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The West Semitic languages are a proposed major sub-grouping of Semitic languages
Semitic languages

File:Amarna Akkadian letter.pngThe Semitic languages are a group of related languages whose living representatives are spoken by more than 467 million people across much of the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa....
. One widely accepted analysis, supported by semiticists like Robert Hetzron
Robert Hetzron

Robert Hetzron, born Herzog , was a Hungarian linguistics who focused primarily on Afro-Asiatic languages, especially those in Ethiopia and Gurage Ethiopian Semitic languages....
 and John Huehnergard, divides the Semitic language family into two branches: Eastern
East Semitic languages

The East Semitic languages constitute one of the three major subdivisions of Semitic languages, the other being West Semitic languages and South Semitic languages....
 and Western. The former consists of the extinct
Extinct language

An extinct language is a language which no longer has any speakers .Extinct languages may be contrasted with Language death: no longer spoken as a main language....
 Eblaite
Eblaite language

Eblaite is an extinct, perhaps East Semitic language, which was spoken in the 3rd millennium BCE in the ancient city of Ebla, in modern Syria. It is considered to be the oldest written Semitic language....
 and Akkadian
Akkadian language

Akkadian or Assyrian-Babylonian is a Semitic language that was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia. The earliest attested Semitic language, it used the cuneiform writing system derived ultimately from ancient Sumerian language, an unrelated language isolate....
 languages, the latter of the majority of Semitic languages. It consists of the clearly defined sub-groups: Ethiopic, South Arabian, Arabic
Arabic language

Arabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages languages such as Hebrew language and Aramaic language....
 and Northwest Semitic
Northwest Semitic languages

The Northwest Semitic languages form a medium-level division of the Semitic languages. The languages of this group are spoken by approximately eight million people today....
 (this including Hebrew
Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
, Aramaic
Aramaic language

Aramaic is a Semitic languages with a 3,000-year history. It has been the language of administration of empires and the language of divine worship....
 and Ugaritic
Ugaritic language

The Ugaritic language, discovered by France archaeology in 1928, is known only in the form of writings found in the lost city of Ugarit, near the modern village of Ras Shamra, Syria....
).






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The West Semitic languages are a proposed major sub-grouping of Semitic languages
Semitic languages

File:Amarna Akkadian letter.pngThe Semitic languages are a group of related languages whose living representatives are spoken by more than 467 million people across much of the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa....
. One widely accepted analysis, supported by semiticists like Robert Hetzron
Robert Hetzron

Robert Hetzron, born Herzog , was a Hungarian linguistics who focused primarily on Afro-Asiatic languages, especially those in Ethiopia and Gurage Ethiopian Semitic languages....
 and John Huehnergard, divides the Semitic language family into two branches: Eastern
East Semitic languages

The East Semitic languages constitute one of the three major subdivisions of Semitic languages, the other being West Semitic languages and South Semitic languages....
 and Western. The former consists of the extinct
Extinct language

An extinct language is a language which no longer has any speakers .Extinct languages may be contrasted with Language death: no longer spoken as a main language....
 Eblaite
Eblaite language

Eblaite is an extinct, perhaps East Semitic language, which was spoken in the 3rd millennium BCE in the ancient city of Ebla, in modern Syria. It is considered to be the oldest written Semitic language....
 and Akkadian
Akkadian language

Akkadian or Assyrian-Babylonian is a Semitic language that was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia. The earliest attested Semitic language, it used the cuneiform writing system derived ultimately from ancient Sumerian language, an unrelated language isolate....
 languages, the latter of the majority of Semitic languages. It consists of the clearly defined sub-groups: Ethiopic, South Arabian, Arabic
Arabic language

Arabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages languages such as Hebrew language and Aramaic language....
 and Northwest Semitic
Northwest Semitic languages

The Northwest Semitic languages form a medium-level division of the Semitic languages. The languages of this group are spoken by approximately eight million people today....
 (this including Hebrew
Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
, Aramaic
Aramaic language

Aramaic is a Semitic languages with a 3,000-year history. It has been the language of administration of empires and the language of divine worship....
 and Ugaritic
Ugaritic language

The Ugaritic language, discovered by France archaeology in 1928, is known only in the form of writings found in the lost city of Ugarit, near the modern village of Ras Shamra, Syria....
). The first two, Ethiopic and South Arabian, show particular common features, and are often grouped together as South Semitic. The correct classification of Arabic with respect to other Semitic languages is debated. In older classifications, it is grouped with the South Semitic languages. However, Hetzron and Huehnergard connect it more closely with the Northwest Semitic languages, to form Central Semitic
Central Semitic languages

The Central Semitic languages are an intermediate group of Semitic languages, comprising Arabic language and Northwest Semitic languages .Different classification systems disagree on the precise structure of the group....
. Some semiticists continue to argue for the older classification based on the distinctive feature of broken plural
Broken plural

In linguistics, broken plurals are a grammatical phenomenon typical in many Semitic languages of the Middle East and East Africa in which a singular noun is "broken" to form a plural by having its root consonants embedded in a different "frame", rather than by merely adding a Prefix or Affix to the original singular noun....
s.