Close Up of Afro-Asiatic Languages

Sokoto Caliphate - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia

Episode 9 Languages of the Fertile Crescent and Beyond Part 2

Language Families of the World

Dr John McWhorter

Film Review

In this lecture, McWhorter delves more deeply into the Afro-Asiatic languages

Akkadian:  language of the ancient Babylonians and Assyrians, once the lingua franca of the entire Near EastAramaic: Ancient language used for much of the Old and New Testament, still spoken in some areas of the Middle EastPhoenician (sub-family of language)Canaanite – (sub-family) of Semitic languages originating in Middle East, rather than AfricaBerber (from Greek word “babbling” for barbarian) – Afro-Asiatic languages spokes in North Africa, containing many words with no vowels at allEgyptian – survives as language used in Coptic religious ritualsChadic (sub-family) – mainly spoken in Niger, Nigeria,* Cameroons and ChadHausa – has 40 million modern native speakers in Niger, Chad, Cameroons, Benin, Togo and Ghana and and written in Arabic script. Became language of trade in 19th century thanks to Sokoto Caliphate .Osmotic languages – spoken in southern Ethiopia, has retroflex consonants,** in addition to six or seven linguistic tones.Cushitic (subfamily) – comprising about 40 languages spoken mainly in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, and northwestern KenyaSomali – spoken in Somalia, became written language in 1970s.

*Two other major Nigerian languages, Yoruba and Igbo, aren’t Afro-Asiatic.

**Retroflexed consonants are produced by placing underside of tongue touches roof of mouth.

Film can be viewed free with a library card on Kanopy.

https://www.kanopy.com/en/pukeariki/watch/video/6120000/6120018

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on November 22, 2024 10:47
No comments have been added yet.


The Most Revolutionary Act

Stuart Jeanne Bramhall
Uncensored updates on world affairs, economics, the environment and medicine.
Follow Stuart Jeanne Bramhall's blog with rss.