Afroasiatic languages: South Semitic Division

To the South Semitic group belong the Semitic languages of Ethiopia, such as classical Ethiopic or Geez, Tigre, Tigrinya, Amharic, and Harari. A Semitic language (or languages) was brought from S Arabia to Ethiopia during the first millennium b.c. At that time the indigenous languages of Ethiopia were Cushitic, and these languages strongly influenced the imported Semitic tongues. The Semitic languages of Ethiopia are classified as North Ethiopic (to which classical Ethiopic, Tigre, and Tigrinya belong) and South Ethiopic (consisting of Amharic, Harari, Gurage, and others).

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• The Role of Semitic Languages in the Development of Writing Systems
• The Chadic Languages
• The Cushitic and Omotic Languages
• The Berber Languages
• South Semitic Division
• West Semitic Division
• The Semitic Languages
• The Egyptian Languages
• Bibliography

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