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Thursday, June 13, 2019

Afro-Asian Language Family

Introduction
This language family has a long history. There are different theories about its origin.  This language family was created by Afrasan people.  It has several branches, one of which went into Asia.  It has the oldest written language or it's Sumerian.
Historical Theories
It is over 10,000 years old.  Most linguists believes the Afro-Asian language family was created in Northeast Africa.  There are theories that it came from the Sahara, Sudan, North Africa, Horn of Africa, or the Levant.

Haplogroup E1b1b is associated with Afro-Asian languages.  Men who speak Afro-Asian languages tend to have this haplogroup, excluding Chadic men and most Semitic men.  Haplogroup J1c3 is common among Semitic men.  E1b1b is a African haplogroup and J1c3 is a Southwest Asian haplogroup.     
Branches and Peoples
Cushitic:  These languages are spoken in the Horn of Africa, Nile Valley, and Great Lakes Region.  There are 3 types of this language.  They are as followed: North, Central, and East Cushitic.  There are 40 different Cushitic languages.  Oromo and Somali are the biggest Cushitic languages.

Kerma was an ancient Cushitic civilization.  They traded and warred with Ancient Egypt.  That civilization lasted for 1,000 years.  Blemmyes was a Beja kingdom that lasted for 600 years.  The Beja are a Cushiric tribe.   
Chadic: These languages are spoken Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, and the Central African Republic.  There are 150 of these languages and 4 subdivisions.  They are as followed: West-Chadic, Biu-Mandara, East Chadic, and Masa.  Chadic people interacted a lot with Nilo-Saharan people.  This can be seen in there languages.  Most Chadic men have R-V88 Y-chromosome.  That seems like their 4 fathers came Asia.
Sao civilization was Chadic.  They were great statues and other forms of art.  People were buried in fetal position until the 15th century.  It lasted 4 about a millenium.  Hausa is a Chadic tribe.  They had several city-states in the past.  They are called Hausaland.   
Ancient Egyptian: The language is known as Metu Neter.  There was 2 languages: Hieroglyphics and Hieratic.  Hieroglyphics are multi-dimensional; they can written and read left to right, right to left, up to down, and/or down to up.  It used it to write on stone.  It is the mother of alphabet!!!  Hieratic was used for legal, admintrive, religious, medical, mathematical, and other documents.  Demotic script was created 2,000 years after Hieratic.  It is based on northern Hieratic.  The last Egyptian language is Coptic.  It was influenced by the Greek alphabet.             

Amazigh (Berber): The language is spoken throughout North Africa.  It originated in the Horn of Africa.  Probably the Nile Valley.  These languages are about 2,000 years old.  Phoenician and Latin influenced Amazigh language  The Amazigh script is Tifinagh.  A lot of the Amazigh are nomadic.  They created ancient civilizations in North Africa.  Carthage was created by the Amazigh and the Phoenicians.  The Garamantes created a civilization in the Libyan desert.  Numidia was a Amazigh kingdom that was greatly influenced by Rome.       
Omotic: These languages are only spoken in Ethiopia.  There are 2 main versions of these languages.  They are North and South Omotic.  Omotic languages were created b4 cattle herding was in the horn of Africa.  It has its own written script called Ge'ez.  This script is used by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.     
Semitic: This is the only branch of Afro-Asian languages that went into Asia.  Semitic languages have have come into being in Ethiopia, Arabia, or the Levant.  The first written Semitic language written was Akkadian.  The first alphabet was Semitic.  The 3 Abrahamic religions are Semitic.  This branch of Afro-Asian language is the most popular.  Arabic is the biggest Semitic language.  I guess Hebrew is the most famous.  There were many Semitic civilizations in the Middle East and there were sum in Ethiopia.           
Conclusion
This a great language family!  It is one of the most popular language family.  It originated in the Horn of Africa.  It has 6 branches: Cushitic, Chadic, Ancient Egypt, Amazigh, Omotic, and Semitic.  People from most of these branches created ancient civilizations.  The first alphabet and Western religions are Semitic.   
References
Afroasian Languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Afroasiatic_languages
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Afro-Asiatic-languages
https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-africa/lost-mists-time-ancient-sao-civilization-central-africa-003978
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieratic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptic_language
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numidia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Semitic-speaking_peoples

Chadic Kingdoms

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