Semitic Languages

Abstract

The Semitic languages are part of the Afroasiatic family. In the ancient world, Semitic languages were spoken from the western Mediterranean in the west to Iraq in the east, and from Ethiopia north to Anatolia. There are many Semitic languages still spoken today. Arabic is by far the most common; some dialect of Arabic is spoken by some 200 million speakers, from Morocco to Tajikistan, and it is also used, in its Classical and Modern Standard forms, for religious and other formal purposes. Modern Standard Arabic is the official or national language of countries throughout the Middle East and northern and northeastern Africa, and Classical Arabic has been and still is used for religious purposes all over the world, following the spread of Islam. Modern Ethiopic languages, like Amharic, Tigrinya, and Tigre, are spoken by ca. 25 million people in Ethiopia and Eritrea. Modern Hebrew is the language of 5 million inhabitants of Israel. In Yemen and Oman, Modern South Arabian languages like Mehri, Jibbali, and Soqotri have around 60000 speakers. Aramaic dialects continue as the languages of a few hundred thousand speakers who have left the Middle East in recent years and spread far and wide.