East Semitic

E731717

East Semitic is an early branch of the Semitic language family, historically spoken in ancient Mesopotamia and best known for languages such as Akkadian and Old Assyrian.

All labels observed (3)

Label Occurrences
East Semitic languages 4
East Semitic canonical 2
North‑East Semitic 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf branch of the Semitic languages
language subgroup
differentiatedFrom Central Semitic
South Semitic
West Semitic
earliestAttestation 3rd millennium BCE
geographicFocus Tigris-Euphrates valley
hasAncestor Proto-Semitic
hasSubgroup Akkadian branch
Eblaite branch
linked to: Eblaite
historicalRegion Lower Mesopotamia
Upper Mesopotamia
ancient Mesopotamia
linked to: Mesopotamia
influenced Akkadian literature
administrative language of Mesopotamian empires
influencedBy Sumerian language
linguisticFeature SOV basic word order tendency
development of status constructus constructions
extensive use of ventive verbal forms in Akkadian
influence from Sumerian
loss or reduction of some Proto-Semitic case endings
phonological merger of some Proto-Semitic sibilants
use of prepositions instead of case endings typical of West Semitic
notableLanguage Akkadian
Assyrian
Babylonian
Eblaite
Middle Assyrian
Neo-Assyrian
Old Akkadian
linked to: Akkadian

Old Assyrian
partOf Afroasiatic language family
primaryScriptType logo-syllabic script
status extinct
subclassOf Semitic languages
timePeriod Bronze Age
early Iron Age
typologicalContact Hurrian
Sumerian
linked to: Sumerian language
usedFor administrative records
legal documents
literary texts
royal inscriptions
usedIn Akkadian Empire
Old Assyrian trade colonies
Old Babylonian period
writingSystem cuneiform

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (7)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Old Assyrian languageBranch East Semitic
Neo-Assyrian subdivisionOf East Semitic languages
linked to: East Semitic
Neo-Assyrian languageSubbranch East Semitic
Middle Babylonian partOf East Semitic languages
linked to: East Semitic
Middle Assyrian subfamily East Semitic languages
linked to: East Semitic
Suret languageSubbranch North‑East Semitic
linked to: East Semitic
Semitic peoples hasLanguageBranch East Semitic languages
linked to: East Semitic