Meanings
- not comparableRelated to the Ancient North Arabian script or language(s)
One of them, a limestone-ostracon found in the debris which covered the remains of a late Roman fortress, is of special significance for Ancient North Arabian palaeography and dialectology.
1985, Ernst A. Knauf, “A South Safaitic Alphabet from Khirbet Es-Samrāʾ”, in Levant, volume 17, page 204Synonyms: Old North Arabian
- A branch of South Semitic abjads used in northern and central Arabia and southern Syria from the 8th century BCE to the 4th century CE.
1 more example
The tribes of the Syrian Harrah may, of course, ultimately have come from Southern Arabia, or their home may have been near the borders of the South-Arabian empires, and their alphabet is no doubt to be derived largely from the so-called Himyaritic script ; for the history of the ancient North-Arabian alphabets seems to be that of a gradual remigration from Southern Arabia, beginning at a time when the Himyaritic alphabet had not yet received the form in which it is known to us.
1904, Enno Littmann, Semitic inscriptions, page 115Synonyms: Old North Arabian
- A hypothetical Central Semitic language, language group or dialects, expressed by these scripts and closely related to Old Arabic.
Macdonald (2000:28ff) has grouped the ancient languages in two classes: Ancient North Arabian (ANA) and Ancient South Arabian (ASA). The ANA comprises: Taymanitic, Dadanitic, Dumaitic, Dispersed ONA, Safaitic, Hismaic, Thamudic (B,C,D, and Southern), and Hasaitic.
2001, Muhammed A. Nayeem, Origin of Ancient Writing in Arabia and New Scripts from Oman: An Introduction to South Semitic Epigraphy and Palaeography, page 40
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveRelated to the Ancient North Arabian script or language(s)
proper nounA branch of South Semitic abjads used in northern and central Arabia and southern Syria from the 8th century BCE to the 4th century CE.
Origin
- GermanAlt-Nord-Arabisch
- EnglishAncient North Arabian
Attested since 1904. Calque of German Alt-Nord-Arabisch (itself from 1870s), which corresponds to Altnordarabisch in modern orthography.
More words from German
Full word history & related roots →Translations
French nord-arabique ancien, nordarabique ancien
- nord-arabique ancienrelated to homonymous script or language
- nordarabique ancienrelated to homonymous script or language
German Frühnordarabisch, Altnordarabisch
- Frühnordarabischrelated to homonymous script or language
- Altnordarabischrelated to homonymous script or language
Cite this entry
Ancient North Arabian. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ancient%20North%20Arabian
“Ancient North Arabian.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ancient%20North%20Arabian. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Ancient North Arabian,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ancient%20North%20Arabian.
Source: Ancient North Arabian on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.