The present note discusses the problem of a paradigmatic present-future form in the Amorite language. By employing the continuum model of language evolution and dialectal classification and using the comparative, typological and empirical evidence, the authors conclude that Amorite must have had a systematic category with the meaning of a dynamic present-future. They argue that, out of the two possible candidates – i.e., yaqattal and yaqtulu – it is the former that is the most plausible. This

more »

... nclusion, in turns, strengthens the hypothesis whereby the reduplicative yaqattal was a Proto-Semitic paradigmatic present-future category.