Canaanite languages

…(2) Northwest Semitic Languages ​​As the center of the Syrian-Palestinian region, which has been sandwiched between great powers since ancient times and has been in constant conflict since ancient times, Northwest Semitic languages ​​show the most complex distribution among the Semitic languages, and there are also some unresolved problems in terms of their system. They are divided into Canaanite and Aramaic languages, and the oldest material in the former is Ebla, which was inscribed on part of a large number of cuneiform tablets excavated at Tell Mardih in Syria in 1974-75, and its contents are awaiting further research. The hundreds of proper names found on cuneiform tablets excavated in Mari on the upper Euphrates are thought to reflect Amorite, and together with the annotations in the correspondence between Canaanite princes and the king of Egypt (14th century BC) excavated in Amarna, Egypt, they are considered to be materials for Canaanite language from the 2nd millennium BC. …

*Some of the terminology that refers to the "Canaanite languages" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…(2)北西セム語派　古代から大国の間に挟まれて紛争の絶えないシリア･パレスティナ地方を中心舞台とするだけに，セム語族中最も複雑な分布を示し，系統的にも未解決の問題を含む。カナン語群とアラム語群に分けられ，前者の最古の資料は1974‐75年シリアのテル･マルディフで発掘された大量の楔形文字板の一部に刻まれた，前3千年紀後半のエブラ語Eblaで，その内容は今後の研究に待つ。ユーフラテス上流のマリ出土の楔形文字板に見える数百の固有名詞はアモリ語Amoriteの反映と見られ，エジプトのアマルナ出土の，カナン諸侯とエジプト王との往復書簡(前14世紀)に含まれる語注等とともに，前2千年紀のカナン語の資料とされる。…

※「カナン語群」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報