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Semitic is a controversial adjective which in common parlance refers either to specifically Jewish things or to things originating among speakers of Semitic languages or people descended from them, and in a linguistic context to the northeastern subfamily of Afro-Asiatic. Etymologically, it means "pertaining to the descendants of Shem" ( Noah's son). In Genesis Shem is described as the father of the Assyrians, Chaldeans, Aramaeans, Sabaeans, and Hebrews, all of whose languages are closely related; the linguistic family containing them was therefore named Semitic. The Canaanites and Amorites spoke a language belonging to this family, and are therefore also termed Semitic in linguistics despite being described in Genesis as sons of Ham. Shem is also described in Genesis as the father of the Elamites and the far-eastern descendants of Lud, whose languages were not Semitic. As this list makes clear, its meaning has shifted considerably.
In a linguistic context, it refers to speakers of a subgroup of the Afroasiatic languages including, among others, ArabicArabic is a Semitic language, fairly closely related to, for instance, the Hebrew language and the Aramaic language, spoken throughout the Arab world and widely known outside it. It has been a literary language for over 1500 years, and is the liturgical l, HebrewThe Modern Hebrew language is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. What makes it unique is that the original Bible, the Torah, by Orthodox Jews held to be recorded in the time of Moses 3,300 years ago, was written in Biblical Classical, and AmharicIntroduction Amharic is a Semitic language spoken in Northern Central Ethiopia, where it is the official language. Outside Ethiopia, Amharic is the language of some 2. 7 million emigrants (notably in Egypt, Israel and Sweden). It is written using a writin. Thus the area of Semitic languages is actually much larger than the area most non-linguists associate with the term "Semitic". They stretch all the way along the southern Mediterranean SeaThe Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. 5 million km˛. The term Mediterranean derives from the Latin mediterraneus 'inland' mediu to the Atlantic OceanFor other uses, see Atlantic (disambiguation The Atlantic Ocean is Earth's second-largest ocean, covering approximately one-fifth of its surface. The ocean's name, derived from Greek mythology, means the " Sea of Atlas". This ocean occupies an elongated,, into MaliRepublique de Mali ( In Detail) National motto: Un peuple, un but, une foi(One people, one goal, one faith Official language French (official), Bambara, others Capital Bamako President Amadou Toumani Toure Prime Minister Ousmane Issoufi Maiga Area Total % and along the coast of the Red SeaSudan The Red Sea ( Arabic Bar al-Amar al-Baru l-’Amar Hebrew Yam Suf Latin Mare Erythraeum is a gulf or basin of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb sound and the Gulf of Aden. all the way to SomaliaSomalia ( Somali: Soomaaliya Arabic: As-Sumal , formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic is an African country that exists solely in a de jure capacity. Somalia has no recognized central government authority, national currency, or any other featur in Africa. Semitic languages are also spoken in European Malta and on Socotra in the Indian Ocean. Additionally, millions of Muslims speak Classical ( Qur’ānic) Arabic as a second language, and many Jews all over the world speak Hebrew as a second language. It should be noted that Coptic, Berber, Somali, and many other related Afro-Asiatic languages within this area do not belong to the Semitic subgroup.
In a religious context, it refers to the religions associated with the speakers of these languages: thus Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are often described as "Semitic religions". This term can equally include the polytheistic religions (such as the cults of Tammuz or Baal) that flourished in the Middle East before the Abrahamic religions.
Outside linguistics, the term's primary use nowadays is to refer to the ethnic groups who have historically spoken Semitic languages, although with the prefix anti- it most commonly refers just to Jews (see below). The best way known to test an ethnic group's common physical descent is through genetic research. Though in genetic research no significant common mitochondrial results have been yielded, genetic Y-chromosome links between near-eastern peoples like the Palestinians, Syrians and ethnic Jews have proved fruitful (see Y-chromosomal Aaron). While population genetics is still a young science, it seems to indicate that a significant proportion of these peoples' ancestry comes from a common Near-Eastern population to which (despite the differences with the Biblical genealogy) the term Semitic has been applied[1].
Anti-Semitism is a term whose most common usage is to describe anti-Jewish statements or beliefs. However, it is increasingly used by people who apply the word in reference to Semitic people also in the linguistic and genetic senses, especially anti-Arabism.
