The Personal Pronouns of The Mehri Language as Spoken in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Mehri is one of six Modern South Arabian languages spoken in southern Arabia. These languages have been noted for their retention of Semitic phonological and grammatical features that have disappeared from other Semitic languages. Mehri is spoken in Oman, Yemen, in parts of southern and eastern Saudi Arabia, and in some of Gulf States. Mehri is classified by UNESCO as “definitely endangered”. Previous studies of Omani and Yemeni Mehri exist, but there have been no studies on Mehri that are used in Saudi Arabia. Morphologically, the dialect groups of Mehri differ in that eastern Yemeni Mehri, also known as Mahriyōt, distinguishes gender in the second person singular independent pronouns, whereas Omani Mehri, Mehreyyet, and western Yemeni Mehri do not. However, Mahriyōt and Mehreyyet differ from western Yemeni Mehri in that they exhibit dual pronouns and dual verb inflections. This study examines number/gender marking in the dependent and independent pronouns of the Mehri spoken in Dammam in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia. Twelve hours of recordings were made during interviewing eleven Mehri speakers (seven males and 4 females) who are living in Dammam. Some of the informants were born in Dammam and others had moved there in different years.