<< Based on the above considerations I have assumed that after moving to
Canaan it wasn't too long before the patriarchs were speaking the language
of their new neighbors. I would appreciate it if someone knowledgeable in
this area could tell me whether this is a correct assumption.
>>
John Bright is knowledable in this area and says in his History of Israel,
3rd ed (1981), p. 92. [Caveat: there may be some slight change since 1981]
"The language of the patriarchs had presumably been a form of Northwest
Semitic not greatly different from that spoken at Mari; but as ties with the
homeland grew weaker they assimilated the Canaanite language, of which Hebrew
is but a dialect (just as their kinsmen in Mesopotamia ultimately adopted
Aramaic.)"
I would only add that since Abraham and Isaac retained close ties with their
relatives in Haran, and Jacob even went back to live there for 20 years,
these patriarchs apparently never lost the ability to communicate in their
old language even though they assimilated a new one.
Paul S.