Saho–Afar languages

• Preservation of the pharyngeal fricatives // and //
• Consistent Subject-Object-Verb word order
• Unique numerals '7' and '8': Saho malħin, baħar, Afar malħina, baħra.
• A contrast of high and low tone; gender is often marked by a high-low tone pattern on masculine nouns, low-high on feminine nouns, e.g. báḍà 'son', bàḍá 'daughter'.
• The Cushitic prefix conjugation is used commonly, and is also applied to loanwords from Ethiopian Semitic.
• A general negative prefix má- is used in both the imperative and declarative moods. The past tense of suffix-conjugated verbs uses in addition a single negative suffix for both, the present tense lacks a distinct negative suffix entirely.