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Proto-Semitic is the hypothetical ancestral language from which all Semitic languages are believed to have descended. It is not a language that was ever directly recorded but is reconstructed by linguists through the comparative study of its descendant languages.12

Scholars largely agree on the main clusters of Semitic languages, including Akkadian, Northwest Semitic (Canaanite, Aramaic), Arabic, and South Semitic languages. While the exact relationships between these groups are debated, Proto-Semitic serves as the foundational language for understanding their genetic connections.2

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