The first comparative grammar of the Semitic languages, by H. Zimmern, was published a hundred years ago and the last original work of this kind was issued in Russian in 1972 by B.M. Grande. The present grammar, designed to come out in the centenary of the completion of Zimmern's work, fills thus a gap. Besides, it is based on both classical and modern Semitic languages, it takes new material of these last decades into account, and situates the Semitic languages in the wider context of Afro-Asiatic. The introduction briefly presents the languages in question. The main parts of the work are devoted to phonology, morphology, and syntax, with elaborate charts and diagrams. Then follows a discussion of fundamental questions related to lexicographical analysis. The study is supplemented by a glossary of linguistic terms used in Semitics, by a selective bibliography, by a general index, and by an index of words and forms. The book is the result of twenty-five years of research and teaching in comparative Semitic grammar.

Linguistic Studies in Phoenician: In Memory of J. Brian Peckham honors the late Professor J. Brian Peckham, a scholar who has been instrumental in furthering the cause of Phoenician studies over the past decades. His passion made him an exceptional teacher, and his research on Phoenician studies resulted in his Phoenicia: Episodes and Anecdotes from the Ancient Mediterranean (Eisenbrauns, 2014), which he finished just prior to his passing in September 2008. This collection of studies dedicated to his memory is aimed at advancing our understanding of the grammatical and historical features of the Phoenician language, a favorite topic that Professor Peckham rigorously studied and taught. The first set of studies concentrates on linguistic features of Phoenician qua Phoenician. They include investigations of phonology and morphology, as well as linguistic approaches to syntax and text-level pragmatics. The second set of studies seeks to situate aspects of the Phoenician language typologically or within comparative, etymological, and historical Semitics. The result is a group of studies covering topics ranging from case endings, negation, pronominal usage, and phonology to dialectology, etymologies, and text linguistics. Given the use of Phoenician throughout the Mediterranean littoral, this volume contains something of interest for numerous areas of investigation, including comparative Semitics, Anatolian, early Mediterranean, and even Hebrew and biblical studies.

The Phoenicians created the Mediterranean world as we know it--yet they remain a poorly understood group. In this Handbook, the first of its kind in English, readers will find expert essays covering the history, culture, and areas of settlement throughout the Phoenician and Punic world.

The handbook The Semitic Languages offers a comprehensive reference tool for Semitic Linguistics in its broad sense. It is not restricted to comparative Grammar, although it covers also comparative aspects, including classification. By comprising a chapter on typology and sections with sociolinguistic focus and language contact, the conception of the book aims at a rather complete, unbiased description of the state of the art in Semitics. Articles on individual languages and dialects give basic facts as location, numbers of speakers, scripts, numbers of extant texts and their nature, attestation where appropriate, and salient features of the grammar and lexicon of the respective variety. The handbook is the most comprehensive treatment of the Semitic language family since many decades.