proto afroasiatic roots proto afroasiatic roots

p-Omotic It is traditionally understood to be an adjective based on the name of Abraham's ancestor, Eber ("Ever" in Hebrew), mentioned in Genesis 10:21. p-Plateau (p-Tarokoid) The languages that evolved from Proto-Arabic have around 313 million native speakers, concentrated primarily in the Middle East and North Africa.[5]. ; *u < *i /#-p_C-#? The HmongMien languages also known as MiaoYao and rarely as Yangtzean1 are a highly tonal language family of southern China and northern Southeast [121] In contemporary Omotic, Chadic, and Cushitic languages, tone is primarily a grammatical feature: it encodes various grammatical functions, only differentiating lexical roots in a few cases. PROTO-AFROASIATIC PHONOLOGICAL SYSTEM One of the most significant characteristics of Afroasiatic consonantism is the system of triads found in the stops and affri- cates -- each series (except the lateralized affricates) contains three members: a voiceless (aspirated) member, a voiced member, and a glottalized (that is, ejective) member. innovation: meaning shift, from avoiding per se to feeling a need or reason to avoid), to wear out, be used up, cease to function, (Eg., Cush., Ch. 'be, exist'), (root seen also in #983 + probably *s caus. 1995. [95], "Afro-Asiatic" redirects here. [152], A widely attested feature in AA languages is a consonantal structure into which various vocalic "templates" are placed. p-Gurunsi Three dialects emerged (Omotic, Cushitic, and Chadic) from the main one and this left 'Boreafrasian,' the source of Berber, Egyptian and Semitic (Dalby ,p. 6). [22] Other scholars, however, argue that they are a group of around twelve languages, about as different from each other as the Romance or Germanic languages. of proto-Afroasiatic cultivation. [40] The latest possible date for the existence of Proto-Afroasiatic is c. 4000 BCE, after which Egyptian and the Semitic languages are first attested; however, the languages must have diverged and evolved for some time before this. Afroasiatic is generally considered to be comprised of the language families Berber, Chadic, Cushitic, Egyptian, Omotic, and Semitic. Consider also the debate over the origins of the Afroasiastic or Afrasan languages and cultures, a linguistic group with a wide geographical distribution covering the Middle East and Northern. innovation: to spoil > to sour), (Sem., Eg. to different specific animals), (possible vowel reconstructions: *a, *aa, *e, or *o), (Sem., Ch. [68] In 1969, Harold Fleming proposed that a group of languages classified as Cushitic by Greenberg were in fact an independent "Omotic" language family, a proposal that has been widely accepted but remains controversial. suff. Berkeley: University of California Press. [90] Some Chadic languages allow a syllable to begin with a vowel. Amdang ), (Sem., Eg. [20], The Berber (or Libyco-Berber) languages are spoken today by perhaps 16 million people. [29] The Chadic languages are typically divided into three major branches, East Chadic, Central Chadic, and West Chadic. Ekoid p-Idomoid ; SC semantics: early beads were made of shell), (root of #48 + *c extend. for expected *ii probably reflects phonetic influence of PC root in #254), (Sem., Eg. . [66] Some scholars would continue to regard Hausa as related to the other Afroasiatic languages, but the idea was controversial: many scholars refused to admit that the largely unwritten, "Negroid" Chadic languages were in the same family as the "Caucasian" ancient civilizations of the Egyptians and Semites. [30] A common characteristic of AA languages is the existence of a special set of "independent" pronouns, which are distinct from subject pronouns. The following list of Proto-Afroasiatic reconstructions is from Ehret (1995). An Encyclopedia of Language. [16] Several issues with the label "Hamito-Semitic" have led to its decline in use by later scholars. The results, while confirming some previous views on proto-Afroasiatic (proto-Afrasian), revise or overturn many others, and add much that is new. p-Upper Cross River SLEC Som. [33] Only about 40 Chadic languages have been fully described by linguists. North Germanic includes Icelandic, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian. suff. In addition to the languages spoken today, Afroasiatic includes many ancient languages, such as Egyptian, which forms a distinct branch of the family; and within the Semitic family, Akkadian, Hebrew, Phoenician, other Canaanite languages, Amorite, Ugaritic and Aramaic. The reconstructed consonants for Proto-Afro-Asiatic are p and b, t and d, and k and g. The Egyptian bw meaning place and the Semitic bi meaning in or from are believed to be