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19-566: A sizeable part of the Mahrah population does not speak Arabic as their primary language. Non-Arabic-speakers primarily speak Mehri or Mahri , which is a modern South Arabian language, similar to the adjacent Dhofar Governorate of Oman . The people that speak Mahri call themselves 'Mahris', and are presumed to be descendants of the ancient people of 'Ad . The geography of Al-Mahrah is similar to that of neighboring Dhofar region of Oman. Rigid peaks rising to around 1,300 m (4,300 ft), and

38-754: A group of endangered languages spoken by small populations inhabiting the Arabian Peninsula , in Yemen and Oman , and Socotra Island . Together with the Ethiosemitic and Sayhadic languages, the Western branch, they form the South Semitic sub-branch of the Afroasiatic language family's Semitic branch. In his glottochronology -based classification, Alexander Militarev presents

57-463: A similar pattern, and in non-pre-pausal position they are partially voiced. The difference in place of the laterals is not clear. It may be that the approximant is denti-alveolar , like the alveolar occlusives , and the lateral fricatives apical, or it may be that the latter are palato-alveolar or alveolo-palatal . The fricatives are typically transcribed ś , etc. /dʒ/ is only in Arabic loans. It

76-404: A written one. There exist two main approaches to writing the language: using the standard Arabic alphabet or using a modified Arabic alphabet that contains additional letters to represent sounds unique to Mehri. The most common approach is using the unmodified Arabic alphabet. However, standard Arabic’s deficiencies with respect to MSAL result in this approach representing multiple phonemes with

95-619: Is at some risk of extinction. It is primarily a spoken language, with little existing vernacular literature and almost no literacy in written Mehri among native speakers. Abu Muhammad al-Hasan al-Hamdani noted that "the Mahra speak a barbarous tongue like foreigners". Elsewhere, Hamdani showed extensive knowledge of Arabian dialects, each of which was rated in its distance from classical Arabic. Today, Mehri exists in two main dialects, Yemeni Mehri (also known as Southern Mehri) and Omani Mehri (also known as Dhofari Mehri and Nagd Mehri). Omani Mehri

114-403: Is not clear if the rhotic is a trill or a tap. The following are the personal pronouns of Mehri: The following are the possessive suffix versions of those pronouns: The independent pronouns can also be placed after the genitive exponent ( ð- ) to convert them into possessive pronouns ("mine" etc). Mehri, like other Modern South Arabian languages, possesses a rich oral tradition, but not

133-413: Is spoken by a smaller population and shows no significant variation within itself, but Yemeni Mehri is further divided into western and eastern dialects. Unlike other Modern South Arabian languages (MSALs), Mehri 'emphatic' consonants are not simply ejectives . They may also be pharyngealized , as in Arabic, so it is possible for Mehri to attest to a transition from proto-Semitic ejective consonants to

152-598: The Empty Quarter Desert lies to the north. Along its coast near the border with Oman , Al Mahrah receives the seasonal monsoon , or Khareef . The mountains become water-soaked and the atmosphere becomes moist and foggy as vegetation turns the barren coast into lush valleys and forests. Hauf National Park is located in Al-Mahrah. The mountains here are referred to as either the "Mahrat" or " Hadhramaut ". The governorate has remained relatively untouched by

171-691: The Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic family. It is spoken by the Mehri tribes, who inhabit isolated areas of the eastern part of Yemen , western Oman , particularly the Al Mahrah Governorate , with a small number in Saudi Arabia near the Yemeni and Omani borders. Up to the 19th century, speakers lived as far north as the central part of Oman. Mehri and its sister MSALs were spoken in

190-723: The civil war in Yemen that began in 2015. On 10 September 2016, three militants in the Al Mahrah governorate declared on social media the formation of a new wilayat , or state, belonging to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). However, official ISIL media did not acknowledge the declaration. From 2015 to late 2017, Al Mahrah was under the control of the Yemeni 123rd and 137th Mechanized Brigades. From mid-November 2017 onwards, Saudi Arabia began increasing its presence in

209-491: The lateral fricatives of Proto-Semitic . Additionally, Militarev identified a Cushitic substratum in Modern South Arabian, which he proposes is evidence that Cushitic speakers originally inhabited the Arabian Peninsula alongside Semitic speakers (Militarev 1984, 18–19; cf. also Belova 2003). According to Václav Blažek , this suggests that Semitic peoples assimilated their original Cushitic neighbours to

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228-622: The Modern South Arabian languages as a South Semitic branch opposed to a North Semitic branch that includes all the other Semitic languages. They are no longer considered to be descendants of the Old South Arabian language, as was once thought, but instead "nephews". Despite the name, they are not closely related to the Arabic language . Modern South Arabian languages are known for their apparent archaic Semitic features, especially in their system of phonology . For example, they preserve

247-591: The University of Leeds; a proposed set of additional letters for the Arabic alphabet to adapt it to be able to be a good systemic for writing MSAL languages (including Mehri) by that same centre; and a separate set of additional letters proposed by Almahrah.net for the same purpose are given (along with IPA phonetic transcription and Romanizations) in the columns of the table below. Modern South Arabian languages The Modern South Arabian languages ( MSALs ), also known as Eastern South Semitic languages , are

266-470: The following 10 districts. These districts are further divided into sub-districts, and then further subdivided into villages: 16°48′N 51°44′E  /  16.800°N 51.733°E  / 16.800; 51.733 Mehri language Mehri or Mahri (مهريّت) [ Roman Transliteration : Mahrīyyt] is the most spoken of the Modern South Arabian languages (MSALs), a subgroup of

285-461: The governorate, taking control of facilities, Nishtun port, the Sarfit and Shehen border crossings, and al-Gaydah Airport, while establishing military outposts around key infrastructure and coastal areas. On 27 November 2017, Mohammed Abdullah Kuddah, the governor of Al Mahrah, was replaced by Rajeh Said Bakrit, following the former's objections to Saudi influence. Al Mahrah Governorate is divided into

304-480: The pharyngealized emphatics that are found in many Semitic languages . The consonant inventory is as follows: The vowel inventory is as follows: Voiced obstruents, or at least voiced stops, devoice in pausa . In this position, both the voiced and emphatic stops are ejective , losing the three-way contrast ( /kʼ/ is ejective in all positions). Elsewhere, the emphatic and (optionally) the voiced stops are pharyngealized . Emphatic (but not voiced) fricatives have

323-450: The same letters. (Note that, in both Arabic and modified Arabic systems, the vowels are not explicitly differentiated, but are differentiated by the readers through context.) The modified Arabic alphabet has a few systems, none of which is standardized. The most commonly used modified Arabic additional letters as documented in use (e.g., in text messages, email, etc.) by the MSAL centre at

342-726: The south who did not later emigrate to the Horn of Africa . He argues that the Levant would thus have been the Proto-Afro-Asiatic Urheimat , from where the various branches of the 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

361-633: The southern Arabian Peninsula before the spread of Arabic along with Islam in the 7th century CE. Today it is also spoken by Mehri residents in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates , as well as in Kuwait by guest workers originally from South Arabia , as well as nationals with a South Arabian heritage. Given the dominance of Arabic in the region over the past 1400 years and the frequent bilingualism with Arabic among Mehri speakers, Mehri

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