Ammonite language

As far as can be determined from the small corpus, it was extremely similar to Biblical Hebrew, with some possible Aramaic influence including the use of the verb ‘bd (עבד) instead of the more common Biblical Hebrew ‘śh (עשה) for 'make'.

The only other notable difference with Biblical Hebrew is the sporadic retention of feminine singular -t (’šħt 'cistern', but ‘lyh 'high [fem.]'.)

Ammonite also appears to have possessed largely typical correspondences of diphthongs, with words such as ywmt (יומת *yawmōt, 'days') both preserving /aw/ and showing a shift to /o/, and other words such as yn (ין 'wine') exhibiting a shift of /ay/ to ē (yēn < *yayn) much like Hebrew.

[2] It was first described as a separate language in 1970 by Italian Orientalist Giovanni Garbini.

[3] Subsequently, a number of inscriptions previously identified as Hebrew, Phoenician, or Aramaic were reclassified, as a result of consensus around the similarity of the Amman Theatre Inscription, Amman Citadel Inscription, Tell Siren Bottle, Heshbon Ostraca, and Tell el-Mazer Ostraca.