Safaitic dialect  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Arabia, Syria Extinct marginalized by Classical Arabic from the
7th century Language family Writing system South Arabian
alphabet Language codes ISO 639-3 Linguist List xna-saf
Safaitic (Arabic: صفوية or صفائية‎) is the name given to an Old
North Arabian dialect, preserved in the form of inscriptions
which are written in a type of South Semitic script. These
inscriptions were written by bedouin and semi-nomadic
inhabitants of the Syro-Arabian desert. Dating of the
inscriptions, although problematic, is conventionally placed
between the 1st century BC and the 4th century AD.   Safaitic
inscriptions are named after the area where they were first
discovered in 1857: Es Safa, a region of basalt desert to the
southeast of Damascus, Syria. Since then they have been found
over a wide area including south Syria, eastern Jordan and
northwestern Saudi Arabia. Isolated examples occur further
afield in