Japhetic languages is a largely obsolete term for the languages spoken by the descendants of Japheth, son of Noah. It is now rarely used especially within the field of historical linguistics. It was usually ascribed to the speakers of what we now term the Indo-European languages. It should not be confused with the Japhetic theory. The term Hamitic also used to be used but has now passed into obscurity, referring to Noah's son Ham, ascribed to the languages spoken particularly by the people of Egypt, and more generally, by peoples in Africa. The third son of Noah, Shem still gives his name to the Semitic languages, a branch of the Afroasiatic family of languages, for which "Semito-Hamitic" is an older, and now virtually obsolete term.
Famous quotes containing the word languages:
“The less sophisticated of my forbears avoided foreigners at all costs, for the very good reason that, in their circles, speaking in tongues was commonly a prelude to snake handling. The more tolerant among us regarded foreign languages as a kind of speech impediment that could be overcome by willpower.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)