Japhetic

American  

[juh-fet-ik] / dʒəˈfɛt ɪk /

adjective

1. of or relating to Japheth.

2. of or relating to a hypothesized group of languages of the Caucasus, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and southern Europe, including the Caucasian languages, Sumerian, Basque, and Etruscan, formerly thought by some to represent a stage in language development that preceded the development of Indo-European and Semitic.

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Japhetic British  

/ dʒeɪˈfɛtɪk /

adjective

1. denoting a discredited grouping of languages that postulated a relationship between Basque, Etruscan, and Georgian among others

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Etymology

Origin of Japhetic

First recorded in 1820–30; Japhet(h) + -ic, on the model of Hamitic, Semitic

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Japhetic

The names Japhet, Gomer, and Thiras are borrowed from the Hebrew scriptures, from the genealogy of the Japhetic nations in Genesis; but the order of succession is altered.

From The History of Antiquity, Vol. I (of VI) by Duncker, Max

But I will go further in my deductions, and I will affirm that this specimen of the human family is of the Japhetic race, which has since spread from the Indies to the Atlantic.

From A Journey to the Interior of the Earth by Verne, Jules

The language he called Median, and classified it in “the Scythian, rather than in the Japhetic family.”

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 8 "Cube" to "Daguerre, Louis" by Various

Language; difference between the Japhetic and Semitic tongues, ii.

From Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah & Meccah — Volume 2 by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir

Indo-European, in′dō-ū-rō-pē′an, adj. a term applied to the family of languages variously called Aryan, Japhetic, Sanscritic, Indo-Germanic, generally classified into seven great branches—viz.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various