Citizendia

South Semitic
Geographic
distribution:		Yemen, Oman, Ethiopia, Eritrea
Genetic
classification:		Afro-Asiatic
 Semitic
  South Semitic
Subdivisions:


South Semitic is one of the three macro-classifications in Semitic linguistics, the other two being East Semitic (e. Yemen ( Arabic: اليَمَن al-Yaman officially the Republic of Yemen ( Arabic: الجمهورية اليمنية al-Jumhuuriyya Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman ( Arabic: سلطنة عُمان) is an Arab Country in Southwest Asia on the southeast NOTE This intro is the result of careful NPOV work Please do not make potentially controversial edits to it without first discussing on the talk page Eritrea () ( Ge'ez: ኤርትራ ʾErtrā, Arabic: إرتريا Iritriya) officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in List of language familiesA language family is a group of Languages related by descent from a common ancestor called the Proto-language of that family The Afro-Asiatic languages constitute a Language family with about 375 languages ( SIL estimate and more than 300 million speakers spread throughout North Africa The Semitic languages are a Language family whose living representatives are spoken by more than 467 million people across much of the Middle East, The Modern South Arabian (or Eastern South Semitic languages are spoken mainly by tiny minority populations on the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen and Oman. Old South Arabian (or Epigraphic South Arabian) is the term used for four closely related languages spoken in the southern portion of the Arabian Peninsula. Ethiopian Semitic (also known as Ethiopian Ethiosemitic Ethiopic is a language group which together with Old South Arabian forms the Western branch of the South The Semitic languages are a Language family whose living representatives are spoken by more than 467 million people across much of the Middle East, The East Semitic languages constitute one of the three major subdivisions of Semitic languages, the other being West Semitic and South Semitic. g. Akkadian) and West Semitic (e. The West Semitic languages are a proposed major sub-grouping of Semitic languages. g. Arabic, Aramaic, Hebrew). Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language Aramaic is a Semitic language with Semitic itself is considered a branch of the larger Afro-Asiatic language family found, as indicated in the name, both in (northern and eastern) Africa and (southwestern) Asia. The Afro-Asiatic languages constitute a Language family with about 375 languages ( SIL estimate and more than 300 million speakers spread throughout North Africa (See Joseph Greenberg's classification of African languages. Joseph Harold Greenberg (May 28 1915 – May 7 2001 was a prominent and controversial linguist and Africanist anthropologist known for his work in both typology )

South Semitic is again divided into two main branches: South Arabian, on the southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and Ethiopian Semitic, found across the Red Sea in the Horn of Africa, mainly in modern Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Arabian Peninsula (in Arabic: شبه الجزيرة العربية šibh al-jazīra al-ʻarabīya or جزيرة العرب jazīrat al-ʻarab) Ethiopian Semitic (also known as Ethiopian Ethiosemitic Ethiopic is a language group which together with Old South Arabian forms the Western branch of the South The Red Sea is a Salt water Inlet of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. The Horn of Africa (alternatively Northeast Africa, and sometimes Somali Peninsula; shortened to HOA) is a Peninsula in East Africa NOTE This intro is the result of careful NPOV work Please do not make potentially controversial edits to it without first discussing on the talk page Eritrea () ( Ge'ez: ኤርትራ ʾErtrā, Arabic: إرتريا Iritriya) officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in The Ethiopian Semitic languages have by far the greatest numbers of modern native speakers. Eritrea's main languages are mainly Tigrinya and Tigre which are North Ethiopic languages while Amharic (South Ethiopic) is the main language spoken in Ethiopia (along with Tigrinya in the northern province of Tigray). Tigrinya ( Ge'ez: ትግርኛ tigriññā) also spelled Tigrigna, Tigrina, less commonly Tigrinian, Tigrinyan, is For other uses please see Tigre (disambiguation Tigre ( Ge'ez ትግረ tigre or ትግሬ tigrē; sometimes written as Amharic (አማርኛ amarəñña) is a Semitic language spoken in North Central Ethiopia by the Amhara. Tigrinya ( Ge'ez: ትግርኛ tigriññā) also spelled Tigrigna, Tigrina, less commonly Tigrinian, Tigrinyan, is For other uses please see Tigre (disambiguation Tigray Region (ትግራይ ክልል Tigrāy Kilil) is the northernmost of the nine Southern Arabian languages have withered at the expense of the more dominant Arabic (also a Semitic language) for more than a millennium. The Ethnologue lists six modern members of the South Arabian branch and 14 members of the Ethiopian branch.

