semitic languages language family

The Semitic language family consists of dozens of distinct languages and modern day dialects, but the major Semitic languages are Arabic, Amharic (spoken in Ethiopia), Tigrinya (spoken in Ethiopia and Eritrea), Hebrew, Tigre (spoken in Sudan), Aramaic (spoken in Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Iraq and Iran) and Maltese. Berber It comprises about 300 or so living languages and dialects, according to the 2009 Ethnologue estimate. A comparative study of the Semitic languages is a very sub­ stantial undertaking, as the family comprises dozens of lan­ guages, spread out among the ancient, medieval, and modern periods. Such modern languages as Hebrew, Arabic, and Ethiopic belong to the Semitic language Semitic Branch. The Semitic Languages presents a comprehensive survey of the individual languages and language clusters within this language family, from their origins in antiquity to their present-day forms.

various Semitic idioms is well attested throughout history, the more so since Semitic languages surprisingly often were established as linguae francae, used in preference to the spoken language. They constitute a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. Other languages have used the Arabic script - Hausa, Kashmiri, Kazak, Kurdish, Kyrgyz, Malay, Morisco, Pashto, Persian/Farsi, Punjabi, Sindhi, Tatar, Turkish, Uyghur and Urdu - although some of these have switched to Latin script. Meredith Holt Linguistics 450 28 July 1999 Written records of Egyptian and Semitic (both Afro-Asiatic languages) date back at least four thousand years, giving the Afro-Asiatic language family the longest history of any known language group (Atlas, p.51). Languages in current use. I think that if one does not know the Uto-Aztecan language that was spoken 2500 years ago nor the precise mixutres of Semitic languages that could have influenced the Uto-Aztecan language at the time, I think that it is an assumption to use the language family in this case rather than the precise language. A common example of this are the three letters "k-t-b" (Or k-t-v in Hebrew). The Semitic family forms part of a wider grouping generally called Hamito-Semitic, but lately . Since Arabic, Hebrew, Coptic, and Syriac, are the languages of Islam, Judaism, and two sects of the Christian faith, the .

The Semitic languages are spoken in a wide area, including the Middle East, North Africa, and the Horn of Africa. The Semitic Languages presents a unique, comprehensive survey of individual languages or language clusters from their origins in antiquity to their present-day forms. 1 Relating to or denoting a family of languages that includes Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic and certain ancient languages such as Phoenician and Akkadian, constituting the main subgroup of the Afro-Asiatic family. a branch of the Afrasian, or Hamito-Semitic, family of languages. The Semitic subfamily may be divided into East, West (or Central), and South (or Ethiopic) Semitic. These include Shilha (a Berber language, spoken in Morocco), Hausa (from the Chadic branch — spoken in Nigeria and Niger) and Somali (a Cushitic language native to several East African countries). In Shimron, Joseph (ed. $200. Determining whether a feature is an innovation or an archaism can be problematic . The most widely spoken Semitic languages today are Arabic (206 million native speakers . Incidentally, pharyngeals are more common in Africa, especially in branches of the . The North Ethiopic languages are a family of 4 languages (1 extinct, 3 living) spoken in Eritrea, northern Ethiopia, and eastern Sudan. Today, Hebrew remains the lone surviving Canaanite language, but in Iron Age II, in the first half of the 1 st millennium BCE, it included languages including Canaanite, Moabite, Ammonite and .

The most widely spoken Afro-Asiatic language today is Arabic (a Semitic language), but there are many other significant languages in the family. The Semitic languages are a branch of Afroasiatic languages spoken in North Africa, Arabia, the Horn of Africa and the Middle East.. The Semitic languages are a group of related languages whose living representatives are spoken by more than 470 million people across much of the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa. The Semitic languages are spoken in northern, central and eastern Ethiopia (mainly in Tigray, Amhara, Harar and northern part of the Southern Peoples' State regions).

The Semitic Languages presents a unique, comprehensive survey of individual languages or language clusters from their origins in antiquity to their present-day forms.

Semitic people synonyms, Semitic people pronunciation, Semitic people translation, English dictionary definition of Semitic people. ) adjective. Afroasiatic (Afro-Asiatic), also known as Afrasian and traditionally as Hamito-Semitic (Chamito-Semitic), is a large language family of several hundred related languages and dialects. Other Afroasiatic languages have mostly triconsonantal roots, but also many biconsonantal roots.

Some of the oldest attested languages in the world, from the oldest civilizations, are in the family of the Afroasiatic languages. Edited By John Huehnergard, Na'ama Pat-El March 04, 2019. Afroasiatic languages are spoken predominantly in the Middle East , North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of the Sahel. Amharic (30%) — An Afroasiatic language from the Semitic branch . Afro-Asiatic, formerly called Hamito-Semitic, is the largest language family of northern Africa. Abstract. Today, 250 million people speak approximately 250 Afro-Asian languages. ), Language processing and acquisition in languages of Semitic, root-based, morphology, pp. The Semitic languages, previously also named Syro-Arabian languages, are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family originating in the Middle East that are spoken by more than 330 million people across much of West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Malta, in small pockets in the Caucasus as well as in often large immigrant and expatriate communities in North America, Europe and Australasia. As a result, westerners can think that languages from other parts of the world are also similar to English, French, or German. Proto-Semitic undoubtedly comprised dialects, like all languages, but such distinctions and their distribution are usually not recoverable, and so our reconstruction here is more monolithic than the language actually was. There is a genealogical classification for languages used as a criteria to understand their kinship and, as a result, to include them in a particular linguistic family. 'Aramaic belongs to the Semitic language group historically centred in the Middle East.'. Robert Hetzron was the most influential Semitist of the last three or four decades. (more than 350 languages) Semitic (more than 70 languages) Languages spoken in Middle East and North Africa: Aramaic, Arabic, Canaanite (Hebrew, Samaritan), Ethiopian languages (Geez, Tigré, Gafat, Amharic, Harari), South Arabian languages .

They are spoken by more than 330 million people across much of West Asia, the Horn of Africa, and latterly also North Africa, Malta and in small pockets in the Caucasus as well as in often large immigrant and expatriate communities in North America, Europe, and Australasia.