from the reconstructed root *b- meaning foot or place (ELL, p.51). [50], Most authorities divide Semitic into two branches: East Semitic, which includes the extinct Akkadian language and West Semitic, which includes Arabic, Aramaic, the Canaanite languages, including Hebrew, as well as the Ethiopian Semitic languages such as Ge'ez and Amharic. Because i notice in some cases, they seem to have vowels shifting around quite a bit, akin to the trilateral root systems of the semitic languages. Kujarge Hadza, https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Appendix:Proto-Afroasiatic_reconstructions&oldid=68902118, attributive noun and attributive deverbative suffix, attributive and complement deverbative suffix, noun derivation from verb by stem-vowel lengthening, (Sem., Eg. He showed that, generally, any consonant from one of these groups could combine with consonants from any other group, but could not be used together with consonants from the same group. Our assessments, publications and research spread knowledge, spark enquiry and aid understanding around the world. Yendang Proto-Afro-Asiatic is of great antiquity; experts tend to place it in the Mesolithic Period at about 15,000-10,000 bce. Proto-Afro-Asiatic is of great antiquity; experts tend to place it in the Mesolithic Period at about 15,000-10,000 bce. p-Fula-Sereer [103] Igor M. Diakonoff proposed that Proto-AA had a three vowel system of long and short a, i, and u. innovation: shift to outflow of water, not from body; root *-sa- seen in #540 + *t dur. WCh WOT There is no consensus regarding the location of the Proto-Semitic Urheimat; scholars hypothesize that it may have originated in the Levant, the Sahara, or the Horn of Africa, and the view that it arose in the Arabian Peninsulahas also been common historically. p-Grassfields Proto-Nostratic would have been spoken between 15,000 and 12,000 BCE, in the Epipaleolithic period, close to the end of the last glacial period. [92] Diakonoff argues that Proto-Afroasiatic syllables disallowed consonant clusters or vowels at the end of a syllable. [130], Many AA languages use prefixes or suffixes (verbal extensions) to encode various pieces of information about the verb. infix), fruit, seeds, foliage, plant growth in general, (Ch., Sem. [27] The first is the Numidian language, represented by over a thousand short inscriptions in the Libyco-Berber alphabet, found throughout North Africa and dating from the 2nd century BCE onward. If so, semantics are unclear), (pl. [75] Consequently, scholars have offered estimates for when Proto-Afroasiatic was spoken that range between 18,000 and 8,000 BCE. It is very difficult to reconstruct ancient Proto-Afroasiatic (PAA) vocabulary, and still more difficult to reconstruct a common morphosyntax. common genetic origin of Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Afroasiatic differ considerably from the assumptions made in other works on . [191], The Cushitic and Chadic numeral systems appear to have originally been base 5. V. V. ven. all catalog, articles, website, & more in one search catalog books, media & more in the Stanford Libraries' collections articles+ journal articles & other e-resources [40] Militarev associates the speakers of Proto-Afroasiatic with the Levantine Post-Natufian Culture, arguing that the reconstructed lexicon of flora and fauna, as well as farming vocabulary indicates that Proto-AA must have been spoken in this area. [131] This sex-based gender system is widely agreed to derive from Proto-Afroasiatic. bw 'plant used in medicine' (med) Central Chadic: *abay 'leaf' Proto-Afro-Asiatic: * (a-)bil- Meaning: door Semitic: *abul- 'door, gate' Western Chadic: *HVbil- 'door' Central Cushitic (Agaw): *bil- 'door' 1, 'hole, window' 2 The Cushitic forms in particular may be derived from morphology found in subordinate clauses. shared innovation: *isin-/*usun- 'they' (originally fem./masc. [72] Earlier, the first scholar to question to existence of "Hamitic languages" was Marcel Cohen (1924),[9] while skepticism was also expressed by A. Klingenheben and Dietrich Westermann (1920s and '30s). [3] The phylum has six branches: Berber, Chadic, Cushitic, Egyptian, Semitic, and Omotic. [32] It may have as many as 80 to 100 million first and second language speakers. p-Ring [123], Some scholars postulate that Proto-Afroasiatic was a tonal language, with tonality subsequently lost in some branches: Christopher Ehret has postulated a tonal system of at least two tonal phonemes, falling tone, rising tone, and possibly a third tone, level tone. [54] Greenberg rejected the Afroasiatic classification of languages that Meinhof had classified as "Hamitic" based on racial and anthropological