Modern South Arabian languages
| Modern South Arabian | |
|---|---|
| Eastern South Semitic | |
| Geographic distribution | Yemen and Oman |
| Linguistic classification | Afro-Asiatic
|
| Subdivisions | |
| Glottolog | mode1252 |
 | |
The Modern South Arabian languages (MSALs),Afroasiatic language family's Semitic branch.
Classification
In his
Arabic language
.
Languages
- The UAE, and Saudi Arabia. Mehri peopleare referred to as Mahra.
- Arabicon the Yemeni mainland. In 2015, there were around 70,000 speakers.
- Dhofar Rebellion in Oman's Dhofar Governorate along the border with Yemenin the 1960s and 1970s.
- Bathari: Under 100 speakers in Oman. Located on the southeast coast facing the Khuriya Muriya Islands. Very similar to Mehri, and some tribespeople speak Mehri instead of Bathari.
- Harsusi: 600 speakers in the Jiddat al-Harasisof Oman.
- Hobyót: 100 speakers est., in Oman and Yemen.
Grammar
Modern South Arabian languages are known for their apparent archaic Semitic features, especially in their system of
Proto-Semitic
.
Additionally, Militarev identified a
Afro-Asiatic family subsequently dispersed. To further support this, Blažek cites analysis of rock art in Central Arabia by Anati (1968, 180–84), which notes a connection between the shield-carrying "oval-headed" people depicted on the cave paintings and the Arabian Cushites from the Old Testament, who were similarly described as carrying specific shields.[5]
Reconstruction
Proto-Modern South Arabian reconstructions by Roger Blench (2019):[6]
| Gloss | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| one | *tʕaad, *tʕiit | |
| two | *ṯrooh, *ṯereṯ | |
| three | *ʃahṯayt | |
| four | *ʔorbac, *raboot | |
| five | *xəmmoh | |
| six | m. *ʃɛɛt, f. *ʃətəət | |
| seven | m. *ʃoobeet, f. *ʃəbət | |
| eight | m. θəmoonit, f. θəmoonit | |
| nine | m. *saʕeet, f. *saaʕet | |
| ten | m. *ʕɔ́ɬər, f. *ʕəɬiireet | |
| head | *ḥəəreeh | |
| eye | *ʔaayn | *ʔaayəəntən |
| ear | *ʔeyðeen | *ʔiðānten |
| nose | *nəxreer | *nəxroor |
| mouth | *xah | *xwuutən |
| hair | *ɬəfeet | *ɬéef |
| hand/arm | *ḥayd | *ḥaadootən |
| leg | *faaʕm | *fʕamtən |
| foot | *géedəl | *(ha-)gdool |
| blood | *ðoor | *ðiiriín |
| breast | *θɔɔdɛʔ | *θədií |
| belly | *hóofəl | *hefool |
| sea | *rɛ́mrəm | *roorəm |
| path, road | *ḥóorəm | *ḥiiraám |
| mountain | *kərmām | *kərəəmoom |
| rock, stone | *ṣar(fét) | *ṣeref |
| rock, stone | *ṣəwər(fet) | *ṣəfáyr |
| rock, stone | *ʔoobən | |
| rock, stone | *fúdún | |
| fish | *ṣódəh | *ṣyood |
| hyena | *θəbiiriin | |
| turtle | *ḥameseh | *ḥoms(tə) |
| louse | *kenemoot | *kenoom |
| man | *ɣayg | *ɣəyuug |
| woman | *teeθ | |
| male child | *ɣeg | |
| child | *mber | |
| water | *ḥəmooh | |
| fire | *ɬəweeṭ | *ɬewṭeen |
| milk | *ɬxoof | *ɬxefən |
| salt | *məɮḥɔ́t | |
| night | *ʔaṣeer | *leyli |
| day | *ḥəyoomet | PWMSA *yiim |
| net | PWMSA *liix | *leyuux |
| wind | *mədenut | *medáyten |
| I, we | *hoh | *nəhan |
| you, m. | *heet | *ʔəteem |
| you, f. | *hiit | *ʔeteen |
| he, they m. | *heh | *həəm |
| she, they f. | *seeh | *seen |
References
- ^ Simeone-Senelle, Marie-Claude (1997). "The Modern South Arabian Languages" (PDF). In Hetzron, R. (ed.). The Semitic Languages. London: Routledge. pp. 378–423. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-07-09. Retrieved 2017-05-12.
- ^ Rendsburg, Gary A. "Modern South Arabian as a source for Ugaritic etymologies". Rutgers University.
- ^ "Semitskiye yazyki | Entsiklopediya Krugosvet" Семитские языки | Энциклопедия Кругосвет [Semitic languages | Encyclopedia Around the World] (in Russian).
- ^ Militarev, Alexander. "Once more about glottochronology and the comparative method: the Omotic-Afrasian case" (PDF). Moscow: Russian State University for the Humanities.
- ^ Blažek, Václav. "Afroasiatic Migrations: Linguistic Evidence" (PDF). Retrieved 9 May 2013.
- ^ Blench, Roger (14 December 2019). "Reconstructing Modern South Arabian. Paper presented at the Workshop on Modern South Arabian Languages, Erlangen, Germany".
Bibliography
- Johnstone, T.M. (1975). "The Modern South Arabian Languages". Afroasiatic Linguistics. 1 (5): 93–121.
- Johnstone, T.M. (1977). Ḥarsūsi Lexicon and English-Ḥarsūsi Word-List. London: Oxford University Press.
- Johnstone, T.M. (1981). Jibbāli Lexicon. London: Oxford University Press.
- Johnstone, T.M. (1987). Mehri Lexicon and English-Mehri Word-List. London: School of Oriental and African Studies.
- Nakano, Aki’o (1986). Comparative Vocabulary of Southern Arabic: Mahri, Gibbali, and Soqotri. Tokyo: Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa.
- Nakano, Aki’o (2013). Ratcliffe, Robert (ed.). Hōbyot (Oman) Vocabulary: With Example Texts. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa.
- Naumkin, Vitaly; et al. (2014). Corpus of Soqotri Oral Literature. Vol. 1. Leiden: Brill.
- Rubin, Aaron D. (2010). The Mehri Language of Oman. Leiden: Brill.
- Rubin, Aaron D. (2014). The Jibbali Language of Oman: Grammar and Texts. Leiden: Brill.
- Watson, Janet C.E. (2012). The Structure of Mehri. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
External links
- The Modern South Arabian Languages Archived 2016-05-09 at the Wayback Machine, by M.C.Simeone-Senelle
