File:Cyclopedia universal history - embracing the most complete and recent presentation of the subject in two principal parts or divisions of more than six thousand pages (1895) (14596560927).jpg

Identifier: cyclopediauniver1950ridp (find matches)
Title: Cyclopedia universal history : embracing the most complete and recent presentation of the subject in two principal parts or divisions of more than six thousand pages
Year: 1895 (1890s)
Authors: Ridpath, John Clark, 1840-1900
Subjects: World history Ethnology World history
Publisher: Boston : Balch Bros.
Contributing Library: UMass Amherst Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries

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heir descendants and theArabians of the regions bordering onthe Red sea are sufficiently marked. Throughout the whole of SouthernArabia, especially toward the south-western termination of the mmyaritio-writ-peninsula, are found lin- jJ?^,t°r;ro!^guistic traces of this ancient Auction,people. A class of primitive writings,called Hwiyaritic Inscriptions, testify un-mistakably of the presence of a peculiarpeople in the regions where they arefound. These writings, generally en-graved on stone, have been one of themost interesting and puzzling studiespresented to modern students of lan-guage, and there has been great diver-sity of views in regard to classifying theoriginal speech to which these writingsbelong. Many most eminent linguistshave regarded them as of a Semiticorigin. Another plausible view is thatof Renan, who holds that the inscriptionsin question differ too widely from Arabicand cognate varieties of Semitic speechto be classified therewith. These facts open a question of much
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ii;iiiiiiii:!i!i::i(iipf9(iinii!jji;::;iiiii(iiiiii;i 452 GREAT RACES OF MANKIND. importance respecting the affinities ofthe Hamitic and Semitic languages. Itappears that the linguistic separation ofthese two races was never Affinities andconnection of Hamitic and SO Complete as the division of either of them from the Semitic lan-guages. Aryan families of the north. It is likelythat in mqpners, institutions, language,and laws the primitive Hamitic tribesheld together with their Semitic kins-men until common linguistic forms hadbeen in a considerable measure fixed ineach, from which circumstance consider-able similarity would appear in the sub-sequent development of the respectivelanguages. On the whole, it is safer toclassify the Himyaritic inscriptions withthe other Semitic dialects, and to admitthe influence of the Hamitic Arabs ingiving particular features to the writingsof Southern Arabia. Wherever the inscriptions in questionmay be placed in linguistic classification,it is certain

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