oblique cases of the personal pronoun, as well as all the possessive pronouns and the pronominal object of the verb, are denoted by forms appended directly to the governing word (suffixes); (f) the almost complete absence of compounds both in the noun (with the exception of many proper names) and in the verb; (g) great simplicity in the expression of syntactical relations, e.g. the small number of particles, and the prevalence of simple co-ordination of clauses without periodic structure. Classical Arabic and Syriac, however, form a not unimportant exception as regards the last-mentioned point.
[g] 4. From a lexicographical point of view also the vocabulary of the Semites differs essentially from that of the Indo-Germanic languages, although there is apparently more agreement here than in the grammar. A considerable number of Semitic roots and stems agree in sound with synonyms in the Indo-Germanic family. But apart from expressions actually borrowed (see below, under i), the real similarity may be reduced to imitative words (onomatopoetica), and to those in which one and the same idea is represented by similar sounds in consequence of a formative instinct common to the most varied families of language. Neither of these proves any historic or generic relation, for which an agreement in grammatical structure would also be necessary.
Comp. Friedr. Delitzsch, Studien über indogermanisch-semitische Wurzelverwandtschaft, Lpz. 1873; Nöldechen, Semit. Glossen zu Fick und Curtius, Magdeb. 1876 f.; McCurdy, Aryo-Semitic Speech, Andover, U. S. A., 1881. The phonetic relations have been thoroughly investigated by H. Möller in Semitisch und Indogermanisch, Teil i, Konsotianten, Copenhagen and Lpz. 1907, a work which has evoked considerable criticism.
[h] As onomatopoetic words, or as stem-sounds of a similar character, we may compare, e.g. לָקַק, לָחַךְ λείχω, lingo, Skt. lih, Eng. to lick, Fr. lécher, Germ. lecken; גָּלַל (cf. אָגַל, עָגַל) κυλίω, volvo, Germ. quellen, wallen, Eng. to well; גָּרַד, חָרַט, חָרַת χαράττω, Pers. khârîdan, Ital. grattare, Fr. gratter, Eng. to grate, to scratch, Germ. kratzen; פָּרַק frango, Germ. brechen, &c.; Reuss, Gesch. der hl. Schriften A.T.'s, Braunschw. 1881, p. 38, draws attention moreover to the Semitic equivalents for earth, six, seven, horn, to sound, to measure, to mix, to smell, to place, clear, to kneel, raven, goat, ox, &c. An example of a somewhat different kind is am, ham (sam), gam, kam, in the sense of the German samt, zusammen, together; in Hebrew אָמַם (whence אֻמָּה people, properly assembly), עִם (with) samt, גַּם also, moreover, Arab. גּמע[1] to collect; Pers. ham, hamah (at the same time); Skt. samâ (with), Gk. ἅμα (ἅμφω), ὁμός, ὁμόῦ (ὅμιλος, ὅμαδος), and harder ἅμφω, Lat. cum, cumulus, cunctus; with the corresponding sibilant Skt. sam, Gk. σύν, ξύν, ξυνός = κοινός, Goth. sama, Germ. samt, sammeln; but many of these instances are doubtful.
[i] Essentially different from this internal connexion is the occurrence of the same words in different languages, where one language has borrowed directly from the other. Such loan-words are—
- ↑ Critical annotation: In Arabic script: جمع.