data. The other three are very closely related and it is not hard for, say, a Dane to learn to understand a Swede. [77] Roger Blench writes that the debate has "a strong ideological flavor", with associations between an Asian origin and "high civilization". This can be found in Semitic, Egyptian, Beja, Berber, and Chadic. Proto-Afroasiatic, sometimes also referred to as Proto-Afrasian, is the reconstructed proto-language from which all modern Afroasiatic languages are descended. Lafofa, p-Afroasiatic In Afro-Asiatic languages: Origins originated is referred to as Proto-Afro-Asiatic. p-Semitic, Khoisan This work provides the first truly comprehensive and systematic reconstruction of proto-Afroasiatic (proto-Afrasian). ref. 'to come so close as to brush against'), (Eg., Sem. ), (root *-sa-, seen also in #539 preceding, + *w inchoative), (2nd root shape *-caab- seen in PEC v. and Banna (SOm) 'white,' is not as yet satisfactorily accounted for), indefinite pronoun stem (one, someone, somebody), (stem + * iter. Afrasian. >I find it odd how Semitic is still Afroasiatic even though it's tied to a non-E haplogroup Egyptian and Semitic are both J. Cushitic is T and Chadic is J/R1b-V88. The only branch that's actually E is Berber. [64] The French orientalist Guillaume Postel had also pointed out similarities between Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic in 1538, and Hiob Ludolf noted similarities also to Ge'ez and Amharic in 1701. >>14700322 >Proto-Semitic language contact with PIE implies the Semitic languages themselves come from J Caucasians. Greenberg, 1958 D. Cohen,. [103][101] The feminine marker T is one of the most consistent aspects across the different branches of AA;[133] in addition to deriving feminine nouns in many branches, it also functions as a diminutive, pejorative, and/or singulative marker in some languages. [25][26], There are two extinct languages potentially related to modern Berber. There is no general consensus over the location of the Urheimat, the original homeland from which began the migrations into the present locations of the speakers. The construct state is a special, usually reduced form of a noun, which is used when the noun is possessed by another noun (Semitic) or is modified by an adjective or relative clause (Cushitic). shared innovation: 'raise' > 'lift, pick up'; probable further Ch., Eg., Sem. [11] In 1855, Ernst Renan named these languages, related to Semitic but not Semitic, "Hamitic," in 1860 Carl Lottner proposed that they belonged to a single language family, and in 1876 Friedrich Mller first described them as a "Hamito-Semitic" language family. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 1996. This original biblical genealogy reflected political rather than linguistic realities: thus the Canaanites are descendants of Ham, although their language is closely related to Hebrew, and the Elamites are descendants of Shem, although their language is not related to Hebrew at all. [164] Identifying cognates is difficult because the languages in question are often separated by thousands of years of development and many languages within the family have long been in contact with each other, raising the possibility of loanwords. [156], There is no agreement about which tenses or aspects Proto-Afroasiatic might have had. p-Maji [133][150] It forms agent nouns, place nouns, and instrument nouns. A main characteristic of Afro-Asiatic languages is the use of vowel changes in word formation. Among the countries included in this language family are: Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan, Egypt, Algeria, and Ethiopia. [131], Afroasiatic languages have a variety of ways of marking plurals; in some branches, nouns change gender from singular to plural (gender polarity),[133] while in others, plural forms are ungendered. p-Masa A set of constraints, developed originally by Joseph Greenberg on the basis of Arabic, has been claimed to be typical for Afroasiatic languages. Such evidence may reveal plants known to early Afroasiatic speakers; but it does not diagnose whether they were cultivated or wild. Additionally, Joseph Greenberg argued that "Hamitic" has racial connotations, and that the name "Hamito-Semitic" overstates the centrality of the Semitic languages within the family. p-Jukunoid [15] Mller assumed that there existed a distinct "Hamitic" branch of the family that consisted of Egyptian, Berber, and Cushitic. [88], Egyptian, Cushitic, Berber, Omotic, and most languages in the Semitic branch all require a syllable to begin with a consonant (with the exception of some grammatical prefixes). innovation: integration of *t dur. tr. [167] These prefixes are clearly cognate across