Internal History
The Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the establishment of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in terms of grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages — all maintained in Classical Arabic — include
- The conversion of the suffix-conjugated stative formation into a past tense.
- The conversion of the prefix-conjugated preterite-tense formation into a present tense.
- The elimination of other prefix-conjugated mood/aspect forms (e.g. a present tense formed by doubling the middle root, a perfect formed by infixing a /t/ after the first root consonant, probably a jussive formed by a stress shift) in favor of new moods formed by endings attached to the prefix-conjugation forms (e.g. -u for indicate, -a for subjunctive, no ending for jussive, -an or -anna for energetic).
- The development of an internal passive.
Read more about this topic: Arabic Language
Famous quotes containing the words internal and/or history:
“You will see Coleridge—he who sits obscure
In the exceeding lustre and the pure
Intense irradiation of a mind,
Which, with its own internal lightning blind,
Flags wearily through darkness and despair—
A cloud-encircled meteor of the air,
A hooded eagle among blinking owls.”
—Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822)
“It may be well to remember that the highest level of moral aspiration recorded in history was reached by a few ancient Jews—Micah, Isaiah, and the rest—who took no count whatever of what might not happen to them after death. It is not obvious to me why the same point should not by and by be reached by the Gentiles.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)