闪米特诸语言(Semitic languages)
通行於北非和南亚的亚非语系。该语系有着最悠久的书写历史－－从西元前第三千纪至今。传统的和近代的一些划分法都把该语系分为东西两支。直到近期，唯一为人所知的东部闪米特语是阿卡德语；如今有一些学者把埃卜拉语（Eblaite）也算作东部闪米特语，埃卜拉语是在埃卜拉古城发现的楔形文字档案中的语言，这些文件可追溯至西元前2300～2250年。西部闪米特语为西北部闪米特语的主要分支，包括乌加里特语（Ugaritic），这是从西元前1400～西元前1190年的楔形字母文本中被发现的文字；近缘的迦南语（包括摩押语、腓尼基语以及古希伯来语）；以及阿拉米语。更细的划分则存在争议；传统上，阿拉伯语被归为西部闪米特语的一个独特南支，尽管较现代的划分把它归入西北部闪米特语。南部闪米特语包括铭刻南部阿拉伯语；现代南部阿拉伯语（这一语族的六种语言通行於叶门东部、阿曼西南部以及索科特拉岛）；以及衣索比亚诸语言。
English version：
Semitic languages
Family of Afroasiatic languages spoken in northern Africa and South Asia. No other language family has been attested in writing over a greater time span—from the late 3rd millennium BC to the present. Both traditional and some recent classifications divide the family into an eastern and western group. Until recently the sole known East Semitic language was Akkadian; now some scholars add Eblaite, the language of a cuneiform archive found at the ancient city of Ebla, with documents dating from c. 2300-2250 BC. West Semitic contains as one major subgroup Northwest Semitic, which includes Ugaritic, known from alphabetic cuneiform texts of c. 1400-1190 BC; the closely related Canaanite languages (including Moabite, Phoenician, and Ancient Hebrew); and Aramaic. Further subgrouping is controversial; traditionally, Arabic was placed in a distinct South Semitic subgroup of West Semitic, though a more recent classification puts it together with Northwest Semitic. The South Semitic languages include Epigraphic South Arabian; Modern South Arabian (or Modern South Arabic), a group of six languages spoken in eastern Yemen, southwestern Oman, and the island of Socotra; and Ethiopic.