Editing Cushitic languages (section)

===Overview===
The phylum was first designated as ''Cushitic'' in 1858.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lipiński|first1=Edward|title=Semitic Languages: Outline of a Comparative Grammar Volume 80 of Orientalia Lovaniensia analecta|date=2001|publisher=Peeters Publishers|isbn=90-429-0815-7 |page=21 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IiXVqyEkPKcC&pg=PA21|access-date=21 November 2016}}</ref> Traditionally, Cushitic has been divided into North Cushitic (consisting solely of [[Beja language|Beja]]), Central Cushitic (the [[Agaw languages]]), and the large [[East Cushitic languages|East Cushitic]] group. Greenberg (1950) argued for the inclusion of the [[South Cushitic languages|South Cushitic]] group. The [[Omotic languages]], once classified as West Cushitic, have almost universally been reclassified as a separate branch of Afroasiatic.

{{tree list}}
* '''Cushitic'''
** North Cushitic ([[Beja language|Beja]])
** Central Cushitic ([[Agaw languages|Agaw]])
** [[East Cushitic languages|East Cushitic]]
** [[South Cushitic languages|South Cushitic]]
{{tree list/end}}

This classification has not been without contention. For example, it has been argued that Southern Cushitic belongs in the Eastern branch, with its divergence explained by contact with [[Hadza language|Hadza-]] and [[Sandawe language|Sandawe]]-like languages. Hetzron (1980) and Fleming (post-1981) exclude Beja altogether, though this is rejected by other linguists. Some of the classifications that have been proposed over the years are summarized here:

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:smaller; float:center"
|+ Other subclassifications of Cushitic
|-
! Greenberg (1963)<ref>{{cite book|last1=Greenberg|first1=Joseph|title=The Languages of Africa|url=https://archive.org/details/languagesofafric00gree|url-access=registration|date=1963|publisher=Indiana University|location=Bloomington|pages=[https://archive.org/details/languagesofafric00gree/page/48 48–49]}}</ref> !! Hetzron (1980){{sfnp|Hetzron|1980}} !! Orel & Stolbova (1995) !! Ehret (2011)<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ehret|first1=Christopher|title=History and the Testimony of Language|date=2011|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=978-0-520-26204-1|pages=138, 147}}</ref>
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
|
{{tree list}}
* Cushitic
** Northern Cushitic (Beja)
** Central Cushitic
** Eastern Cushitic
** Western Cushitic ([[Omotic languages|Omotic]])
** Southern Cushitic
{{tree list/end}}
|
{{tree list}}
* Beja (not part of Cushitic)
* Cushitic
**Highland
***Rift Valley (= Highland East Cushitic)
***Agaw
**Lowland 
***Saho–Afar
***Southern
****Omo-Tana
****Oromoid
****Dullay
****Yaaku
****Iraqw (i.e. Southern Cushitic)
{{tree list/end}}
|
{{tree list}}
* Cushitic
** Omotic
** Beja
** Agaw
** Sidamic<br/>(i.e. Highland East Cushitic)
** East Lowlands
** Rift (Southern)
{{tree list/end}}
|
{{tree list}}
* Cushitic
** North Cushitic (Beja)
** Agäw–East–South Cushitic
*** Agäw
*** East–South Cushitic
**** Eastern Cushitic
**** Southern Cushitic
{{tree list/end}}
|}

For debate on the placement of the Cushitic branch within Afroasiatic, see [[Afroasiatic languages]].