SOUTH ARABIC LANGUAGE

Semitic language of southern Arabia and the island of Socotra. South Arabic belongs to the Southern Peripheral group of Semitic languages, along with Ge'ez, Amharic, Tigr, Tigrinya, and the other Semitic languages of Ethiopia. Modern dialects of the language include Mahri, Shahri (or Ehkali), Harsusi, and Bathari on the Arabian shore of the Indian Ocean and Suqutri on Socotra. Harsusi has been influenced by Arabic to a greater extent than have the other dialects. Minaean, Sabaean, Qatabanian, and Hadramawtian were the four known South Arabic dialects of ancient times. The earliest South Arabic inscriptions, dating from the 8th century BC, are in the Minaean dialect. Sabaean is the dialect of the majority of South Arabic inscriptions; the latest inscriptions are from the 6th century AD. The type of Semitic alphabet in which the ancient inscriptions are written has 29 consonant signs but does not indicate vowels.