Akkadian has the closest numerals to Ge’ez
Although the popular opinion from linguists of the 18th & 19th Centuries was to generally considered Ge’ez (& MSA) as descendants of Sabaic (Sayhadic in general), this opinion began to shift around the 1970s, and was clearly ruled out by the mid 1990s through the works of German linguist Norbert Nebes (1994).
Through his work, Nebes identified a verb class used in both Ge’ez (Ethio-Semitic family in general), & Modern South Arabian languages that is a conservative Semitic feature. The only other language that uses this class is Akkadian (East Semitic in general), whilst Sabaic, Arabic & Hebrew lacked this verb class. Showing us that an innovation occurred, likely after the ancestors of Akkadian, Modern South Arabian & Ge’ez had split from the Ancestral Semitic language at that time.
Another feature that is unique to these 3 Semitic branches, that likely represents conservative linguistic feature prior to innovation, is the use of the plural feminine form suffix to form tens numerals. Following gender polarity for numbers 3-10 in Semitic languages, the feminine form cardinal (masculine form numeral) is then used as a base to form its respective 10s numeral.
This suffix is observed as -a in both Ge’ez & Akkadian. Here is an example of how a tens numeral is made in these two languages, using #3 -> #30.
Akkadian # 3 šalāš + -a (fem. suffix) = # 30 šalāša
Ge’ez #3 śälas ሠላስ + -a (fem. suffix) = #30 śälasa ሠላሳ
Semitic languages either use feminine form, or masculine form suffixes to create their 10s. The only language branches that use feminine form suffixes are the 3 prior mentioned Semitic branches:
- Akkadian (East & Old Semitic)
- Modern South Arabian (West & Middle Semitic)
- Ge’ez (West & Middle Semitic)
The remaining Semitic languages (Arabic, Sabaic, Hebrew…) all use masculine form suffixes, and are all West & Late Semitic languages. We should point out that in various MSA languages, masculine form suffixes have been adopted via Arabic influence, rendering Ge’ez & Akkadian as the purest forms of the initial feminine form 10s numerals in elder Semitic branches.
It’s interesting to note, that the traditional East-West Semitic branching, once again becomes hazy when we discuss Ethio-Semitic & Modern South Arabian languages. Who don’t seem to fit in with the other West Semitic languages, or the East Semitic languages, or even with each other. Yet again, another strictly conservative feature in Semitic is only observed in East Semitic, MSA, & Ge’ez.
Whatever the origin of Ge’ez is, it has a different origin than Sabaic (after the diversification of Semitic languages). Sabaic seems to have more relation to Arabic, whilst Ge’ez & MSA languages seem to have a more common origin than they do with Sabaic.
This once again, emphasizes the independence of the Ge’ez (Ethio-Semitic) language family amongst the Semitic languages, and invalidates any grouping of “South Semitic languages”.
Ge’ez, MSA, & Sayhadic are all independent branches of Semitic.
To see more, please read my article on Substack.