Afro-Asiatic Languages, formerly known as Hamito-Semitic languages, principal language family of northern Africa and the Middle East, comprising about 250 languages. The Afro-Asiatic family has five branches, or subfamilies: Semitic, Berber, Egyptian, Cushitic, and Chadic. The Semitic languages include the Arabic language, the Hebrew language, and the Amharic language (the official language of Ethiopia), as well as ancient tongues such as the Assyro-Babylonian language, or Akkadian, the Aramaic language, and the Phoenician language. The Egyptian branch of Afro-Asiatic consists of the ancient Egyptian language, including its last phase, the Coptic language, which survived until about the 14th century. The Berber branch of the Afro-Asiatic family includes Tuareg and other languages of northern and northwestern Africa. Many Berber-speaking people also speak Arabic, and the Berber languages are written in the Arabic script. The Cushitic languages are spoken mostly in Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya. They include Oromo (spoken in Kenya and southern Ethiopia), which is written in the Ethiopic script, and Somali, written in the Latin alphabet. The Chadic languages are spoken in central and West Africa. The most important of these languages is Hausa, native to northern Nigeria and neighboring areas, but also serving as a regional lingua franca for millions of nonnative speakers. Traditionally written in the Arabic script, Hausa began to be written in the Latin alphabet during the 20th century. See also African Languages.