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Language Family

Cushitic

African Language Families

Cushitic is a branch of the Afroasiatic language family spoken mainly in the Horn of Africa, including Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti and parts of Kenya and Tanzania. Its largest members are Oromo and Somali, each spoken by tens of millions of people, alongside languages such as Sidama and Afar.

Facts
Region
The Horn of Africa, with minority populations in Egypt, Sudan, Kenya and Tanzania 1
Speaker Count
85,000,000 1
Proto-Language Status
Proto-Cushitic is reconstructed; Christopher Ehret argues for a unified Proto-Cushitic language in the Red Sea Hills as far back as the Early Holocene. 1
Cushitic
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Connections

Ancestor Of

Agaw (Central Cushitic) is a branch of the Cushitic family spoken in the Ethiopian highlands.

East Cushitic is the largest branch of Cushitic, including Oromo and the Somali languages.

Descends From

Cushitic, grouping Oromo, Somali and their relatives, is a primary branch of Afro-Asiatic.

Sources
1. Wikipedia: Cushitic Languages
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Lead section, first paragraph
    They are spoken primarily in the Horn of Africa, with minorities speaking Cushitic languages to the north in Egypt and Sudan, and to the south in Kenya and Tanzania.
  • Origin and prehistory section
    Christopher Ehret argues for a unified Proto-Cushitic language in the Red Sea Hills as far back as the Early Holocene.
  • Infobox, Native speakers field
    c. 85 million
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