semitic language
n. Afro-Asiatic language family of languages spoken by Semitic peoples (includes Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, Akkadian, Ethiopic, and Phoenician) | ||||
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Semitic languages definition was found in categories: Religion & Spirituality(1) Encyclopedia(1)
Semitic languages Definition from Religion & Spirituality Dictionaries & Glossaries
| Smith's Bible Dictionary |
Semitic Languages
See: Shemitic Languages LANGUAGES; Hebrew Language
See: Shemitic Languages LANGUAGES; Hebrew Language
Semitic languages Definition from Encyclopedia Dictionaries & Glossaries
| Wikipedia English - The Free Encyclopedia |
Semitic languages
The Semitic languages are a family of languages spoken by more than 300 million people across much of the Middle East, North Africa, and the Horn of Africa. They constitute the northeastern subfamily of the Afro-Asiatic languages, and the only branch of this group spoken in Asia.
The most widely spoken Semitic language today is Arabic (206 million first language speakers), followed by Amharic (27 million first language speakers), Tigrinya (about 6.7 million total speakers), and Hebrew (5 million first language speakers). Semitic languages were among the earliest to attain a written form, with Akkadian writing beginning in the middle of the third millennium BC. Maltese is the only Semitic Language written in Roman script. The term "Semitic" for these languages, after Shem, the son of Noah in the Bible, is etymologically a misnomer in some ways (see Semitic), but is nonetheless standard.
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