Editing Semitic languages (section)

=== First century to twentieth century CE ===
[[File:Basmalah-1wm.svg|thumb|upright=0.9|Example of [[Arabic calligraphy]]]]
[[Syriac language|Classical Syriac]], a 200 CE<ref>"…Syriac, the Classical dialect of Aramaic first attested in Edessa, about 200 CE, but which spread through the Christian communities of Mesopotamia and the Levant in the following centuries.", Revival and Awakening
American Evangelical Missionaries in Iran and the Origins of Assyrian Nationalism, p.49</ref> [[Eastern Aramaic languages|Eastern Middle Aramaic]] dialect,{{sfn|Brock|1998|p=708}} used as a [[liturgical language]] in [[Mesopotamia]], the [[Levant]], and [[Kerala]], India,{{sfn|Harrak|1992|pp=209–14}} rose to importance as a literary language of early [[Christianity]] in the third to fifth centuries and continued into the early [[Islam]]ic era.

The [[Arabic]] language, although originating in the [[Arabian Peninsula]], first emerged in written form in the 1st to 4th centuries CE in the southern regions of The [[Levant]]. With the advent of the [[Early Muslim conquests|early Arab conquests]] of the seventh and eighth centuries, Classical Arabic eventually replaced many (but not all) of the indigenous Semitic languages and cultures of the [[Near East]]. Both the Near East and North Africa saw an influx of Muslim Arabs from the Arabian Peninsula, followed later by non-Semitic Muslim [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] and [[Turkic peoples]]. The previously dominant Aramaic dialects maintained by the Assyrians, Babylonians and Persians gradually began to be sidelined, however descendant dialects of [[Eastern Aramaic languages|Eastern Aramaic]] (including [[Suret language|Suret]] (Assyrian and Chaldean varieties), [[Turoyo language|Turoyo]], and [[Mandaic language|Mandaic]]) survive to this day among the [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] and [[Mandaeans]] of northern and southern [[Iraq]], northwestern [[Iran]], northeastern [[Syria]] and southeastern [[Turkey]], with up to a million fluent speakers. Syriac is a recognized language in Iraq, furthermore, [[Mesopotamian Arabic]] is one of the most Syriac influenced dialects of Arabic, due to Syriac, the dialect of [[Edessa]] specifically, having originated in Mesopotamia.<ref>{{harvnb|Afsaruddin|Zahniser|1997|p=464}}; {{harvnb|Smart|2013|p=253}}; {{harvnb|Sánchez|2013|p=129}}</ref> Meanwhile [[Western Aramaic]] is now only spoken by a few thousand Christian and Muslim [[Terms for Syriac Christians#Aramean identity|Arameans (Syriacs)]] in western [[Syria]]. The Arabs spread their Central Semitic language to [[North Africa]] ([[Egypt]], [[Libya]], [[Tunisia]], [[Algeria]], [[Morocco]], and northern [[Sudan]] and [[Mauritania]]), where it gradually replaced Egyptian [[Coptic language|Coptic]] and many [[Berber languages]] (although Berber is still largely extant in many areas), and for a time to the [[Iberian Peninsula]] (modern [[Spain]], [[Portugal]], and [[Gibraltar]]) and [[Malta]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}

[[File:AndalusQuran.JPG|thumb|right|upright=0.9|Page from a 12th-century [[Quran]] in [[Arabic]] ]]
With the patronage of the caliphs and the prestige of its [[sacred language|liturgical]] status, Arabic rapidly became one of the world's main literary languages. Its spread among the masses took much longer, however, as many (although not all) of the native populations outside the [[Arabian Peninsula]] only gradually abandoned their languages in favour of Arabic. As [[Bedouin]] tribes settled in conquered areas, it became the main language of not only central Arabia, but also Yemen,{{sfn|Nebes|2005|p=335}} the [[Fertile Crescent]], and [[Egypt]]. Most of the [[Maghreb]] followed, specifically in the wake of the [[Banu Hilal]]'s incursion in the 11th century, and Arabic became the native language of many inhabitants of [[al-Andalus]]. After the collapse of the [[Nubia]]n kingdom of [[Dongola]] in the 14th century, Arabic began to spread south of Egypt into modern [[Sudan]]; soon after, the [[Beni Ḥassān]] brought [[Arabization]] to [[Mauritania]]. A number of [[Modern South Arabian languages]] distinct from Arabic still survive, such as [[Soqotri language|Soqotri]], [[Mehri language|Mehri]] and [[Shehri language|Shehri]] which are mainly spoken in [[Socotra]], Yemen, and Oman.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}

Meanwhile, the Semitic languages that had arrived from southern Arabia in the 8th century BC were diversifying in [[Ethiopia]] and [[Eritrea]], where, under heavy [[Cushitic languages|Cushitic]] influence, they split into a number of languages, including [[Amharic]] and [[Tigrinya language|Tigrinya]]. With the expansion of Ethiopia under the [[Solomonic dynasty]], Amharic, previously a minor local language, spread throughout much of the country, replacing both Semitic (such as [[Gafat language|Gafat]]) and non-Semitic (such as [[Weyto language|Weyto]]) languages, and replacing Geʽez as the principal literary language (though Geʽez remains the liturgical language for [[Christians]] in the region); this spread continues to this day, with [[Qimant language|Qimant]] set to disappear in another generation.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}