the branches, although their use within the verbal systems of the individual languages varies. [121], As part of these templates, the alternation (apophony) between high vowels (e.g. p-Surmic [137][d] Another common method of forming plurals is reduplication. [120] Ronny Meyer and H. Ekkehard Wolff instead propose that Proto-Afroasiatic may have had no vowels as such, instead employing various syllabic consonants (*l, *m, *n, *r) and semivowels or semivowel-like consonants (*w, *y, *, *, *, *h, *, *, *, *h) to form syllables. It typically comprises Kartvelian, Indo-European, and Uralic languages; some languages from the disputed Altaic family; the Afroasiatic languages spoken in North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and the Near East; and the Dravidian languages of the Indian Subcontinent (sometimes also Elamo-Dravidian, which connects India and the It's impossible to tell exactly how old Proto-Afroasiatic is, or where it was spoken, but there are a few ideas. For other uses, see, Distribution of the Afro-Asiatic languages, Similarities in grammar, syntax, and morphology, Common derivational and morphological processes, Consonantal root structures and verbal forms, Some scholars argue that on the basis of Coptic that Egyptian had neither "emphatic consonants" nor a phonemic distinction between voiced and voiceless consonants. [26] The second is the Guanche language, which was formerly spoken on the Canary Islands and went extinct in the 17th century CE. They can occur together with subject pronouns but cannot fulfill an object function. ; semantics: from closed- to open-ended action), to be wrong, bad, ill; do or function wrongly, (Eg., Ch. Dalby, Andrew. innovation: added sense, 'to listen to'), (Ch., Sem., Berber innovation: specialized meaning 'tooth'; but note presence of that meaning isolated in single Omotic language), (innovation: Sem., Ch. Mao The Proto-Afroasiatic Consonant System. *t: . [187] Modern Chadic numeral systems are sometimes decimal, having separate names for the numbers 1-10, and sometimes base-5, deriving the numbers 6-9 from the numbers 1-5 in some way. [91] Typically, syllables only begin with a single consonant. [129] Full or partial reduplication of the verb is often used to derive forms showing repeated action (pluractionality), though it is unclear if this is an inherited feature or has been widely borrowed. [101] It is generally agreed that only the obstruents had a contrast between voiceless and voiced forms in Proto-Afroasiatic, whereas continuants were voiceless. It also fully incorporates the most up-to-date evidence from the distinctive African branches of the family, Cushitic, Chadic, and Omotic. show more This work provides the first truly comprehensive and systematic reconstruction of proto-Afroasiatic (proto-Afrasian). Aunque las estimaciones varan ampliamente, los eruditos creen que se hablaba como un solo idioma hace entre 12.000 y 18.000 aos (12 a 18 kya ), es decir, entre 16.000 y 10.000 a . Well-known Afroasiatic languages include Arabic, Ancient Egyptian, Somali, Tuareg, and Hausa. [188] Andrzej Zaborski further notes that the numbers "one," "two," and "five" are particularly susceptible to replacement by new words, with "five" often based on a word meaning "hand". These classifications of language sub-sets vary according to different texts. Once the Luwian hieroglyphics for God "" and Gate "" were discovered at Gbekli Tepe, this author was able to directly link the site's carved pillars and pillar enclosures to the Abrahamic/Mosaic "Word of God", . The "t-stem" may be reflected in some forms in Hausa; however may also derive from a language internal development and has no cognates elsewhere in Chadic. [11] Because the term "Afroasiatic" could be taken to mean that the family includes all the languages of Africa and Asia, the term "Afrasian" is sometimes used instead; this name was proposed by Igor Diakonoff (1980) and is mostly used by Russian scholars. p-North Bauchi Fig. [151] Such an etymology is rejected by A. Zaborski and Gbor Takcs, the latter of whom argues for a PAA *ma- that unites all or some of the meanings in the modern languages. innovation: move > move toward), (probably demon., root #767+ *l n./adj. velar consonants can occur with pharyngeals or laryngeals; This page was last edited on 4 March 2023, at 01:29. Mimi-N [147][148] Berber instead contrasts between the "free state" and the "annexed state," the latter of which is used for a variety of purposes, including for subjects placed after a verb and after certain prepositions. innovation: narrowing of application of v. to angry calling out), (Sem., Cush, innovation: > n. 