Aramaic Reflexes of the Semitic Ḏ/Ŝ*: A Study in Ancient Polyphony, Ugaritic Phonology & Arabic Dialectology

Abstract The linguistic varieties of Aramaic feature several distinct reflexes of the Proto-Semitic phoneme *ḏ̣/ṣ̂. This phenomenon has long piqued the interest of scholars, who have proposed the pathway *ṣ̂>ġ>ՙ to explain the origin of the different permutations present in Aramaic and her descendant languages. However, the postulate remains largely unsubstantiated due to limited evidence to support this type of sound change. To corroborate the theory, this article avails itself of the study of Semitic orthography, Ugaritic phonology, and Arabic dialectology to contribute four new findings: (1) reinterpreting the use of multiple graphemes for the same phoneme, a phenomenon known as polyphony, (2) mapping Ugaritic ġ to Arabic ḍ/ẓ as potential evidence for the viability of **ṣ̂>ġ>ՙ (3) surveying Arabic dialects to elucidate the logic for q as a stand-in for velar /ɣ/, (4) proposing that early dissimilation produced the lexeme dḥk, whose initial consonant had been de-emphaticized.