Lugha za Kikushi ni kati ya lugha za Kiafrika-Kiasia. Zinatumika hasa katika Pembe la Afrika na nchi za jirani, kuanzia Misri na Sudan hadi Kenya na Tanzania, lakini zamani zilitumika katika maeneo makubwa kuliko leo. Jina linatokana na Kush, mtu wa Biblia anayetajwa kama babu wa makabila ya aina hiyo. Leo lugha kubwa zaidi katika kundi hilo ni Kioromo (35,000,000), kikifuatwa na Kisomali (18,000,000). Baadhi yake zimeshakufa. Miller, Catherine; Doss, Madiha (1996-12-31). "Nubien, berbère et beja: notes sur trois langues vernaculaires non arabes de l'Égypte contemporaine" (in French). Égypte/Monde Arabe (27–28): 411–431. doi:10.4000/ema.1960 . ISSN 1110-5097 . http://ema.revues.org/1960#article-1960. Ethnologue on the Cushitic branch Bender, Marvin Lionel. 1975. Omotic: a new Afroasiatic language family. Southern Illinois University Museum series, number 3. Bender, M. Lionel. 1986. A possible Cushomotic isomorph. Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere 6:149–155. Fleming, Harold C. 1974. Omotic as an Afroasiatic family. In: Proceedings of the 5th annual conference on African linguistics (ed. by William Leben), p 81-94. African Studies Center & Department of Linguistics, UCLA.