Afroasiatic

American

[af-roh-ey-zhee-at-ik, -ey-shee-, -ey-zee-] / ˌæf roʊˌeɪ ʒiˈæt ɪk, -ˌeɪ ʃi-, -ˌeɪ zi- /

Or Afro-Asiatic

noun

Formerly Hamito-Semitic. a family of languages including as subfamilies Semitic, Egyptian, Berber, Cushitic, and Chadic.

adjective

of, belonging to, or pertaining to Afroasiatic.

Etymology

Origin of Afroasiatic

First recorded in 1955–60; Afro- + Asiatic

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But the exact point at which Hebrew and Arabic diverged from other Afroasiatic languages is heavily disputed.

From Scientific American • Aug. 24, 2023

Even with this broad time frame, contemporary linguists widely accept Afroasiatic as the oldest language family.

From Scientific American • Aug. 24, 2023

In 1987, Martin Bernal published the first volume of his controversial three-volume work Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization.

From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023

This suggests that Afroasiatic languages arose in Africa, and that only one branch of them spread to the Near East.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Even more unexpectedly, clicks or Khoisan words also appear in two Afroasiatic languages spoken by blacks in Kenya, stranded still farther from present Khoisan peoples than are the Hadza and Sandawe peoples of Tanzania.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023