Modern South Arabian languages

Modern South Arabian languages ( Arabic. العربية الجنوبية الحديثة ) or southeastern Semitic languages ( Arabic. السامية الجنوبية الشرقية ) are southern Semitic languages ​​that are spoken in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula on the island of Oman and in the south of Oman on the island of Oman and ) All modern South Arabian languages ​​have a very small number of speakers and are under constant pressure from the dominant Arabic language in the region. Literacy in these languages ​​is almost zero among their native speakers. Another branch, Ethiopian, includes all the South Semitic languages ​​spoken on the African continent.

• Mehri has the largest number of carriers - 70,643 in Yemen , 50,763 in Oman and 14,358 in Kuwait and neighboring regions (due to emigration to Kuwait). The total number of carriers in all countries is 135,764 (SIL 2000)
• Socotri is still a relatively large language. Its native speakers live on the island of Socotra and therefore the language practically does not feel pressure from the Arabic. According to the 1990 census, in Yemen the number of carriers was 57,000. The total population in all countries (including migrant workers) is estimated at 64,000.
• Shehri (Djibbali) with 25,000 speakers, is well known as the language of the rebels during the uprising in the Omani province of Dofar near the border with Yemen in the 1970s.
• Bathari - approximately 200 carriers
• Harsushi - About 1,000 - 2,000 in Oman
• Hobyot - approximately 100 carriers in Oman

These languages ​​are not descendants of the epigraphic South Arabian languages . For the most part, they are even more conservative than any of the epigraphic South Arabian languages.

These languages ​​are notable for their extremely archaic nature, especially in the field of phonology - for example, they preserved the lateral fricatives of the Prasemitic language , while in all other Semitic languages ​​they were lost thousands of years ago.