Afroasiatic
Let an agent handle Afroasiatic by branches, member languages, classification debates, speakers and resources, using self-designations such as Amazigh and attributing debated views.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify
Researched by: Claude
Purpose and description
Let an agent handle Afroasiatic by branches, member languages, classification debates, speakers and resources, using self-designations such as Amazigh and attributing debated views.
A large language family of North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Sahel and Western Asia, with several hundred languages in branches including Semitic (such as Arabic, Amharic, Tigrinya and Hebrew), Amazigh (Berber), Chadic (such as Hausa), Cushitic (such as Somali and Oromo), Egyptian and the debated Omotic branch.
What it is for: Linguistics, education and language resources.
It can be identify the branch of a language; summarise classification debates with sources; find speaker figures and resources; explain shared features such as root-and-pattern morphology.
Distinguishing features
Several hundred languages
Ancient written records
Wide geographic spread
Some branches debated
What it looks like
Not physical; shown in family trees, maps, scripts and grammars.
How it is recognised
Scripts such as Arabic, Ge ez, Hebrew and Tifinagh
Triconsonantal roots in Semitic
Niger-Congo and Nilo-Saharan are other families
Related models
is a kind of - category
includes - example
includes - example
is classified by - references
In practice
Families and kinds
Semitic
Amazigh (Berber)
Chadic
Cushitic
Egyptian and Omotic (debated)
Identifiers
ISO 639-5 afa Afro-Asiatic languages (collective code)
Standards and regulation
National language policies
Official recognition of Amazigh in Morocco and Algeria
Failure modes and hazards
Presenting debated branches as settled
Unsourced speaker figures
Using exonyms instead of self-designations
Also called
+213
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.
Classification Family tree.
Classification is debated.
Branch
Which branch.
Branch
Branch.
- Which branch does this language belong to, according to reference classifications? provenance
- Do references disagree? boundary
Debate
Contested questions.
Debate
Debates.
- Why is Omotic membership debated, and where was the family homeland, according to linguists? provenance
- Who holds which view? provenance
Features Shared traits.
Features recur.
Morphology
Roots and patterns.
Morphology
Root-and-pattern morphology.
- How does root-and-pattern morphology work in this language? definition
- Is it found in all branches? boundary
Scripts
Writing systems.
Scripts
Scripts.
- Which script is used for this language? provenance
- Are there competing scripts? provenance
Speakers Communities.
Figures need sources.
Numbers
Speaker figures.
Numbers
Speaker numbers.
- How many speakers does this language have, according to recent sources? provenance
- First or second language? boundary
Names
Self-designations.
Names
Self-designations.
- What do speakers call their language, such as Tamazight for Amazigh varieties? provenance
- Which names are exonyms? provenance
Resources Learning and history.
Resources support languages.
Learning
Courses.
Learning
Learning resources.
- Which grammars, dictionaries or courses exist? provenance
- Which variety do they teach? provenance
Ancient
Ancient languages.
Ancient
Ancient languages.
- Which ancient Afroasiatic languages are attested, such as Egyptian and Akkadian? provenance
- Where are the texts held? provenance
What the second pass must settle
- Should branches be separate entries?
- How should classification debates be recorded?
- How should scripts be linked?