'covering' > 'rind, bark'), (root #447+ * iter. We unlock the potential of millions of people worldwide. [192] Thus, it is possible that the numerals in Egyptian, Berber, and Semitic are more closely related, whereas the Cushitic and Chadic numerals are more closely related to each other. [21] They are often considered to constitute a single language with multiple dialects. [101][a] The emphatic consonants are typically formed deeper in the throat than the others;[99] they can be realized variously as glottalized, pharyngealized, uvularized, ejective, and/or implosive consonants in the different branches. [159] The Egyptian verbal system diverges greatly from that found in the other branches. He later added Semitic and Beja to Chadic-Berber-Egyptian and tentatively proposed, Alexander Militarev (2000), on the basis of. [11], Greenberg reintroduced the name "Afroasiatic" in 1960, a name seemingly coined by Maurice Delafosse (as French afroasiatique) in 1914. innovation: 'increase' > 'grow fat, thicken'), (root #141 + *n n. Also, how do roots work? infix [also tonal shift as found in Chadic cases]), (this root is included because #871 following derives from it), (sing. The Atlas of Languages. In Arabic, ti-ktib means she writes and katab-it means she wrote. The Afroasiatic language family is thought to have originated in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula around 15,000 years ago. [17] The name refers to the fact that this is the only major language family with members in both Africa and Asia. p-Oti-Volta (p-E. Oti-Voltap-C. Oti-Volta) [101] The Omotic forms of the personal pronouns differ from the others, with only the plural forms in North Omotic appearing potentially to be cognate. in *n, as also in #323), (possible V reconstructions: *a, *aa, *e, or *o), (Sem., Eg., Ch. [4] The most widely spoken modern Afroasiatic language or dialect continuum by far is Arabic, a de facto group of distinct language varieties within the Semitic branch. p-Agaw ), to become thoroughly wet, pour heavily (intr. Pr. ); to reach out, (only C. reflexes imply 2nd form with reconstructed *a), to remove (from surface), pull, tear, or scrape off, to grumble, sigh, make sounds of complaint, (Eg., Sem. [68] On the other hand, the classification relied on anthropological and racial features, such as skin color, hair type, and lifestyle. [29], There are about 30,[34] 50,[35] or 70[36] Cushitic languages, spoken around the Horn of Africa and in Sudan and Tanzania. [109] Additionally, he showed that Proto-Semitic restricted a sequence of two identical consonants in the first and second position of the triliteral root. ), to extend, stretch out (intr. . Shabo Published 1995 Linguistics This work provides the first truly comprehensive and systematic reconstruction of proto-Afroasiatic (proto-Afrasian). Dogon [106] The most widespread constraint is against two different labial consonants (other than w) occurring together in a root, a constraint which can be found in all branches but Omotic. This name is possibly based upon the root "-b-r" ( . into stem), to take (bit of food or drink) into the mouth, (* is required by derived noun, root #641 following), (Eg., Sem. Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *abaw/y- Meaning: a k. of plant Semitic: *abVw- 'reed, papyrus' Egyptian: wb 'root', cf. ; PC variant *damn-), (Ch., Eg., Sem. "[81] The African languages of Afroasiatic are not more closely related to each other than they are to Semitic, as one would expect if only Semitic had remained in an Asian AA homeland while all other branches had spread from there. * "Revising the Consonant Inventory of Proto-Eastern Cushitic," Studies in African Linguistics 22, 3 (1991): 211-275. In Afro-Asiatic, there are five main families. [54] The "Hamitic theory" would serve as the basis for Carl Meinhof's highly influential classification of African languages in his book Die Sprache der Hamiten (1912). Akpes The Proto-Afroasiatic Vowel System. [104] Several Omotic languages have "sibilant harmony", meaning that all sibilants (s, sh, z, ts, etc.) [135] In addition to marking plurals via a number of affixes (with the suffixes -*uu/-*w and -*n(a) widely attested), several AA languages make use of internal vowel change (apophony) and/or insertion (epenthesis). Ehret's dictionary lists "Proto-South-Cushitic, original homeland of the Afroasiatic family, "The feminine endings *-ay and *-y in Semitic and Berber", "A reconstruction of the system of verb aspects in proto-Berbero-Semitic", Afro-Asiatic and Semitic genealogical trees, short annotations of the talks given there, The prehistory of a dispersal: the Proto-Afrasian (Afroasiatic) farming lexicon, Once More About Glottochronology And The Comparative Method: