Afroasiatic

or Af·ro-A·si·at·ic

[ af-roh-ey-zhee-at-ik, -ey-shee-, -ey-zee- ]

noun

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

adjective

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of Afroasiatic¹

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

Football, basketball and all team sports have their roots in Central America’s ancient, seemingly Afroasiatic Olmec civilization.

From Washington Post

These were the indigenous inhabitants of North Africa who spoke Afroasiatic languages, a world away from Arabic, and who practiced various animist cults.

From New York Times

Finally, speakers of ancestral Afroasiatic languages may have been involved in domesticating the crops native to Ethiopia, and they certainly introduced Fertile Crescent crops to North Africa.

From Literature

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

From Scientific American