Central Semitic languages
- Central Semitic languages
Infobox Language family
name = Central Semitic
region = Middle East and North Africa
familycolor = Afro-Asiatic
fam2 = Semitic
fam3 = West Semitic
child1 = Northwest Semitic
child2 = Arabic
The Central Semitic languages are an intermediate group of Semitic languages, comprising Arabic and Northwest Semitic (including Canaanite (Hebrew-Phoenician), Aramaic and Ugaritic).
Different classification systems disagree on the precise structure of the group. The most common approach divides it into Arabic and Northwest Semitic, while SIL Ethnologue has South Central Semitic (including Arabic and Hebrew) vs. Aramaic.
The main distinction between Arabic and the Northwest Semitic languages is the presence of broken plurals in the former. The majority of Arabic masculine non-human nouns form plurals in this manner (called inanimate plural), whereas almost all nouns in the Northwest Semitic languages form their plurals with a suffix. For example, the Arabic بيت "bayt" ("house") becomes بيوت "buyūt" ("houses"); the Hebrew בית "bayit" ("house") becomes בתים "battīm" ("houses").
ee also
*Northwest Semitic languages
*Arabic language
*Aramaic language
*Hebrew language
*Ugaritic language
*Semitic Languages
*Proto-Semitic language
References
*cite book|author=Sabatino Moscati|title=An Introduction to Comparative Grammar of Semitic Languages Phonology and Morphology|publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag|year=1980|id=ISBN 3-447-00689-7
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
Look at other dictionaries:
Semitic languages — Infobox Language family name=Semitic region=Middle East, North Africa, Northeast Africa and Malta familycolor=Afro Asiatic child1=East Semitic (extinct) child2=West Semitic child3=South Semitic iso2=semThe Semitic languages are a language family… … Wikipedia
Central Cushitic languages — Infobox Language family name=Central Cushitic altname=Agaw region=Ethiopia and central Eritrea familycolor=Afro Asiatic fam1=Afro Asiatic fam2=Cushitic child1=Awngi child2=Bilin child3=Qimant child4=XamtangaThe Central Cushitic, or Agaw,… … Wikipedia
SEMITIC LANGUAGES — SEMITIC LANGUAGES, the name given by A.L. Schloezer in 1781 to the language family to which Hebrew belongs because the languages then reckoned among this family (except Canaanite) were spoken by peoples included in Genesis 10:21–29 among the sons … Encyclopedia of Judaism
Northwest Semitic languages — Northwest Semitic Levantine Geographic distribution: concentrated in the Middle East Linguistic classification: Afro Asiatic Semitic Cent … Wikipedia
Semitic languages — Family of Afro Asiatic languages spoken in northern Africa and South Asia. No other language family has been attested in writing over a greater time span from the late 3rd millennium BC to the present. Both traditional and some recent… … Universalium
Ethiopian Semitic languages — Ethiopian Semitic Geographic distribution: Ethiopia, Eritrea Linguistic classification: Afro Asiatic Semitic South Semitic Western … Wikipedia
West Semitic languages — Infobox Language family name = West Semitic region = Middle East and East Africa familycolor = Afro Asiatic fam2 = Semitic child1 = Central Semitic child2 = South SemiticThe West Semitic languages are a proposed major sub grouping of Semitic… … Wikipedia
Ethio-Semitic languages — the Semitic languages of Ethiopia and Eritrea, including Geʿez (Geʿez language), the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox church; Amharic (Amharic language), one of the principal languages of modern Ethiopia; Tigré (Tigré language) … Universalium
Languages of Eritrea — Eritrea is generally considered to have nine ethno linguistic groups. Each of these has their own language: Afar, Arabic (spoken by the Rashaida), Beja (spoken by the Hedareb), Blin, Kunama, Nara, Saho, Tigre and Tigrinya.Eritrea does not have… … Wikipedia
Languages of Africa — There are an estimated 2000 languages spoken in Africa. [ [http://www.panafril10n.org/wikidoc/pmwiki.php/PanAfrLoc/MajorLanguages Major Languages of Africa] ] About a hundred of these are widely used for inter ethnic communication. They fall into … Wikipedia
