Editing Afroasiatic languages (section)

==Name==
In current scholarship, the most common names for the family are ''Afroasiatic'' (or ''Afro-Asiatic''), ''Hamito-Semitic'', and ''Semito-Hamitic''.{{sfn|Frajzyngier|Shay|2012|p=3}}{{sfn|Zaborski|2011}} Other proposed names that have yet to find widespread acceptance include ''Erythraic''/''Erythraean'', ''Lisramic'', ''Noahitic'', and ''Lamekhite''.{{sfn|Hetzron|2009|p=454}}{{sfn|Porkhomovsky|2020|p=270}}

[[Friedrich Müller (linguist)|Friedrich Müller]] introduced the name ''Hamito-Semitic'' to describe the family in his {{lang|de|Grundriss der Sprachwissenschaft}} (1876).{{sfn|Lipiński|2001|pp=21–22}} The variant ''Semito-Hamitic'' is mostly used in older Russian sources.{{sfn|Frajzyngier|Shay|2012|p=3}} The elements of the name were derived from the names of two sons of [[Noah]] as attested in the [[Book of Genesis]]'s [[Generations of Noah|Table of Nations]] passage: "Semitic" from the first-born [[Shem]], and "Hamitic" from the second-born [[Ham (son of Noah)|Ham]] (Genesis 5:32).{{sfn|Meyer|Wolff|2019|p=250}} Within the Table of Nations, each of Noah's sons is presented as the common progenitor of various people groups deemed to be closely related: among others Shem was the father of the [[Jews]], [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]], and [[Arameans]], while Ham was the father of the [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptians]] and [[Kingdom of Kush|Cushites]]. This genealogy does not reflect the actual origins of these peoples' languages: for example, the Canaanites are descendants of Ham according to the Table, even though Hebrew is now classified as a [[Canaanite language]], while the [[Elamites]] are ascribed to Shem despite [[Elamite language|their language]] being totally unrelated to Hebrew.{{sfn|Porkhomovsky|2020|pp=269–270}} The term ''Semitic'' for the [[Semitic languages]] had already been coined in 1781 by [[August Ludwig von Schlözer]], following an earlier suggestion by [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz]] in 1710.{{sfn|Porkhomovsky|2020|p=269}} ''Hamitic'' was first used by [[Ernest Renan]] in 1855 to refer to languages that appeared similar to the Semitic languages, but were not themselves provably a part of the family.{{sfn|Porkhomovsky|2020|p=269}} The belief in a connection between Africans and the Biblical Ham, which had existed at least as far back as [[Isidore of Seville]] in the 6th century&nbsp;AD, led scholars in the early 19th century to speak vaguely of "Hamian" or "Hamitish" languages.{{sfn|Solleveld|2020|p=204}}

The term ''Hamito-Semitic'' has largely fallen out of favor among linguists writing in English, but is still frequently used in the scholarship of various other languages, such as German.{{sfn|Huehnergard|2004|p=138}}{{sfn|Frajzyngier|Shay|2012|p=5}} Several issues with the label ''Hamito-Semitic'' have led many scholars to abandon the term and criticize its continued use. One common objection is that the ''Hamitic'' component inaccurately suggests that a [[monophyletic]] "Hamitic" branch exists alongside Semitic. In addition, [[Joseph Greenberg]] has argued that ''Hamitic'' possesses [[Hamites|racial connotations]], and that "Hamito-Semitic" overstates the centrality of the Semitic languages within the family.{{sfn|Dimmendaal|2008|p=840}}{{sfn|Hetzron|2009|p=545}}{{sfn|Almansa-Villatoro|Štubňová Nigrelli|2023|p=4}} By contrast, Victor Porkhomovsky suggests that the label is simply an inherited convention, and does not imply a duality of Semitic and "Hamitic" any more than ''Indo-European'' implies a duality of Indic and "European".{{sfn|Porkhomovsky|2020|p=270}} Because of its use by several important scholars and in the titles of significant works of scholarship, the total replacement of ''Hamito-Semitic'' is difficult.{{sfn|Almansa-Villatoro|Štubňová Nigrelli|2023|p=4}}

While Greenberg ultimately popularized the name "Afroasiatic" in 1960, it appears to have been coined originally by [[Maurice Delafosse]], as French {{lang|fr|afroasiatique}}, in 1914.{{sfn|Dimmendaal|2008|p=840}} The name refers to the fact that it is the only major language family with large populations in both Africa and Asia.{{sfn|Porkhomovsky|2020|p=270}} Due to concerns that "Afroasiatic" could imply the inclusion of ''all'' languages spoken across Africa and Asia, the name "Afrasian" ({{langx|ru|afrazijskije|italics=yes}}) was proposed by [[Igor Diakonoff]] in 1980. At present it predominantly sees use among Russian scholars.{{sfn|Hetzron|2009|p=545}}{{sfn|Porkhomovsky|2020|p=270}}

The names ''Lisramic''—based on the Afroasiastic root ''*lis-'' ("tongue") and the Egyptian word ''rmṯ'' ("person")—and ''Erythraean''—referring to the core area around which the languages are spoken, the [[Red Sea]]—have also been proposed.{{sfn|Frajzyngier|Shay|2012|p=3}}