The "homeland" of the South Semitic languages is widely debated, but is believed to have been Northern Ethiopia and Eritrea or the southwest corner of the Arabian Peninsula. The modern and historic presence of South Semitic Ethiopian languages (and Ethiopic script) in Africa is believed by some to be due to a (backwards) migration of South Arabian speakers from Yemen within the last few thousand years. Ge'ez (gez ግዕዝ) also called Ethiopic, is an Abugida script that was originally developed to write Ge'ez, a Semitic language Yemen ( Arabic: اليَمَن al-Yaman officially the Republic of Yemen ( Arabic: الجمهورية اليمنية al-Jumhuuriyya Such a migration would be a "backwards" one in that Afro-Asiatic languages are assumed to have arisen in Africa originally and moved into the Middle East and Arabian Peninsula in the form of Proto-Semitic, since all major branches of the larger Afro-Asiatic are found in Africa. The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. Proto-Semitic is the hypothetical Proto-language of the Semitic languages. Others, such as A. Murtonen (1967), dispute this view, suggesting that Semitic may have originated in Ethiopia.

Contents

List

Western South Semitic

Eastern South Semitic

Main article: Eastern South Semitic

These languages are spoken mainly by tiny minority populations on the Arabian peninsula in Yemen and Oman. Amharic (አማርኛ amarəñña) is a Semitic language spoken in North Central Ethiopia by the Amhara. Argobba is an Ethiopian Semitic spoken in an area north-east of Addis Ababa by the Argobba people. Harari (sometimes (Haderi or (Hadere) is the language of the Harari people of Ethiopia. The Zay language is one of the Ethiopic languages. It is spoken by about 4880 members of the Zay people on the islands and shores of Lake Zway in Silt'e (ስልጥኘ or የስልጤ አፍ af is a Semitic language spoken in central Ethiopia, mainly within the Silt'e Zone in the Southern Nations The Gafat language is an extinct Semitic language that was once spoken along the Abbay River in Ethiopia. Soddo (autonym kəstane "Christian" formerly called Aymälläl in Western sources after a particular dialect of it is a Gurage language spoken by about Mesmes language The Mesmes language is an extinct language one of the West Gurage languages, a cluster of Semitic languages in Ethiopia. Muher is an Ethiopian Semitic language belonging to the Gurage group Chaha (in Chaha and Amharic: ቸሃ čehā or čexā) is a Semitic language spoken in central Ethiopia, mainly within the The Modern South Arabian (or Eastern South Semitic languages are spoken mainly by tiny minority populations on the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen and Oman. Yemen ( Arabic: اليَمَن al-Yaman officially the Republic of Yemen ( Arabic: الجمهورية اليمنية al-Jumhuuriyya Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman ( Arabic: سلطنة عُمان) is an Arab Country in Southwest Asia on the southeast

See also

References

Links

Bathari (also known as Bautahari Botahari Bathara is an endangered Semitic language spoken in a small area of Yemen and Oman. Harsusi (also known as Hersyet Harsi `Aforit is a Semitic language closely related to Mehri. Hobyót (also known as Hewbyót Hobi is an endangered Semitic language spoken in a small area of Oman and neighboring Yemen. Jibbali (The multiple alternate names include Ehkili Geblet Jibali Qarawi Shahari Shehri and Sheret is a language of Oman, interesting to philologists as one Mehri or Mahri is a Modern South Arabian language a branch of the greater Semitic language family and is spoken by minority populations in isolated Soqotri (soq - méthel d-saqátri arab - اللغة السقطرية is the language of the native population of the island of Socotra, and Abd-el-Kuri and Samhah The Afro-Asiatic languages constitute a Language family with about 375 languages ( SIL estimate and more than 300 million speakers spread throughout North Africa Joseph Harold Greenberg (May 28 1915 – May 7 2001 was a prominent and controversial linguist and Africanist anthropologist known for his work in both typology
© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic