Hamitic
[hæ'mitik]
Definition
(noun.) a group of languages in northern Africa related to Semitic.
Typed by Joan--From WordNet
Definition
adj. pertaining to Ham a son of Noah or the races that used to be called his descendants or their languages.—n.pl. Ham′ites a physical and linguistic group stretching across the north of Africa—the African branch of the Caucasic family—comprising Berbers the Fellahin &c.
Typist: Sanford
Examples
- Turkish elements in Russian, Latin in English, Hamitic in Keltic, & so forth; & omitting various Indian, Melanesian & other groups. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The earliest ships on the sea were either Sumerian or Hamitic; the Semitic peoples followed close upon these pioneers. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Until after the time of Alexander the Great there are few traces of any Aryan or Semitic, much less of Hamitic influence. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The bulk of the Semitic and Hamitic-speaking peoples are put by ethnologists with the Aryans among the Caucasian group of races. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The Semitic languages may have arisen as some specialized proto-Hamitic group, just as the birds arose from a special group of reptiles (Chap. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The Hamitic speakers to-day, like the Semitic speakers, are mainly of the Mediterranean Caucasian race. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
Editor: Rochelle