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Standard Lebanese (𐤇𐤃𐤔 𐤃𐤁𐤓𐤉𐤌 ''dabarīm ḥados'') was based on the Central Lebanese dialect. However, the speakers of other dialects and different languages introduced some calques, borrowings and [[w:Phono-semantic_matching|phono-semantic matchings]] of international words. Currently, about 69% of the population speaks Lebanese as a native language, while most of the rest speak it fluently. | Standard Lebanese (𐤇𐤃𐤔 𐤃𐤁𐤓𐤉𐤌 ''dabarīm ḥados'') was based on the Central Lebanese dialect. However, the speakers of other dialects and different languages introduced some calques, borrowings and [[w:Phono-semantic_matching|phono-semantic matchings]] of international words. Currently, about 69% of the population speaks Lebanese as a native language, while most of the rest speak it fluently. | ||
===Maltese and Greek Lebanese=== | |||
There were several varieties of Phoenician, spoken in Malta and on the island of Cyprus, usually called 𐤃𐤁𐤓𐤉𐤌 𐤐𐤕̇𐤉𐤌 ''dabarīm pūttīm'' (or 𐤃𐤁𐤓𐤉𐤌 𐤀𐤋𐤔𐤉𐤌 ''dabarīm alasēm'' in Cyprus). Phoenician was brought there by traders and settlers in the medieval period following the Arabisation of Lebanon, so neither of these varieties are direct descendants of Punic, which had likely become extinct by that time. Maltese Phoenician died out in Malta, with its former native speakers switched to Maltese, while the Cypriot variety is still being spoken by a small number of speakers. Both are mutually intelligible with Lebanese and are very close to dialects spoken around Sidon. Several unique characteristics of Cypriot Phoenician are: the use of a negative particle 𐤀𐤉 ''ī'' instead of standard Lebanese ''bal'' (used with nouns, suffixing forms and participles) and ''al'' (with prefixing forms of verbs), which it shares with the Sidonian dialect; the presents of vowel "y" [y] instead of Lebanese "i" ([jy.ˈsal] for ''esˁal'' - "I am asking", [d͡zyθ] for ''edzoth'' "this (feminine)"). | |||
==Phonology== | ==Phonology== | ||
Old Phoenician had a typical Semitic consonant inventory, with pharyngeals, a series of "emphatic" consonants (possibly ejective, but this is debated), and in early stages also a lateral fricative /ɬ/, and uvular /χ/ and /ʁ/ sounds. /χ/ and /ʁ/ merged into /ħ/ and /ʕ/ respectively while /ɬ/ merged into /ʃ/. Later in some dialects of Old Phoenician /ʃ/ became indistinguishable from /s/ and /p/, /t/ and /k/ became [[w:Aspirated consonant|aspirated]] [pʰ], [tʰ] and [kʰ], which was represented in Ancient Greek and later in Latin texts. These sounds later changed further into fricatives, this [[w:Begadkefat|process]] did not involve voiced stops, unlike in Aramaic and Biblical Hebrew.The vowel system underwent a [[w:Canaanite shift|Canaanite shift]] - the process, partly shared by Biblical Hebrew, but going further in Phoenician (for example: 𐤓𐤅𐤔 ''rūs'', "head", Tiberian Hebrew ''rōš'', ראש). | Old Phoenician had a typical Semitic consonant inventory, with pharyngeals, a series of "emphatic" consonants (possibly ejective, but this is debated), and in early stages also a lateral fricative /ɬ/, and uvular /χ/ and /ʁ/ sounds. /χ/ and /ʁ/ merged into /ħ/ and /ʕ/ respectively while /ɬ/ merged into /ʃ/. Later in some dialects of Old Phoenician /ʃ/ became indistinguishable from /s/ and /p/, /t/ and /k/ became [[w:Aspirated consonant|aspirated]] [pʰ], [tʰ] and [kʰ], which was represented in Ancient Greek and later in Latin texts. These sounds later changed further into fricatives, this [[w:Begadkefat|process]] did not involve voiced stops, unlike in Aramaic and Biblical Hebrew.The vowel system underwent a [[w:Canaanite shift|Canaanite shift]] - the process, partly shared by Biblical Hebrew, but going further in Phoenician (for example: 𐤓𐤅𐤔 ''rūs'', "head", Tiberian Hebrew ''rōš'', ראש). |
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