Supporting and celebrating global linguistic diversity
Classification: Afro-Asiatic
·at risk
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Mehrī, Mahri, Meḥri |
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Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Modern South Arabian |
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ISO 639-3 |
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gdq |
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As csv |
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Information from: “The Mehri Language of Oman” . Aaron Rubin (2010) Brill
Spoken in Yemen, in the easternmost governorate of Al-Mahra, accross the border in Oman, in the western part of the governorate of Dhofar, and in the highest desert plateau (Nagd), north of the coastal mountains. Half of the speaking population lives in Yemen.
Information from: “The World Atlas of Language Structures” . Bernard Comrie and David Gil and Martin Haspelmath and Matthew S. Dryer · Oxford University Press
Information from: “Mehri Texts from Oman Based on the Field Materials of T. M. Johnstone” . Harry Stroomer (1999) Harrassowit
In Yemen it is spoken in the eastern governorate from the town of Seyhut on the coast to the Yemen-Omani border, in both coastal areas and hinterland. The Mehri language area continues in the south-western province of Oman, particularly in Dhofar and on the Omani desert plateau.
Information from: “The Structure of Mehri” . Janet C.E. Watson (2012) Harrassowitz
The number of speakers of Mehri is particularly difficult to estimate, partly because it is spoken within three separate states, and partly because the number of speakers is not equal to the number of Mehri tribal members: many Mehris, particularly in Yemen, no longer speak Mehri and many speakers lack complete competence in Mehri.
It is spoken across eastern Yemen from Qishn in the west into Dhofar in Oman and up into the southern extremities of central Saudi Arabia.
Information from: “Glottolog” .
Information from: “The Modern South Arabian Languages” (378-423) . Marie-Claude Simeone-Simelle (1997) , Robert Hetzron · London & New York: Routledge
There is a very clear distinction between the variety spoken in Dhofar and in the far east of the Yemen and the western variety. Within one and the same dialectal area there are, in addition, differences between bedouin varieties and city or village dwellers varieties. Both in Oman and in Yemen, Arabic is the language used for official intercourse (administration, school, army). Native speakers use their mother tongue for private purposes, in the family circle and with other speakers of the same language; many a speaker uses several MSAL, when these languages are closely related.
It is spoken in the mountains of Dhofar in Oman, and in the Yemen, in the far eastern Governorate, on the
coast, between the border of Oman and the eastern bank of Wadi Masilah. In the North-West of the Yemen,
Mehri is spoken as far as Thamud, on the border of the Rub' al-Khali.
