If there’s any mistake please correct me (especially in the hebrew parts, i am only native in arabic and know basic hebrew)

explanation for roots and templates (i forgot to completely explain them lol): Words in semitic languages, unlike indo-european languages are conjugated with a system of roots and templates.

Roots are three (or even four) letter words, that are not meant to be used by themselves since they are equivalent to the infinitive in IE languages. So K-T-B would be “to write” and nothing else. No tense, no gender, etc etc.

Templates fill these in, by applying the root to a template. They specify the tense, gender, x-person etc.

So K-T-B (to write) + _A_A_TU (I did this thing in the past) = KATABTU

tl;dr: roots are verbs and templates are context for them

  • Coelacanth
    3·
    5 hours ago

    I attempted to learn Arabic for a bit and this logic based root system was part of the appeal, it’s so interesting and a refreshing change of pace compared to Latin or Germanic languages.

    • fxomt@lemm.eeOP
      2·
      5 hours ago

      It’s a beautiful language but overwhelming. Even i as a native speaker still find it hard to read books in it (tbf i don’t use it much for reading and writing, i do most of that in english lol)

      The writing system’s also cool. Hebrew is also a pretty language imo but the pronunciation is… let me put it this way: It’s the danish of the middle east lmao.

      Interestingly enough i can understand a pretty good amount of hebrew despite never really learning it except just to read the script itself. In tiberian pronunciation it has many similarities. Hell, i can even kind of understand the torah.