Keynote speech at first Linguistics in Arabia conference, Jedda

Janet Watson presented a keynote speech on the documentation of Modern South Arabian at the first Linguistics in Arabia conference held at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah on 3-4 December 2013.

At the first Linguistics in Arabia conference held at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah on 4-5 December 2013, and organised by Dr Aziza Al-Essa and Professor Osamah Jastaniah, Janet Watson presented a keynote speech on the documentation and ethnolinguistic analysis of Modern South Arabian. Part of the message concerned the role technology can play in language documentation and revival. A practical demonstration of the role of technology in language documentation and dissemination was made when Ali al-Mahri introduced and contributed to the talk from Yemen by telephone. His contribution received an enthusiastic round of applause. The newspapers Arab News and Okaz carried articles about the conference, with a focus on this keynote speech.