AfroAsiatic Language Family Main Branch Semitic Arabic 256

Afro-Asiatic Language Family Main Branch: Semitic • Arabic (256) Language of the Koran; spread by Islamic Faith and Islamic (Ottoman) Empires • Hebrew (5) Language of the Old Testament (with Aramaic); completely revived from near extinction in Israel, 1948.

LANGUAGES OF AFRICA • There are 1, 000 spoken languages in Africa and many are unwritten. • There are 4 major indigenous language families; • Afro-Asiatic of N. Africa • Nilo-Saharan • Niger-Congo • Khosian • Largest ethnic groups are associated with a language.

African languages are grouped into four families: Niger-Congo, Nilo-Saharan, Khoisan, and Afro-Asiatic. Niger-Congo: With more than 1400 languages – almost one-fourth of the world’s total – Niger-Congo is one of the largest language families. It includes Swahili, used by 35 million East Africans as a lingua franca. Swahili: Where are you going? Nilo-Saharan: About 200 Nilo-Saharan languages are spoken by ethnic minorities in their home countries. Only Dongolawi, a Nubian language of the southern Nile in Sudan, has a long written record. Khoisan: Famous for clicking sounds, Africa’s Khoisan languages may be the continent’s oldest. Several have vanished; most have fewer than a thousand speakers. Afro-Asiatic: The languages of ancient Babylon, Assyria, Egypt and Palestine belonged to this family. Still thriving, the largest living Afro-Asiatic language, Arabic, spreads in tandem with Islam. Arabic: ﻭﻗﺪ ﻭﻫﺒﻮﺍ ﻋﻘﻼ ﻭﺿﻤﻴﺮ ﻭﻋﻠﻴﻬﻢ ﺍﻥ. ﻳﻮﻟﺪ ﺟﻤﻴﻊ ﺍﻟﻨﺎﺱ ﺃﺤﺮﺍﺭ ﻣﺘﺴﺎﻭﻳﻦ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﻜﺮﺍﻣﺔ ﻭﺍﻟﺤﻘﻮﻕ ﻳﻌﺎﻣﻞ ﺑﻌﻀﻬﻢ ﺑﻌﻀ ﺑﺮﻭﺡ ﺍﻹﺨﺎﺀ Hebrew:

NIGER-CONGO DIFFUSION • proto-Bantu peoples originated in Cameroon-Nigeria • They spread throughout southern Africa AD 1 - 1000 • Bantu peoples were agriculturalists who used metal tools • Khoisan peoples were huntergatherers and were no match for the Bantu. • Pygmies adopted Bantu tongue and retreated to forest • Hottentots and Bushmen retained the clicks of Khoisan languages

Nigeria More than 400 different languages.

What happened to state size?