In trying to deny an Arab origin for the Lebanese and their language, Phoenicianists play up the non-Arab Semitic elements. This leads to outrageous claims of a Phoenician or Aramaic origin to the "Lebanese language" itself.
Heh, you see that sometimes with Maltese, too.
That, or the weakened version of saying that it's Semitic but somehow implying that it's a cousin (or something) of Arabic rather than a daughter.
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momijizukamori
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Date: 2009-02-22 04:05 pm (UTC)Heh, you see that sometimes with Maltese, too.
That, or the weakened version of saying that it's Semitic but somehow implying that it's a cousin (or something) of Arabic rather than a daughter.