The Writing Culture of Ancient Dadan: A Description and Quantitative Analysis of Linguistic Variation

This Work Focuses The Social Context Of Writing In Ancient Western Arabia In The Oasis Of Ancient Dadan, Modern-day Al-'ula In The Northwest Of The Arabian Peninsula Between The Sixth To First Centuries Bc. It Offers A Description And Analysis Of The Language Of The Inscriptions And The Variation Attested Within Them. It Is The First Work To Perform A Systematic Study Of The Linguistic Variation Of The Dadanitic Inscriptions. It Combines A Thorough Description Of The Language Of The Inscriptions With A Statistical Analysis Of The Distribution Of Variation Across Different Textual Genres And Manners Of Inscribing. By Considering Correlations Between Language-internal And Extralinguistic Features This Analysis Aims To Take A More Holistic Approach To The Epigraphic Object. Through This Approach An Image Of A Rich Writing Culture Emerges, In Which We Can See Innovation As Well As The Deliberate Use Of Archaic Linguistic Features In More Formal Text Types-- Provided By Publisher.