The words for "peace" in Arabic and Hebrew are not exactly the same, but they look suspiciously similar. Why?

The answer is that Arabic and Hebrew are closely related languages. They have a great number of similarities, not only in basic vocabulary but also in grammar, the forms of words, and sentence structure. They share these features because they belong to the same language family, that of the Semitic languages. In the following unit we will investigate some of these similarities and the background behind them. In the process, we will learn some important linguistic concepts, such as the concepts of language families, sound changes, and regular correspondences of sounds. We will also gain practice in analysis and problem-solving. [Continued (with Exercises) in 4 PDF Files Listed Below]

6.1 - The Arabic and Hebrew Unit Complete [285k download]
6.1 - The Arabic and Hebrew Unit Part 1 [33k download]
6.2 - The Arabic and Hebrew Unit Part 2 [30k download]
6.3 - The Arabic and Hebrew Unit Part 3 [29k download]
6.4 - The Arabic and Hebrew Unit Part 4 [31k download]