The Omotic-Afrasian case, Root Extension And Root Formation In Semitic And Afrasian, A comparison of Orel-Stolbova's and Ehret's Afro-Asiatic reconstructions, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Afroasiatic_languages&oldid=1142726919, Linguist H. Fleming proposed that the near-exinct, Harold Fleming (1981) divides non-Omotic Afroasiatic, or "Erythraean", into three groups, Cushitic, Semitic, and Chadic-Berber-Egyptian. Momo [138][177] Christopher Ehret argues for its presence in Proto-Afroasiatic and for its attestation in some form in all branches, with a shape -*ay in addition to -*iy in some cases. Report Save. [197], There are two etymological dictionaries of Afroasiatic, one by Christopher Ehret, and one by Vladimir Orel and Olga Stolbova, both from 1995. [51] The classification within West Semitic remains contested. as denom. ), (Eg., Sem. ; Sem., Eg. [182], Unlike in the Indo-European or Austronesian language families, numerals in AA languages cannot be traced to a proto-system. crcst test prep; crcst free test questions; paid test; crcst exam prep notes; subscribe [134] A system K (masculine), T (feminine), and H (plural) can be found in Cushitic, Chadic, with masculine K also appearing in Omotic. p-Nilo-Saharan [98] Additionally, the glottal stop () usually exists as a phoneme, and there tends to be no phonemic contrast between [p] and [f] or [b] and [v]. FOR SALE! The Semitic line of Afro-Asiatic has the most language sub-sets. Beboid There is no information on whether Egyptian had tones. Originally Posted by gihanga.rwanda. Proto-Afroasiatic is a language and NOT an ethnicity: Proto-Afroasiatic language - Wikipedia There is no proof where the Afroasiatic languages originated, but the oldest Afroasiatic language writing has been found in Egypt and dated 6000 years. Berta Nara Bijogo *kanf-/*kinf-wing: 325. There is also some evidence from. PSom-III. It rigorously applies, throughout, the established canon and techniques of the historical-comparative method. Omotic, Cushitic, and Chadic are also spoken north of the Sahara so it must be assumed that the speakers of these "dialects" migrated north likewise, though perhaps separately from the Boreafrasian speakers (Dalby, p.6). (root #311+old Afroasiatic pl. p-Central Chadic See . p-Atlantic-Congo fort. [94], Several Afroasiatic languages have large numbers of consonants, and it is likely that Proto-Afroasiatic did as well:[95] Vladimir Orel and Olga Stolbova reconstruct 32 consonant phonemes,[96] while Christopher Ehret reconstructs 42. innovation: 'send' > 'direct,' hence 'command, rule'), (Agaw *a allows PAA vowel reconstructions *a, *aa, *o, or *e), (Sem., Eg. [116], There is a large variety of vocalic systems in AA. [196] Additionally, because Egyptian is written without vowels before the Coptic period, its use for comparative purposes often relies on vocalic reconstructions that themselves depend on comparisons with other Afroasiatic languages. [54][73][9] The reluctance of some scholars to recognize Chadic as a member of Afroasiatic persisted as late as the 1980s. [87], Afroasiatic languages share a number of phonetic and phonological features. [37][34] Only one Cushitic language, Oromo, has more than 25 million speakers; other languages with more than a million speakers include Somali, Saho-Afar, Hadiyya, and Sidaama. as ELL). Whether this proto-language is ancestral to Berber and Semitic only, or also to other branches of Afroasiatic, still remains to be established. innovation: narrowing of meaning to particular kind of joining, by sewing), to split in two, split one from the other, (proposed source: #502, with regular PAA * > PBA *n; Eg., Berber, Sem. p-South Bauchi p-Nilotic (p-E. Niloticp-S. Nilotic) [84] Prominent in this camp is the linguist Alexander Militarev, who argues that Proto-Afroasiatic was spoken by early agriculturalists in the Levant and subsequently spread to Africa. [15] The association between Africans and the Biblical Ham dates back to at least Isidore of Seville (6th century CE), and earlier 19th-century scholars had vaguely spoken of "Hamian" or "Hamitish" languages. Afroasiatic(Afro-Asiatic), also known as Afrasianand in older sources as Hamito-Semitic(Chamito-Semitic)[3]or Semito-Hamitic,[4]is a large language familyof about 300 languages. BLACK ATHENA: THE Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization (The Fabrication, - $16.27. innovation: as synonym for #505), (vowel reconstruction uncertain: PAA *u, *ee, or *oo are also possible here; contrary to earlier views, this is surely a distinct root from #503), (Eg., Sem. [7] Nevertheless, both dictionaries agree on some items and some proposed cognates are uncontroversial.