Editing Soqotri language

{{Short description|South Semitic language of Socotra, Yemen}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Soqoṭri
| altname          = {{langx|sqt|ماتڸ دسقطري|mɛ́taḷ di-saḳɔ́ṭri|label=none}}
| region           = [[Socotra Archipelago]], [[Yemen]]
| ethnicity        = [[Soqotri people|Soqotri]]
| speakers         = {{sigfig|111,000|2}}
| date             = 2020
| ref              = e25
| familycolor      = Afro-Asiatic
| fam2             = [[Semitic languages|Semitic]]
| fam3             = [[West Semitic languages|West Semitic]]
| fam4             = [[South Semitic languages|South Semitic]]
| fam5             = [[Modern South Arabian languages|Eastern (Modern South Arabian)]]
| iso3             = sqt
| map              = Modern South Arabian Languages.svg
| glotto           = soqo1240
| glottorefname    = Soqotri
| map2             = Lang Status 40-SE.svg
| mapcaption2      = {{center|Soqotri is classified as "severely endangered" by the [[UNESCO]] ''[[Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger]]''<ref name=UNESCO>United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), "[https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000187026/PDF/187026eng.pdf.multi Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger]" pp. 186–7, 2010.</ref>}}
| pronunciation    = {{IPA|[ˈmɛtalˠ disaˈk’ɔtˤri]}}<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Huehnergard |first1=John |last2=Pat-El |first2=Na'ama |date=2019-01-01 |title=The Semitic Languages |edition=2nd |pages=282–288 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9780367731564}}</ref>
| dia1             = 'Abd Al-Kuri
| dia2             = Central Soqotri
| dia4             = Southern Soqotri
| dia3             = Northern Soqotri
:*North Central Soqotri
:*Northwest Central Soqotri
| dia5             = Western Soqotri
}}
'''Soqotri''' ({{langx|sqt|ماتڸ دسقطري|mɛ́taḷ di-saḳɔ́ṭri}}; {{Langx|ar|اللغة السقطرية|al-luḡah al-suquṭriyyah}}) is a [[South Semitic languages|South Semitic]] language spoken by the [[Soqotri people]] on the island of [[Socotra]] and the two nearby islands of [[Abd al Kuri]] and [[Samhah]], in the Socotra archipelago, in the [[Guardafui Channel]]. Soqotri is one of six languages that form a group called [[Modern South Arabian languages]] (MSAL). These additional languages include [[Mehri language|Mehri]], [[Shehri language|Shehri]], [[Bathari language|Bathari]], [[Harsusi language|Harsusi]] and [[Hobyót language|Hobyot]]. All are spoken in different regions of Southern Arabia.

== Classification ==
Soqotri is often mistaken as a [[Varieties of Arabic|variety of Arabic]] but is typically classified as an [[Afroasiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]], [[Semitic languages|Semitic]], South Semitic and South Arabian language.<ref name="Soqotri Ethnologue">{{cite news|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/sqt |title=Soqotri |work=Ethnologue |access-date=2017-05-04}}</ref>

Scholars believe there are no longer any grounds for associating the Modern South Arabian languages so directly with Arabic. They consider these dialects to be not Arabic, but Semitic languages in their own right.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Smith |first=G. Rex |date=1988-01-01 |title=Review of Comparative Vocabulary of Southern Arabic: Mahri, Gibbali and Soqotri |journal=Bulletin (British Society for Middle Eastern Studies) |volume=15 |issue=1/2 |pages=186 |jstor=195306}}</ref>

== Dialects ==
The Soqotri dialectology is very rich, especially considering the surface of the island and number of inhabitants. Soqotri speakers live on their islands, but rarely on the Yemeni mainland. The language was, through its history, isolated from the Arabian mainland. [[Arabic language|Arabic]] is also spoken in a dialectal form on Socotra.<ref>{{cite web |last=xavier |first=Siby |date=2024-10-24 |title=Discover the Soqotri Language – Cultural Treasure of Socotra Island |url=https://socotrabooking.com/discover-the-soqotri-language-cultural-treasure-of-socotra-island/ |access-date=2024-10-24 |website=Socotra Booking}}</ref>

There are four dialect groups: the dialects spoken on the north coast, the dialects spoken on the south coast, the dialects spoken by Bedouins in the mountains in the centre of the island and the dialect spoken on Abd al Kuri. The dialect that is spoken on this island Samhah appears to be the same as the one spoken on the west coast of Socotra.<ref>{{cite web |title=Foundation For Endangered Languages. Home |url=https://www.ogmios.org/ogmios_files/105.htm |access-date=2017-05-04 |website=www.ogmios.org}}</ref>

