Kinship terms in Shehret and Mehri

Authors

  • Janet C.E. Watson University of Leeds
  • Kamala Russell University of Chicago
  • Amir Azad Adli Al-Kathiri University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Salalah
  • Abdullah al-Mahri independent researcher

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13135/1825-263X/12755

Abstract

This paper examines the semantics, patterning and morpho-syntax of kinship terms in Shehret and Mehri, two Modern South Arabian languages (MSAL) spoken in Southern Arabia. Comprising data and expertise from native speakers, field linguistics, and linguistic anthropology, this paper describes semantic patterning and interesting morphological blending shared by the two languages, as well as a preliminary discussion of the pragmatics of kin terms in both languages. Sets of terms for Mehri and Shehret repeat across degrees of relational distance, but pattern in complex ways depending on cross or parallel gender of intervening parent and generational relation in ways that differ from patterning in Arabic. Kinship terminology are highly salient and highly conserved lexemes, particularly in these speech communities where they play a daily role in conversation and identification, and as this paper emphasizes, are sources for insights into morphological processes that hold more broadly in the language and that may indicate future questions for historical linguistic research.

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Author Biographies

Janet C.E. Watson, University of Leeds

Janet C.E. Watson FBA is Professor Emerita at the University of Leeds and Visiting Researcher at SQU, Muscat. In 2013, she was elected Fellow of the British Academy. She has worked at the universities of Leeds, Salford, Oslo, Heidelberg, Durham and Edinburgh. Her research interests lie in Modern South Arabian and Yemeni Arabic dialects, focussing on language documentation, instrumental phonetics, and phonological and morphological approaches. Her key book publications include Phonology and Morphology of Arabic, The Structure of Mehri, Təghamk Āfyət: A course in Mehri of Dhofar (with Abdullah al-Mahri et al.), Language and Ecology in Southern and Eastern Arabia, edited with Jon Lovett and Roberta Morano and Harvesting the Sea in Southeastern Arabia, authored with Miranda Morris and Erik Anonby.

Janet can be contacted at: jcew@st-andrews.ac.uk

Kamala Russell, University of Chicago

Dr. Kamala Russell is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Chicago.  A linguistic anthropologist, she has conducted ethnographic and linguistic fieldwork with speakers of Shehret intermittently since 2013. She is currently writing an ethnographic monograph that explores the communicative practices—namely ways of managing contact, engagement, co-presence, and the potential for circulation—that structure the use of Shehret Modern South Arabian among family members and their guests in homesteads in rural areas of the Dhofar mountains. Her recent publications have appeared in Anthropological Quarterly, Signs and Society, and the volume Rethinking Politesse with Henri Bergson edited by Alessandro Duranti. 

Kamala can be contacted at: kamala@uchicago.edu

Amir Azad Adli Al-Kathiri, University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Salalah

Dr. Amir Azad Adli Al-Kathiri is a Senior Lecturer (Assistant Professor) and Head of the University Requirements Unit at the Supportive Requirements Department, University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Salalah. His research focuses on Modern South Arabian languages—especially Shehret (Jibbali)—and Omani Arabic dialects. He has published several articles in Arabic and English on the linguistic situation in Dhofar, phonology, and verb morphology, as well as books on Shehret phonetics and the frankincense-related cultural heritage.

Amir can be contacted at: amir.alkathiri@utas.edu.om

Abdullah al-Mahri, independent researcher

Abdullah al-Mahri currently works as night tool pusher for Midwesco, where he has worked since 2016. He is an expert in, and native speaker of, Mehri. He has worked as a researcher on the syntax of Mehri, the documentation and ethnolinguistic analysis of Modern South Arabian, and the sounds of Mehri. He has co-presented at international academic and public venues and collaborated on academic books and articles, and on delivering international workshops. His current focus is on popular books in Mehri for children and adults. His major publications include: A Comparative Cultural Glossary of Modern South Arabian (with Miranda Morris, Janet Watson et al. 2019), Təghamk Āfyət: A course in Mehri of Dhofar (with Janet Watson et al. 2020), Selim and His Shadow (2023), Selim Hears (2025) and Ḥaybīt Arḥaymət ‘The beautiful camel’ (2025).

Abdullah can be contacted at: abd92191260@gmail.com

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Published

2026-01-10

Issue

Vol. 29 No. 1 (2025): Kervan 29

Section

Articles

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