Afroasiatic languages
Afroasiatic (Afro-Asiatic), also called Afrasian or Hamito-Semitic[1] or Semito-Hamitic,[2] is a large language family. They are mainly spoken in Western Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa and parts of the Sahel.[3] There are around 300 Afroasiatic languages that are still spoken. About 495 million people speak an Afroasiatic language as their first language.[4] There are six branches of the language family: Berber, Chadic, Cushitic, Egyptian, Omotic and Semitic. The most spoken language is Arabic, a Semitic language. It has around 313 million native speakers.[5]
| Afroasiatic | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution: | Malta, Horn of Africa, North Africa, Sahel, West Asia |
| Linguistic classification: | One of the world's primary language families |
| Proto-language: | Proto-Afroasiatic |
| Subdivisions: |
Egyptian †
|
| ISO 639-2 and 639-5: | afa |
 Distribution of the Afro-Asiatic languages | |
Afroasiatic Languages Media
A diagram of the six widely recognized branches of the Afroasiatic family, including some of the larger or more culturally significant languages in each branch.
Seal impression from the tomb of Seth-Peribsen (c. 2690 BCE), containing the first complete sentence in Ancient Egyptian.[6]
Distribution of ethnic groups in Africa (Afroasiatic/Hamito-Semitic-speaking in yellow)
Speech sample in the Semitic Neo-Aramaic language, a descendant of Old Aramaic
Speech sample in Classical Arabic (Semitic branch)
References
- ↑ Katzner, Kenneth (2002). The Languages of the World. Routledge. p. 27. ISBN 978-1134532889. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
- ↑ Robert Hetzron, "Afroasiatic Languages" in Bernard Comrie, The World's Major Languages, 2009, ISBN 113426156X, p. 545
- ↑ "Browse by Language Family". ethnologue.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ↑ "Summary by language family". ethnologue.com. Ethnologue. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ↑ "Arabic". ethnologue.com. Ethnologue. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ↑ Allen 2013, p. 2.
