The similarity of the Hebrew, Arabic and Aramaic languages has been accepted by all scholars since medieval times. The languages were familiar to Western European scholars due to historical contact with neighbouring 展开

Arabic is currently the native language of majorities from Mauritania to Oman, and from Iraq to Sudan. Classical Arabic is the language of the Quran. It is also studied widely in the non-Arabic-speaking Muslim world. The Maltese language is a descendant of the extinct 展开

Due to the Semitic languages' common origin, they share some words and roots. Others differ. For example:
Terms given in brackets are not derived from the respective Proto-Semitic roots, though they may also derive from Proto-Semitic (as does e.g. … 展开

Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples
Semitic languages were spoken and written across much of the Middle East and Asia Minor during the Bronze Age and Iron Age, … 展开

The phonologies of the attested Semitic languages are presented here from a comparative point of view (see Proto-Semitic language#Phonology 展开

The Semitic languages share a number of grammatical features, although variation — both between separate languages, and within the languages themselves — has naturally occurred over time. 展开

There are six fairly uncontroversial nodes within the Semitic languages: East Semitic, Northwest Semitic, North Arabian, Old South Arabian (also known as Sayhadic), Modern South Arabian, and Ethiopian Semitic. These are generally grouped further, but there is … 展开