“Harsusi language”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

General information

Harsusi first came to the attention of outside scholars in 1937, when it was mentioned by Bertram Thomas in his book Four Strange Tongues of South Arabia.^[2] While certain scholars have claimed that Harsusi is a dialect of the more widely spoken Mehri language,^[4] most maintain that they are mutually intelligible but separate languages .^[3] Harsusi, like all the Modern South Arabian languages, is unwritten,^[2] though there have been recent efforts to create a written form using an Arabic-based script.^[5]

Because the Harasis people were for centuries the only human inhabitants of Jiddat al-Harasis, the language developed in relative isolation.^[6] However, as most Harasis children now attend Arabic-language schools and are literate in Arabic, Harsusi is spoken less in the home, meaning that it is not being passed down to future generations.^[2] Though the discovery of oil in the area and the conservation project for the re-introduced oryx herd have provided many job opportunities for Harsusi men,^[3] these factors have also caused many Harasis to speak Arabic and Mehri in addition to or in place of Harsusi. These pressures led one researcher to conclude in 1981 that "within a few generations Harsusi will be replaced by Arabic, more specifically by the Omani Arabic standard dialect"^[7] though this has not yet materialized.

[8]

Phonology

Consonants

Harsusi consonants

Labial

Dental

Lateral

Post-
alveolar

Velar

Pharyngeal

Glottal

central

sibilant

Nasal

m}}

n}}

Plosive

voiceless

t}}

k}}

ʔ}}

voiced

b}}

d}}

ɡ}}

glottalized

tʼ}}

kʼ}}

Fricative

voiceless

f}}

θ}}

s}}

ɬ}}

ʃ}}

x}}

ħ}}

h}}

voiced

ð}}

z}}

ɮ}}

ɣ}}

ʕ}})

glottalized

ðʼ}}

sʼ}}

ʃʼ}}

Rhotic

r}}

Semivowel

l}}

j}}

w}}

The pharyngeal consonant /{{IPA|ʕ}}/ only exists possibly because of the influence of Omani Arabic.

Vowels

Harsusi vowels

Front

Central

Back

i}} {{IPA|iː}}

u}} {{IPA|uː}}

Mid

e}} {{IPA|eː}}

ə}}

o}} {{IPA|oː}}

Open

a aː}}

References

1. ^[https://www.academia.edu/5170551/MEHRI_AND_HOBYOT_SPOKEN_IN_OMAN_AND_YEMEN]
2. ^¹²³Morris, M. 2007. "The pre-literate, non-Arabic languages of Oman and Yemen." Lecture conducted from Anglo-Omani and British-Yemeni Societies.
3. ^¹²Peterson, J.E. "Oman's Diverse Society: Southern Oman." In: Middle East Journal 58.2, 254-269.
4. ^Maisel, S., and Shoup, J. 2009. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Arab States Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Arab States. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
5. ^Eades, D. "The documentation and ethnolinguistic analysis of Modern South Arabian: Harsusi." Endangered Languages Archive.
6. ^Chatty, D. 2013. “Negotiating Authenticity and Translocality in Oman: The 'Desertscapes' of the Harasiis Tribe.” In S. Wippel (ed.). Regionalizing Oman 6, 129-145. Springer Netherlands.
7. ^Swiggers, P. 1981. “A Phonological Analysis of the Ḥarsūsi Consonants.” In: Arabica 28.2/3, 358-361.
8. ^United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), "Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger", 2010.

General information

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels

References

Further reading

External links