- languages spoken predominantly in North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Western Asia, and some parts of the Sahara
- has the longest recorded history of any known language family
- Most commonly spoken today is Arabic (by far)
- six branches
- Berber (incl Shilha, Kabyle, Central Atlas Tamazight)
- Chadic (incl Hausa)
- Cushitic (incl Oromo, Somali, Afar)
- Egyptian - the ancient language
- Semitic (incl Arabic, Amharic, Tigrinya, Hebrew)
- also ancient languages like Akkadian, Babylonian, Phoenecian, etc
- Omotic (incl Wolaitta)