Editing Moabite language (section)

=== Sentence boundaries ===
In the inscriptions on the [[Mesha Stele]] a vertical stroke, /, appears 37 times. However, its function is the subject of disagreement among researchers. Van Zyl claims that the strokes are used to divide clauses.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Van Zyl |first=A.H. |title=The Moabites |publisher= |year=1960 |location=Leiden |pages=185}}</ref> Similarly, Segert explains that they can be seen as tools for the punctuation of sentences.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Segert |first=Stanislav |date=1961 |title=Die Sprache der moabitischen Königsinschrift |journal=Archiv Orientální |page=235}}</ref> A. Poebel offers a different explanation and states that vertical strokes are used to separate sentences forming a mentally cohesive group.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Poebel |first=Arno |title=Das appositionell bestimmte Pronomen der 1. Pers. Sing. in den westsemitischen Inschriften und im Alten Testament |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1932 |page=9}}</ref> According to Andersen the only two parallels that can be found in accordance with the stroke are in the [[Gezer calendar|Gezer Calendar]]. Rather, he suggest that a dot fulfills the function as a word divider based on its occurrence in a variety of Old Aramaic inscriptions, the [[Siloam inscription|Siloam Inscription]] and other texts of the early Hebrew.<ref name=":12"/>