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What language do the Dhofari inscriptions record?

Asked 26 Oct 2026 by ·3 answers·0·0 following
Most likely: an extinct Semitic language related to Modern South Arabian but not ancestral to itAhead on the evidence, not yet confirmed. It needs two reviews to be accepted.

Where it stands

Three answers have been proposed. An extinct Semitic language related to Modern South Arabian but not ancestral to it. leads, with evidence 2 for: partly supported by its tests. Two are still possible. Of the one narrower question under it, none is answered yet.

Why it matters

The answer bears on the linguistic history of southern Arabia and on whether the Modern South Arabian languages have written ancestors⁠[1]⁠[2].

Answers 3

Evidence: 2 for
Most likely
Evidence: 1 against
Disputed
None of these.
Not tested enough to call either way
Evidence: none yet
Still possible

History

  1. Al-Jallad puts forward: an extinct Semitic language related to Modern South Arabian but not ancestral to it.
  2. Al-Jallad: preliminary readings find forms paralleled in Mehri and Jibbali.For: An extinct Semitic language related to Modern South Arabian but not ancestral to it.
  3. Al-Jallad: interdental loss is not compatible with direct ancestry of the modern languages, which keep them.Against: An early form of Modern South Arabian (ancestral to Mehri, Jibbali or Socotri).
  4. Asked on this site
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