LING 032. The Afro-Asiatic World

This course is intended as a survey of the most ancient family of languages known to linguistics: Afro-Asiatic. Students will gain an understanding of the distinctive linguistic forms associated with the many languages of this family (Ancient Egyptian, Arabic, Hebrew, Hausa etc), as well the cultures and histories of the speakers of these languages throughout the Near-East and Northern Africa. The course will also detail the important role that Afro-Asiatic languages and their speakers played in the early development of writing and the spread of the modern alphabet. Students will additionally gain familiarity with basic concepts in linguistics and historical linguistics, along with the history and anthropology of the Afro-Asiatic world. This course has no prerequisites, though familiarity with a conservative Afro-Asiatic language may be helpful.
Social sciences
1 credit.
Catalog chapter: Linguistics
Department website: http://www.swarthmore.edu/linguistics

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