Cushitic languages

High school (ages 12+)
People & Society

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Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/cushitic-languages

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. When was Cushitic languages built?Proto-Cushitic, a hypothetical common ancestor language
2. What is the language phylum?A branch of the Afroasiatic language phylum
3. What is the primary geographic concentration?Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea) and adjacent regions
4. What are Cushitic languages and where are they spoken?Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic family. They are mainly spoken in the Horn of Africa—Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti, and Eritrea—and also in nearby countries like Kenya, Tanzania, Sudan, and Egypt.
5. How old are Cushitic languages?Cushitic languages have been around for thousands of years. Their history stretches back many millennia, showing how long people have used them.

Language Phylum: A large grouping of languages believed to have descended from a single, ancient ancestral language.
Comparative Method: A linguistic technique used to reconstruct ancestral languages by comparing related modern languages.
Lingua Franca: A common language used by people who speak different native languages to communicate.