as "Palestinian Christian Aramaic", using a script closely resembling the cursive Estrangela of Osrhoene. Palestinian Melkites were mostly Jewish converts to Christianity, who had a long tradition of using Palestinian Aramaic dialects as literary languages. Closely associated with the Palestinian Melkites were the Melkites of Transjordan, who also used Palestinian Christian Aramaic. Another community of Aramaic-speaking Melkites existed in the vicinity of Antioch and parts of Syria. These Melkites used Classical Syriac as a written language, the common literary language of the overwhelming majority of Christian Arameans.}}</ref> [[Koine Greek]] and Classical Arabic are the main liturgical languages of [[Oriental Orthodox Churches|Oriental Orthodox Christians]] in the Middle East, who compose the patriarchates of [[Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch|Antioch]], [[Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem|Jerusalem]], and [[Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria|Alexandria]]. Mandaic is both spoken and used as a liturgical language by the [[Mandaeans]]. Although the majority of Neo-Aramaic dialects spoken today are descended from Eastern varieties, [[Western Neo-Aramaic]] is still spoken in two villages in Syria.

Despite the ascendancy of Arabic in the Middle East, other Semitic languages still exist. Biblical Hebrew, long extinct as a colloquial language and in use only in Jewish literary, intellectual, and liturgical activity, [[Revival of the Hebrew language|was revived in spoken form]] at the end of the 19th century. [[Modern Hebrew]] is the main language of [[Israel]], with Biblical Hebrew remaining as the [[Study of the Hebrew language|language of liturgy and religious scholarship]] of Jews worldwide.

In Arab-dominated [[Yemen]] and Oman, on the southern rim of the Arabian Peninsula, a few tribes continue to speak [[Modern South Arabian languages]] such as [[Mehri language|Mahri]] and [[Soqotri language|Soqotri]]. These languages differ greatly from both the surrounding Arabic dialects and from the languages of the [[Old South Arabian]] inscriptions.

Historically linked to the peninsular homeland of Old South Arabian, of which only one language, [[Razihi language|Razihi]], remains, Ethiopia and Eritrea contain a substantial number of Semitic languages; the most widely spoken are [[Amharic]] in Ethiopia, [[Tigre language|Tigre]] in [[Eritrea]], and [[Tigrinya language|Tigrinya]] in both. Amharic is the official language of Ethiopia. Tigrinya is a working language in Eritrea. Tigre is spoken by over one million people in the northern and central Eritrean lowlands and parts of eastern Sudan. A number of [[Gurage languages]] are spoken by populations in the semi-mountainous region of central Ethiopia, while [[Harari language|Harari]] is restricted to the city of [[Harar]]. Geʽez remains the liturgical language for certain groups of [[Christianity in Ethiopia|Christians in Ethiopia]] and [[Christianity in Eritrea|in Eritrea]].