The
East Semitic languages are one of six fairly uncontroversial divisions of the
Semitic languages, the others being
Northwest Semitic,
Arabian,
Old South Arabian (also known as Sayhadic),
Modern South Arabian, and
Ethio-Semitic. The East Semitic group is attested by two distinct languages,
Akkadian and
Eblaite, both of which have been long
extinct. They stand apart from other Semitic languages, traditionally called West Semitic, in a number of respects. Historically, it is believed that this linguistic situation came about as speakers of East Semitic languages wandered further east, settling in
Mesopotamia during the
third millennium BCE, as attested by Akkadian texts from this period. By the beginning of the
second millennium BCE, East Semitic languages, in particular
Akkadian, had come to dominate the region. They were influenced by the non-Semitic
Sumerian language and adopted
cuneiform writing.