Semitic Quotes by James John Courtenay

“The Arabic language has had a great history, and in many respects is more remarkable than any other Semitic speech.”

— James John Courtenay

“There was probably a larger admixture of Greek in Galilee than in any other Palestinian province.”

— James John Courtenay

“The Samaritans were conservative in the matter of script, preserving the Phoenician type after Judaea and Galilee had accepted the Aramaic character.”

— James John Courtenay

“There is some evidence that the Canaanites lived together with the Babylonians for a longer period than did the Aramaeans ... It is found…

— James John Courtenay

“In its classical form Arabic is of later date than Hebrew, but in its ancient form akin to Hebrew and Aramaic, certainly as old,…

— James John Courtenay

“The descendants of Joktan dwelt from Mesha to Sephar.”

— James John Courtenay

“It is doubtful whether the vernacular of Palestine admitted any Greek element prior to the Christian era. Even in the Greek form of the…

— James John Courtenay

“When Aramaeans became Christians, their name was often confounded with 'heathen', hence they called their land by the Greek name 'Syria', themselves by the…

— James John Courtenay

“The books of the Old Testament, as we know them, do not represent the language of Palestine as spoken at any one time or…

— James John Courtenay

“Mandaean ... letter-forms resemble the older Syriac ... Estrangelo character ... considerably coloured by Arabic ... likeness to Nabataean and the Babylonian Talmud.”

— James John Courtenay

“The Galilean Aramaic pronunciation of שׁ was שׂ, or rather ס as the Ephraimite or Samaritan.”

— James John Courtenay

“With the progress of the Greek arms cam the decline of the Greek language.”

— James John Courtenay