Page "Afroasiatic languages" Paragraph 5

The term " Afroasiatic " ( often now spelled as " Afro-Asiatic ") was later coined by Maurice Delafosse ( 1914 ).

However, it did not come into general use until Joseph Greenberg ( 1963 ) formally proposed its adoption.

In doing so, Greenberg sought to emphasize the fact that Afroasiatic was the only language family that was represented transcontinentally, in both Africa and Asia.