Appendices

24.1 Semitic vs Non-Semitic Forms

The prevalence of words of Greek/European origin and words of native Semitic origin depends heavily on the register and context. Semitic vocabulary tends to dominate most informal spoken registers and is widely heard in most day-to-day speech. Vocabulary of Turkish origin fills a similar niche. Greek and 'international' vocabulary, however, is more typical of a higher register; the use of Greek words where native Alashian close-equivalents already exist is a common feature of formal usage. The situation is by and large comparable to the use of Germanic and Latinate vocabulary in English where, should a pair such as Germanic 'hound' and Latinate 'canine' coexist, the Latinate form almost always belongs to a higher register.

This is not to say that all Greek words belong to high registers and all Semitic words belong to low registers, of course. Many Greek words are stylistically neutral, and a comparatively small proportion of Semitic words are actually markedly low register. Neutral words may be found in speech of any register, and it is primarily through a higher-than-normal use of stylistically marked vocabulary that speech itself becomes stylistically marked.

Many of the example sentences used throughout this grammar have a larger proportion of Semitic words due to drawing from mostly everyday spoken sources. In contrast, the following example, Article I of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is written in a much more formal register, and so has a much higher concentration of Greek forms (marked in red).

Καλώ ινισσώ ει ιυυλωδεί εν λαττερώ υειδδιώ βανακσ̄υπρεπκιώ υεβαδ̄δ̄ιτζευμμιήν λων. Λικaλ άρ̄αδ в̄ηνπριήκινα πλε βαλλουχούν υεβασσινιδ̄είς, υεου ιιαλλάκαννα ηυνε νεφώσαν βινέμετ υναχλείκ.
Kalā 'inissā 'ī yiwwulādī 'en lətherā veyiddiyā banakšuprepkyā vebaḏḏiče'ummien lān. Likal 'ařad vēnpriekina ple ballūxūn vebassiniḏīs, ve'ū yiyəllakanna hune nefāsan binemet unaxlīk.
“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”

However, there is one context where Semitic vocabulary far outnumbers Greek loanwords despite belonging to a high register: older religious texts that predate the widespread adoption of Christianity (and thus belonging to an older tradition more influenced by Aramaic/Syriac). This includes much of the Bible, which makes significant use of Semitic vocabulary that is no longer used at all in the modern language. However, once Christianity became more established, the predominance of the Greek Church in the region led to a great influx of Greek theological vocabulary into the language. Various religious texts thus have very different styles depending on when they were written; the Lord's Prayer (based on the Gospels of Matthew and Luke), for instance, has an almost purely Semitic vocabulary, while the Nicene Creed (formulated in 325 AD) makes significant use of Greek religious terminology.

Αβάηιν δ' ιв̄ ασσαμή, ιαττακδασείνα σνίκ. Ιβείνα μαλτζείσικ, ιννυσ̄ωιείνα χασούρικ, εν ιв̄ ασσαμή κακ ηαλε ναρτζούς̄. Ηώβ χινυώ αιιούν χάζαв̄ μείδιν, υενασή χινυώ χατκιούτιν κυωζ λών αφ μασσουιιιήν μυχαττιιήν. Υεελ χώδ νω ιλ αννεσ̄ούν, χα ιην αλτήρ νω μνε αδρώχ. Καδ λικυώ αμμαλτζείς υεαμμύγ̄βιρ υεαδ̄δ̄υκσώ ιλ ηυννή ηυννιήν. Αμείν.
'Abahin d 'iv hassamē, yəthəkdasīna snik. Yibīna malčīsik, yinnušāyīna xasūrik, 'en 'iv hassamē kak hale narčūš. Hāb xinuwā hayyūn xazav mīdin, venasē xinuwā xətkyūtin kuoz lān 'af massūyiyyēn muxəthiyyēn. Ve'el xād nā 'il hannešūn, xa yēn 'altēr nā mne hadrāx. Kad likwā hammalčīs vehammuǧbir vehaḏḏuksā 'il hunnē hunnien. 'Amīn.
Our Father who are in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who traspress against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory unto ages of ages. Amen.

24.2 Common Phrases

Hello (informal)

Σαλούν Salūn

Hello (formal)

Ασσαλούν ηάλεκαν Hassalūn halekan (to a man/men/mixed group),
Ασσαλούν ηάλετζεν Hassalūn halečen (to a woman/women)

Hello (formal response)

Υεηάλεκαν ασσαλούν Vehalekan hassalūn (to a man/men/mixed group),
Υεηάλετζεν ασσαλούν Vehalečen hassalūn (to a woman/women)

Goodbye

Αδ αμματρώ 'Ad hammatrā

Good morning

Τηβώ σώρ̄ Tēbā sāř (formal),
Τεβώσαρ̄ Tebāsař (colloquial)

Good day

Τηβώ ιούν Tēbā yūn (formal),
Τεβώιυν Tebāyun (colloquial)

Good evening

Τηβώ αχρώ Tēbā 'axrā (formal),
Τεβωχρώ Tebāxrā (colloquial)

Good night

Τηβώ λήλ Tēbā lēl (formal),
Τεβώλελ Tebālel (colloquial)

How are you?

