This seminar begins with theoretical aspects of dialectology, including key terms and  principles related to this linguistic field. This will be followed by a discussion on the  classification of languages and dialects and a survey of contemporary Semitic languages in  the Aramaic, Arabic, South Arabian and Ethiopic speaking-areas. Various processes and  features related to the development of   geographical, communal and ethnic dialects will be  discussed, along with the variability of Arabic dialects according to the nature of   settlement - urban, rural and nomad. Sociolinguistic aspects of Israeli Hebrew shall also be  examined, as well as contact-induced features which are the result of various influences  among the Semitic languages themselves and between Semitic and other languages.

Among the primary methodological aspects related to dialectology which will be acquired  by the participants are the analysis and charting of linguistic maps and atlases and the  usage of questionnaires in fieldwork. Knowledge in Semitic linguistics is not a  rerequisite  for this course.