| Central Semitic | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | Middle East |
| Linguistic classification | Afro-Asiatic
|
| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | cent2236 |
 | |
TheCentral Semitic languages comprise one of the three groups ofWest Semitic languages, alongsideModern South Arabian languages andEthiopian Semitic languages.[1][2] They are therefore of theSemitic phylum of theAfroasiatic language family. The group is spoken across much of the Arabic peninsula and north into theLevant region.
Central Semitic can itself be further divided into two groups:Arabic andNorthwest Semitic. Northwest Semitic languages largely fall into theCanaanite languages (such asAmmonite,Phoenician andHebrew) andAramaic.
Distinctive features of Central Semitic languages include the following:[3]
Different classification systems disagree on the precise structure of the group. The most common approach divides it into Arabic and Northwest Semitic, whileSIL Ethnologue hasSouth Central Semitic (including Arabic and Hebrew) vs. Aramaic.[3]
The main distinction between Arabic and the Northwest Semitic languages is the presence ofbroken plurals in the former. The majority of Arabic nouns (apart fromparticiples) form plurals in this manner, whereas virtually all nouns in the Northwest Semitic languages form their plurals with asuffix. For example, the Arabic بَيْتbayt ("house") becomes بُيُوتbuyūt ("houses"); the Hebrew בַּיִתbayit ("house") becomes בָּתִּיםbāttīm ("houses").[3]
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