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Ugaritic

Ugaritic

1 9.9
A dead Semitic language once spoken in northern Syria, known from ancient clay tablets from about 1400–1200 BCE
  • noun
  • /juːˈɡɛrɪtɪk/
  • Specialized
: ugarítico
  • Linguists study Ugaritic to better understand the evolution of Semitic languages.

Examples

  • In one important legend that we have from the Canaanite text, the Ugaritic text, he defeats an adversary who's known as Prince Sea or Judge River.

  • Once upon a time, most Old Testament scholars in the West had to be at least familiar with Arabic (before the discovery of Ugaritic, Arabic was the go-to language when problems arose in interpreting the meaning of biblical Hebrew), and most scholars of the Qur'an knew their Bible.

    Blog text (8)
  • The Ugaritic language is an extinct Semitic language once spoken in northern Syria.

  • The ancient city of Ugarit provides valuable insights into the Ugaritic language and its culture.

Synonyms

Ugaritic language
vsUgaritic
  • Specialized
1 9.9

An extinct language spoken in ancient northern Syria and related to Hebrew and Phoenician

gives precise historical dates and notes preservation in cuneiform texts

Compounds

Ugaritic language
  • Specialized
1 9.9

An extinct language spoken in ancient northern Syria and related to Hebrew and Phoenician

Surface Forms

Ugaritic singular
Ugaritics plural

Morphology

Ugaritic = Ugarit (transparent) = Ugarit + ic

Formed by regular adjectival/derivational suffixation from the place name 'Ugarit' meaning 'of or relating to Ugarit'.

Etymology

Ugaritic comes from the ancient city Ugarit and the ending -ic means 'from' or 'relating to', like in Arabic. So Ugaritic simply names the language 'from Ugarit', the old city in northern Syria where archaeologists found its clay writings.