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.
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.