Ḥarsusi language

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Ḥarsūsī (Template:Langx), natively known as ḤersīyetTemplate:Sfn (pronunciation in Harsusi: Script error: No such module "IPA".Template:Sfn), is a Semitic language of Oman, spoken by the Harasis people. It is classified as a moribund language,[1] with an estimated 600-1000 speakers in Jiddat al-Harasis, a stony desert in south-central Oman. It is closely related to Mehri.[2]

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.[1] While certain scholars have claimed that Harsusi is a dialect of the more widely spoken Mehri language,[3] most maintain that they are mutually intelligible but separate languages.[2] Harsusi, like all the Modern South Arabian languages, is unwritten,[1] though there have been recent efforts to create a written form using an Arabic-based script.[4]

Because the Harasis people were for centuries the only human inhabitants of Jiddat al-Harasis, the language developed in relative isolation.[5] 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.[1] 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,[2] these factors have also caused many Harasis to speak Arabic and Mehri in addition to or in place of Harsusi. Harry Stroomer wrote that it was "probably extinct" 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"[6] though this has not yet materialized.

UNESCO has categorised Harsusi as a language that is "definitely endangered".[7]

Phonology

Consonants

Harsusi consonants[8]
Labial Dental Lateral Post-
alveolar 		Velar Uvular Pharyngeal Glottal
central sibilant
Nasal Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink
Plosive voiceless Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink
voiced Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink
emphatic Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink
Fricative voiceless Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink
voiced Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink (Template:IPAlink)
emphatic Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink
Rhotic Template:IPAlink
Semivowel Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink

The pharyngeal consonant /Script error: No such module "IPA"./ only exists possibly because of the influence of Omani Arabic.

/ɬˤ/ may frequently be voiced as [ɮˤ] when in intervocalic positions.

The voiceless palato-alveolar emphatic fricative /ʃˤ/ does not occur in many words in Harsusi.[8]

Vowels

Harsusi vowels
Front Central Back
Close Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink
Mid Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink Template:IPA link Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink
Open Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink

In prominent open syllables or after a guttural (such as /Script error: No such module "IPA"./, /Script error: No such module "IPA"./, /Script error: No such module "IPA"./ and /Script error: No such module "IPA"./), /Script error: No such module "IPA"./ is realized as [Script error: No such module "IPA".]. After a glottalized or lateral fricative consonant, /Script error: No such module "IPA"./ is realized as [Script error: No such module "IPA".].Template:Sfn

Diphthongs may be realized as ay /Script error: No such module "IPA"./ and aw /Script error: No such module "IPA"./.

References

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  1. ↑ a b c d Morris, M. 2007. "The pre-literate, non-Arabic languages of Oman and Yemen. Template:Webarchive" Lecture conducted from Anglo-Omani and British-Yemeni Societies.
  2. ↑ a b c Peterson, J.E. "Oman's Diverse Society: Southern Oman. Template:Webarchive" In: Middle East Journal 58.2, 254-269.
  3. ↑ Maisel, S., and Shoup, J. 2009. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Arab States Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Arab States. Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
  4. ↑ Eades, D. "The documentation and ethnolinguistic analysis of Modern South Arabian: Harsusi. Template:Webarchive" Endangered Languages Archive.
  5. ↑ Chatty, D. 2013. "Negotiating Authenticity and Translocality in Oman: The 'Desertscapes' of the Harasiis Tribe. Template:Webarchive" In S. Wippel (ed.). Regionalizing Oman 6, 129-145. Springer Netherlands.
  6. ↑ Swiggers, P. 1981. "A Phonological Analysis of the Ḥarsūsi Consonants." In: Arabica 28.2/3, 358-361.
  7. ↑ United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), "Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger" pp. 186–7, 2010.
  8. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".

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Further reading

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External links

Template:Languages of Oman Template:Authority control

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