ˌɔn wˈʌn hˈænd, ðə "hæmˈɪɾɪk" klˌæsɪfɪkˈeɪʃən wʌz dʒˈʌstᵻfˌaɪd pˈɑːɹʃəli bˈeɪst ˌɔn lɪŋɡwˈɪstɪk fˈiːtʃɚz: fɔːɹ ɛɡzˈæmpəl, mˈeɪnhɑːf splˈɪt ðə pɹˈɛzəntliˌʌndɚstˈʊd tʃˈædɪk fˈæmɪli ˌɪntʊ "hæmˈiːɾoʊtʃˈædɪk", ænd ɐn ˌʌnɹᵻlˈeɪɾᵻd nˈɑːnhæmˈɪɾɪk "tʃˈædɪk" bˈeɪst ˌɔn wˌɪtʃ lˈæŋɡwɪdʒᵻz pəzˈɛst ɡɹɐmˈæɾɪkəl dʒˈɛndɚ.
On one hand, the "Hamitic" classification was justified partially based on linguistic features: for example, Meinhof split the presently-understood Chadic family into "Hamito-Chadic", and an unrelated non-Hamitic "Chadic" based on which languages possessed grammatical gender.