The Verb *√L(-)Đ ‘To Remove’ in Early Aramaic Curses and the Evolution of Aramaic Interdental Orthography and Phonology

Abstract

Several verbal morphologies including the core orthography {ld} are attested in ninth- and eighth-century bce Aramaic texts from Sefire and Tell Fekheriyeh. From their similar contexts, all can be demon-strated to have the semantics ‘to remove’, but scholars are divided as to the root source and precise phonology of these verbs. The present paper demonstrates that these {ld} verbs belong to a cognate set descendant from proto-Semitic . The representation of the reflex of the interdental by {d} is a precocious development only attested broadly in later Aramaic, but its surfacing here can be ration-alized by appeal to diachronic phonology, phonotactics and linguistic typology. The consistent employment of developed orthography for this root is perhaps related to the existence of a broad and consistent early Aramaic curse tradition.