Βεμώ 'ττα; Bemā tha? (to a man)
Βεμώ 'σ̄σ̄ε; Bemā šše? (to a woman)
Βεμώ 'ττυν; Bemā thun? (to men/a mixed group)
Βεμώ 'σ̄σ̄ιν; Bemā ššin? (to women)

Good/Well

Τήβατ Tēbat

So-so

Μαμμώ Mammā

Bad/Poorly

Ρώατ Rā'at

What is your name?

Μώ σνίκ; Mā snik? (to a man)
Μώ σνίτζ; Mā snič? (to a woman)

My name is _____

Σνεί _____ Snī _____

Please

Ινδρατζζού 'Indrəčhū

Thank you

Μέρσε Merse

Yes

Νή Nē

No

Λώ Lā

Excuse me

Νασή χιώ Nasē xiyā (to a man)
Νασεί χιώ Nasī xiyā (to a woman)
Νασού χιώ Nasū xiyā (to a group)

I don't know

Λω ηδώ Lā 'ēdā

I don't understand

Λω αμμείλ Lā 'ammīl

24.3 Vocabulary Comparison

The following list compares 100 Alashian words (the Swadesh List) against six other Semitic languages: Arabic, Hebrew, Aramaic, Ge'ez, Mehri, and Akkadian. Forms that are not cognate with the Alashian word are in gray. A grayed-out word does not necessarily mean that language does not have any cognate for the Alashian word in question or vice versa; it simply means that the language does not use a cognate word with the same meaning. The final column gives the etymology of the Alashian form.

Of these languages, Hebrew is genetically the closest to Alashian; both are part of the Canaanite–Alashian branch of the Northwest Semitic languages, with Hebrew belonging to the Canaanite subbranch and Alashian to the Alashian subbranch. The forms and pronunciation shown below are those of Modern Hebrew.

Aramaic is also a Northwest Semitic language, but belongs to the Aramaic branch rather than Canaanite-Alashian. However, on a purely lexical level, Alashian is generally considered to have more in common with Aramaic than the Canaanite languages due to the historical influence Aramaic has had on the language, extending from the ancient period through the early Christian era. The forms shown below are those of Classical Aramaic, which remains the liturgical language of many Oriental Orthodox Christians.

Arabic is one level further removed from Alashian genealogically. Both Arabic and Alashian are Central Semitic, one of the three main families of Semitic languages, but Alashian further belongs to the Northwestern group historically anchored in the Levant while Arabic belongs to its own family, with its historical homeland in northern Arabia. The rise of Islam and Islamic rule on Cyprus for over a millennium has resulted in some lexical influence on Alashian, but relatively little in day-to-day vocabulary like that shown below. The forms shown below are Modern Standard Arabic, the standardized literary form of the language used throughout the Arab world.

Ge'ez belongs to the Western (African) branch of the South Semitic languages, and thus is quite removed from Alashian historically and geographically. It was once spoken in northern Ethiopia and today remains the liturgical language of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians. Amharic, the modern-day official language of Ethiopia, is also South Semitic, but has had significant lexical influence from neighboring Cushitic languages that has displaced many words of Semitic origin.

Mehri belongs to the Eastern (South Arabian) branch of the South Semitic languages, and is the most populous of the Modern South Arabian languages spoken by minority communities in Yemen and Oman. The language has been extensively influenced by Arabic. Of the languages in the chart below, Mehri shows the least number of cognate forms with Alashian, but in many cases related forms do exist but have been obscured by semantic drift.

Akkadian belongs to the now-extinct Eastern Semitic family, but was once spoken throughout Mesopotamia and the Levant as the dominant language of the Assyrian and Babylonian Empires. The influence of these ancient empires has left a notable linguistic imprint on many of the Central Semitic languages once under their rule, though this is less apparent in Alashian and Arabic which have historically found themselves on the periphery of this territory. The forms shown below come mostly from the later Assyrian period.

Sources:

Hebrew

"Morfix Dictionary," Melingo Ltd. (Britannica Israel), http://www.morfix.co.il/en/.

Arabic

"Arabic, Standard Swadesh List," The Rosetta Project, The Long Now Foundation, http://archive.org/stream/rosettaproject_arb_swadesh-1/arb.txt.

"English <-> Arabic Online Dictionary," ECTACO, http://www.ectaco.co.uk/English-Arabic-Dictionary/.

Aramaic

"Aramaic Lexicon and Concordance," Peshitta.org, The Way International, http://www.peshitta.org/lexicon/.

"The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon," Hebrew Union College of Cincinnati, http://cal1.cn.huc.edu/.

Smith, J. Payne. A Compendious Syriac Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1903).

Ge'ez

Leslau, Wolf. Comparative Dictionary of Ge'ez (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1991).

Mehri

Johnstone, T. M. Mehri Lexicon and English–Mehri Word List (London: University of London, 1987).

Akkadian

"The Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary," University of Pennsylvania Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology, http://psd.museum.upenn.edu/epsd/index.html.

Roth, Martha T. et al., ed., The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago (Chicago: The Oriental Institute, 1956-2010).