The East Semitic languages are one of the two major subdivisions of Semitic languages, the other being West Semitic. The East Semitic group is attested by two distinct languages, Akkadian and Eblaite, both are extinct. The East Semitic languages stand apart from other Semitic languages in a number of respects. Historically, it is believed that this linguistic situation came about as speakers of East Semitic languages wandered further east. Their entrance into Mesopotamia during the third millennium BCE is one of the earliest written historical record. By the beginning of the second millennium BCE, East Semitic languages, in particular Akkadian, had come to dominate the region. They were influenced by the non-Semitic Sumerian language and adopted cuneiform writing. Mesopotamia refers to the region now occupied by modern Iraq, eastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, and Southwest Iran. ... Current distribution of Human Language Families Most languages are known to belong to language families. ... The Afro-Asiatic languages constitute a language family with about 375 languages (SIL estimate) and more than 300 million speakers spread throughout North Africa, East Africa, the Sahel, and Southwest Asia (including some 200 million speakers of Arabic). ... 14th century BC diplomatic letter in Akkadian, found in Tell Amarna. ... Akkadian (lišānum akkadītum) was a Semitic language (part of the greater Afro-Asiatic language family) spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, particularly by the Assyrians and Babylonians. ... Eblaite is an extinct East Semitic language which was spoken in the 3rd millennium BC in the ancient city Ebla, in modern Syria. ... 14th century BC diplomatic letter in Akkadian, found in Tell Amarna. ... The West Semitic languages are a proposed major sub-grouping of Semitic languages. ... Akkadian (lišānum akkadītum) was a Semitic language (part of the greater Afro-Asiatic language family) spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, particularly by the Assyrians and Babylonians. ... Eblaite is an extinct East Semitic language which was spoken in the 3rd millennium BC in the ancient city Ebla, in modern Syria. ... An extinct language (also called a dead language) is a language which no longer has any native speakers. ... Mesopotamia refers to the region now occupied by modern Iraq, eastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, and Southwest Iran. ... The 3rd millennium BC spans the Early to Middle Bronze Age. ... The 2nd millennium BC marks the transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age. ... Akkadian (lišānum akkadītum) was a Semitic language (part of the greater Afro-Asiatic language family) spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, particularly by the Assyrians and Babylonians. ... The Sumerian language ( EME.GIR15 native tongue) of ancient Sumer was spoken in Southern Mesopotamia from at least the 4th millennium BCE. Sumerian was replaced by Akkadian as a spoken language around 1800 BCE, but continued to be used as a sacred, ceremonial, literary and scientific language in Mesopotamia until... Look up Cuneiform in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Modern understanding of the phonology of East Semitic languages can only be derived from careful study of written texts and comparison with the reconstructed Proto-Semitic. Most striking is the loss of the glottal stop, or aleph, and the voiced pharyngeal fricative, or ayin, both of which are prominent features of West Semitic languages (for example, Akk. bēl 'master' < PS. *ba‘al). Also, East Semitic languages do not possess a series of three back fricatives: *h, *ḥ, *ġ. Their ellision appears to give rise to the presence of an e vowel, where it is not found in other Semitic languages (for example, Akk. ekallu 'palace/temple' < PS. *haykal). It also appears that the series of interdental fricatives became sibilants (for example, Akk. šalšu 'three' < PS. *ṯalaṯ). However, the exact phonological make-up of the languages is inexact, and the absence of features may have been the result of the inadequacies of Sumerian orthography to describe the sounds of Semitic languages rather than their real absence. The vowels of modern (Standard) Arabic and (Israeli) Hebrew from the phonological point of view. ... Proto-Semitic is the hypothetical proto-language of the Semitic languages. ... The glottal stop or voiceless glottal plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in many spoken languages. ... is the reconstructed name of the first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet, continued in descended Semitic alphabets as Phoenician , Syriac , Hebrew , , and Arabic . Aleph originally expressed the glottal stop (IPA ), usually transliterated as , a symbol based on the Greek spiritus lenis , for example in the transliteration of the letter... The voiced pharyngeal approximant/fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Ayin is the sixteenth letter in many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician, Hebrew, and Aramaic. ... Akkadian (lišānum akkadÄ«tum) was a Semitic language (part of the greater Afro-Asiatic language family) spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, particularly by the Assyrians and Babylonians. ... Proto-Semitic is the hypothetical proto-language of the Semitic languages. ... Fricatives (or spirants) are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. ... He is the fifth letter of the Phoenician and Hebrew alphabets. ...   Kheth or Het is the eighth letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician, Hebrew, and Aramaic. ... () is one of the six letters the Arabic alphabet added to the twenty-two inherited from the Phoenician alphabet (the others being , , , , ). It represents the voiced velar fricative (IPA ). In name and shape, it is a variant of . ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Akkadian (lišānum akkadÄ«tum) was a Semitic language (part of the greater Afro-Asiatic language family) spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, particularly by the Assyrians and Babylonians. ... Proto-Semitic is the hypothetical proto-language of the Semitic languages. ... A sibilant is a type of fricative or affricate, made by directing a jet of air through a narrow channel towards the sharp edge of the teeth. ... Akkadian (lišānum akkadÄ«tum) was a Semitic language (part of the greater Afro-Asiatic language family) spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, particularly by the Assyrians and Babylonians. ... Proto-Semitic is the hypothetical proto-language of the Semitic languages. ...

The word order in East Semitic may also have been influenced by Sumerian, being Subject Object Verb rather than the West Semitic Verb Subject Object order. In linguistic typology, Subject Object Verb (SOV) is the type of languages in which the subject, object, and verb of a sentence appear (usually) in that order. ... Verb Subject Object—commonly used in its abbreviated form VSO—is a term in linguistic typology. ...