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Glite Dictionary
Canaanitic language

Canaanitic language

9.9
A group of related languages once spoken in the eastern Mediterranean, like Hebrew and Phoenician
  • noun
  • Specialized
: lengua cananitica
  • The Canaanitic language family includes both Phoenician and Hebrew.

Examples

  • Scholars have identified ancient Hebrew as a Canaanitic language spoken in the Levant.

  • Phoenician, a Canaanitic language, was used along the Mediterranean coast.

  • The study of inscriptions helped linguists classify Ugaritic as different from the Canaanitic language group.

  • Many scholars study Canaanitic languages to understand ancient cultures.

  • Phoenician is one of the most recognized Canaanitic languages that flourished in ancient trade.

  • Many scholars believe that ancient Hebrew is a key example of a Canaanitic language spoken in biblical times.

  • The Canaanitic languages include important dialects that were spoken in the ancient Levant region.

Synonyms

Canaanitic
vsCanaanitic language
  • Specialized
9.9

A group of related languages, including Hebrew and Phoenician, that were spoken long ago in Canaan

refers to the same languages but described as from the ancient Levant

Surface Forms

Canaanitic language singular
Canaanitic languages plural

Morphology

Canaanitic + language

The phrase is a straightforward composition of 'Canaanitic' (denoting the Canaan-related languages such as Hebrew and Phoenician) plus 'language', so its meaning — a language belonging to the Canaanitic family — is directly derivable from the parts. The modifier+noun pattern is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily understand the MWE.

Etymology

Canaanitic language comes from the old place called Canaan. The word Canaanitic meant 'from Canaan' and language meant 'a way of speaking', so the name was used for the group of related languages spoken there, like Phoenician and Hebrew.