Afro-Asiatic
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Af·ro-A·si·at·ic
(ăf′rō-ā′zhē-ăt′ĭk, -shē-, -zē-)n.
A large family of languages spoken in northern Africa and southwest Asia, comprising the Semitic, Chadic, Cushitic, Berber, Omotic, and ancient Egyptian languages; formerly known as Hamito-Semitic.
Af′ro-A′si·at′ic adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Afro-Asiatic
n
(Languages) Also called: Semito-Hamitic a family of languages of SW Asia and N Africa, consisting of the Semitic, ancient Egyptian, Berber, Cushitic, and Chadic subfamilies
adj
(Languages) denoting, belonging to, or relating to this family of languages
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
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Noun | 1. | Afro-Asiatic - a large family of related languages spoken both in Asia and Africa natural language, tongue - a human written or spoken language used by a community; opposed to e.g. a computer language Chadic, Chadic language, Chad - a family of Afroasiatic tonal languages (mostly two tones) spoken in the regions west and south of Lake Chad in north central Africa Semitic - a major branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family Hamitic, Hamitic language - a group of languages in northern Africa related to Semitic Egyptian - the ancient and now extinct language of Egypt under the Pharaohs; written records date back to 3000 BC Berber - a cluster of related dialects that were once the major language of northern Africa west of Egypt; now spoken mostly in Morocco Cushitic - a group of languages spoken in Ethiopia and Somalia and northwestern Kenya and adjacent regions Omotic - a group of related languages spoken in a valley of southern Ethiopia; closely related to Cushitic languages |
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