Modern South Arabian research

Our research

Our research began with the audio/visual documentation of the five Modern South Arabian languages spoken in Oman and Yemen. Over 200 hours of audio/visual material collected by the research team have been archived in ELAR, SOAS.

Research is now being conducted on the phonetics and phonology of two of the languages, Mehri and Shehret, and on communicative gesture in these languages.

Professor Janet Watson sits on a hillside overlooking Dhofar

Our expertise

Discover our internationally-renowned academic staff and subject specialists who lead our research.

Impact and engagement

Creation of an Arabic-based orthography for the six Modern South Arabian languages. This has been used by native speakers for transcribing audio texts and for writing blogs. Presentations: The majority of recent international presentations have been co-presented with native speakers of the languages, and several recent publications have been coauthored with local community members.

WhatsApp and Facebook groups on Mehri have been created as a result of the research activities conducted in Dhofar, Oman.

Language at Leeds

Language at Leeds brings together professionals within the University involved in the study of language, connecting individuals and groups to support research across various disciplines. The central tenet of the centre is an interdisciplinary approach to addressing and understanding issues relating to language, linguistics and communication.