Thamudic B

Thamudic B is a Central Semitic language and script concentrated in northwestern Arabia, with attestations in Syria, Egypt, and Yemen. As a poorly understood form of Ancient North Arabian, it is included in the Thamudic category. Mentions of the king of Babylon and the Nabataean god Dushara show that Thamudic B was written over a span of centuries, ranging at least from the seventh or sixth to fourth centuries BCE.

Characteristics
Thamudic B is mostly written horizontally, from right to left. Salient linguistic features include the following:


 * 1) The suffix morpheme of the prefix conjugation in the first person is -t, as in Arabic and Northwest Semitic, as opposed to the -k of Ancient South Arabian and Ethiopic.
 * 2) The dative preposition is nm, which appears to be an assimilated form of an original *lima.
 * 3) The consonant /n/ often assimilates to a following contiguous consonant, ʔṯt, from earlier *ʾVnṯat and ʔt, from earlier *[ʔanta].
 * 4) Imperatives are often augmented by the energic suffix -n.