Afro-Asiatic languages
The Afro-Asiatic languages are a language family of about 240 languages and 250 million people widespread throughout North Africa and Southwest Asia.
The following language subfamilies are included:
Older literature used the term Hamito-Semitic instead of Afro-Asiatic.
All languages except the Semitic ones were lumped together as Hamitic.
This does not reflect modern understanding of the group: probably the greatest diversity is among the Cushitic and Omotic groups, suggesting that what is now Ethiopia is the original homeland, and the other groups spread out from there many thousands of years ago.
The Semitic group was the only one to spread as far as Asia.
In historical or near-historical times some Semitic speakers crossed from South Arabia back into Ethiopia, so some modern Ethiopian languages (such as Amharic) are Semitic rather than belonging to the substrate Cushitic or Omotic groups.
Sources:
- Bernd Heine and Derek Nurse, African Languages, Cambridge University Press, 2000 - Chapter 4
- http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=2
See also:
African Languages
Referenced By
African Languages | African language | Ancient Egyptian language | Aoudjila | Augila | Aujila | Awjila | Berber language | Berber languages | Caananite | Canaan | Canaanites | Chadic languages | Cushitic | Cushitic languages | Diachronic linguistics | Eastern Berber languages | Egyptian language | Egyptian languages | Egyptian script | Ejective consonant | Family of languages | Guanche | Historical-comparative linguistics | Historical linguistics | Kabyl | Kabyle | Kabyles | Kabylie | Language families | Language families and languages | Language family | Nostratic | Nostratic language | Number in the world | Numbers in various languages | Oasis Berber | Omotic languages | Sawknah | Semite | Semitic | Semitic language | Semitic languages | Semitic people | Sioua | Siwi | Siwi language | Sokna | Tamasheq | Tamasheq languages | Vocoid | Vowel | Vowels | Zenaga | Zenati
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