Semitic languages
The similarity of the Hebrew, Arabic and Aramaic languages was accepted by Jewish and Islamic scholars since medieval times. The languages were familiar to Western European scholars due to historical contact with neighbouring Near Eastern countries and through Biblical studies, and a comparative analysis of Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic was published in Latin in 1538 by Guillaume Postel. Almost two centuries later, Hiob Ludolf described the similarities between these three languages and the Ethiopian Semitic languages. However, neither scholar named this grouping as "Semitic".
Saadia Ibn Danan
Rabbi Saadiah ben Maimon ben Moshe ibn Danan () (born 2nd half of 15th century in Granada, Spain – died 1493(?) in Oran, Algeria) was a grammarian of Hebrew and Arabic, poet and a halachic authority. He served as a dayan in Granada, and after the expulsion of Jews from Spain settled in Oran. Among his works are rabbinic Responsa, a Talmudic dictionary called "Sepher Arukh," works on Hebrew grammar and Hebrew verse, as well as a Hebrew dictionary written in Arabic. He was the first writer to compare Hebrew metre with its Arabic counterpart.