Afroasiatic

American  

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

Or Afro-Asiatic

noun

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

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adjective

1. of, belonging to, or pertaining to Afroasiatic.

Etymology

Origin of Afroasiatic

First recorded in 1955–60; Afro- + Asiatic

Example Sentences

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

From Scientific American • Aug. 24, 2023

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

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

The fragmented distribution of Nilo-Saharan languages in Figure 19.2 similarly implies that many speakers of those languages have been engulfed by speakers of Afroasiatic or Niger-Congo languages.

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

In particular, Afroasiatic speakers mostly prove to be people who would be classified as whites or blacks, Nilo-Saharan and Niger-Congo speakers prove to be blacks, Khoisan speakers Khoisan, and Austronesian speakers Indonesian.

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