Oh, by 'associated with semitic speakers' I'd assume a straightforward statistical correlation in living people, without necessarily inferring cause.
In general, yes; in this particular case knowledge of the Arab invasion tends to imply the two might go together.
I actually have no idea what sorts of languages were spoken in North Africa prior to the 7th century (other than guessing that Phoenician and Latin were probably popular amongst the elite at various points, for reasons quite unconnected to the longer-term origins of the bulk of the population).
Hamitic languages, I believe; principally Berber. (Hamitic languages are the other main branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family, formerly known as Hamito-Semitic.)
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Date: 2009-03-19 03:52 pm (UTC)In general, yes; in this particular case knowledge of the Arab invasion tends to imply the two might go together.
I actually have no idea what sorts of languages were spoken in North Africa prior to the 7th century (other than guessing that Phoenician and Latin were probably popular amongst the elite at various points, for reasons quite unconnected to the longer-term origins of the bulk of the population).
Hamitic languages, I believe; principally Berber. (Hamitic languages are the other main branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family, formerly known as Hamito-Semitic.)