Image talk:Afro-Asiatic.png
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(discussion below copied from Talk:Afro-Asiatic languages)
Ouch. I've been busy creating maps for African language families since I thought this subject could use some color and visualization. The image to the right (Afro-Asiatic.png) is one of them. However, I see that I am a little Africa-minded: I forgot to include the Semitic languages outside the African continent... Forgive me! It will take some time to create a map including the distribution of the Semitic languages outside of Africa, since most of my sources are from an African linguistics perspective. Can someone give me some clues? - Mark Dingemanse (talk) 17:05, 20 Oct 2004 (UTC)
- The border is basically Syria and Iraq minus Kurdistan plus the Hatay, plus very small islands of Aramaic as far north as Azerbaijan, then plus Khuzistan and parts of Iran's Gulf coast.
- For Africa, btw, have a look at Linguasphere, TITUS, and SIL-based maps... - Mustafaa 11:38, 21 Oct 2004 (UTC)
I updated the map (lose your browser cache if you still don't see Afro-Asiatic in the Middle East). Sources: the previous map, online maps, and Stroomer 2002. Any comments? ¶ Mark Dingemanse (talk) 17:34, 8 Nov 2004 (UTC)
Looks pretty good! But surely it includes too much of Kurdistan? - Mustafaa 17:42, 8 Nov 2004 (UTC)
- Well, Arabic is spoken in the Syriac (Syrish?) part of Kurdistan, and a band in the south of Turkey, with an offshoot into central Kurdistan, according to Stroomer's (2002) map. The TITUS and SIL maps confirm this Afro-Asiatic offshoot, as far as I can see. See this quick and dirty map of the precise area. However, I am not at home in that area, so I'd be curious to hear your thoughts. ¶ Mark Dingemanse (talk) 18:51, 8 Nov 2004 (UTC)
Hmm. I guess it makes sense that there would be an overlap between Arabic and Kurdish around there, and I'm certainly willing to take Harry Stroomer's word for it. That's a good solution he adopted, actually - coloring in mixed Arabic-Kurdish areas lighter as a transition zone... - Mustafaa 19:08, 8 Nov 2004 (UTC)
- Yep, that's a good solution. I also like the way Linguasphere takes inhabitation into account. The layout I have chosen for this series of maps does not permit such subleties. For maps like this that's not really a problem though; they are only meant to present a quick overview of the distribution of the phylum. ¶ Mark Dingemanse (talk) 01:03, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)
Malta is missing on the map. The Maltese language is an Arabic language. --zeno 13:54, 9 Jan 2005 (UTC)
- Thanks for the comment. Don't know if Malta's big enough for the grid; as said above, the maps in this series mainly serve to present a quick overview of the distribution of the phylum. I'll look into it nonetheless. — mark ✎ 18:04, 9 Jan 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Correct map
Afro-Asiatic languages (in the form of Arabic) is just spoken in parts of Khuzestan province and a few villages on the northern shores of the Persian Gulf. I come from Iran and have studied in the field of Iranian studies and am very familiar with the ethnic makup of southern Iran. The previoues map was wrong. --Mani1 09:49, 31 October 2006 (UTC)
- This may be the case, but the current map is based on published sources (which may indeed be wrong). The best way to go about correcting it would be to provide reliable sources that show that the spread of Afro-Asiatic in Iran is indeed different from what this map suggest. It would be original research (and thus contrary to Wikipedia's policies) to just change it because you say so. I hope you understand this and I hope you can provide a good source. — mark ✎ 11:43, 31 October 2006 (UTC)