These dialects include Abd Al-Kuri, Southern Soqotri, Northern Soqotri, Central Soqotri, and Western Soqotri.<ref name="Soqotri Ethnologue" />

== Geographic distribution ==
The total population of Soqotri users throughout Yemen is 57,000 (1990 census) and total users in all countries is 71,400.<ref name="Soqotri Ethnologue" />

=== Official status ===
Soqotri has no official status. It is a language of Yemen where it is spoken mainly on the islands of the [[Socotra Governorate]]: 'Abd al Kuri, Darsah, Samha, and Soqotra islands in the Gulf of Aden.<ref name="Soqotri Ethnologue" />

== Status ==

=== Endangerment ===
The language is under immense influence of the dominant Arabic language and culture because many Arabic-speaking [[Yemenis]] have settled in the Soqotri region permanently, resulting in Arabic becoming the official language of the island. Soqotri is now replaced with Arabic as a means of education in schools. Students are prohibited from using their mother tongue while at school and job seeking Soqotrans must be able to speak Arabic before getting employed.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}} Young Soqotrans even prefer Arabic to Soqotri and now have a difficult time learning it. Oftentimes they mix Arabic in it and cannot recite or understand any piece of Soqotri oral literature.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}

Arabic is now the symbolic, or more ideological, articulation of the nation's identity, making it the privileged lingua franca of the nation. The government has also taken up an inclination of neglect toward the Soqotri language. This seems to based on the view that Soqotri is only a dialect rather than a language itself. There is also no cultural policy on what should be done about the remaining oral non-Arabic languages of Yemen, include Soqotri and [[Mehri language|Mehri]]. The language is seen as an impediment to progress because of the new generation's judgement of it as being irrelevant in helping to improve the socio-economic status of the island. Limitations to Soqotri, such as not being able to communicate through writing, are also viewed as obstacles by the youth that makes up 60% of the population. There seems to be cultural sentiments toward the language but yet an indifference due to neglect and the notion of hindrance associated with it.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Elie |first=Serge D. |date=2012-06-01 |title=Cultural Accommodation to State Incorporation in Yemen: Language Replacement on Soqotra Island |journal=[[Journal of Arabian Studies]] |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=39–57 |doi=10.1080/21534764.2012.686235 |issn=2153-4764 |s2cid=144803493}}</ref>

Hence, Soqotri is regarded as a severely endangered language and a main concern toward the lack of research in Soqotri language field is not only related to the semitics, but to the Soqotri folklore heritage conservation. This isolated island has high pressures of modernization and with a rapidly changing cultural environment, there is a possibility of losing valuable strata of the Soqotran folklore heritage.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Elie |first=Serge D. |date=2016-01-01 |title=Communal Identity Transformation in Soqotra: From Status Hierarchy to Ethnic Ranking |journal=[[Northeast African Studies]] |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=23–66 |doi=10.14321/nortafristud.16.2.0023 |jstor=10.14321/nortafristud.16.2.0023 |s2cid=151785552}}</ref>

Poetry and song used to be a normal part of everyday life for people on the island, a way of communicating with others, no matter if they were human, animal, spirits of the dead, jinn sorcerers, or the divine. However, Soqotri poetry has been overlooked and the skill of the island's poets ignored.<ref name="Miranda Morris">{{cite journal |last=Morris |first=Miranda J. |date=2013-01-01 |title=The use of 'veiled language' in Soqoṭri poetry |journal=Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies |volume=43 |pages=239–244 |jstor=43782882}}</ref>

The European Union has also expressed serious concerns on the issue of preserving cultural precepts of the archipelago's population.<ref>{{cite web |date=16 April 2008 |title=EU to protect Socotra archipelago environment |url=http://www.sabanews.net/en/news151852.htm |access-date=4 May 2017 |website=www.sabanews.net}}</ref>

== Phonology ==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+Soqotri consonants
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |
! rowspan="2" |[[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! colspan="2" |[[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Pharyngeal consonant|Pharyngeal]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
!<small>[[Central consonant|central]]</small>
!<small>[[Lateral consonant|lateral]]</small>
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|{{IPA link|m}}
|{{IPA link|n}}
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="3" |[[Plosive]]
!<small>[[voiceless consonant|voiceless]]</small>
|
|{{IPA link|t}}
|
| colspan="2" |{{IPA link|k}}{{efn|name=pal|{{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/g/}} are by default pronounced {{IPAblink|kʲ}} and {{IPAblink|gʲ}}.<ref name=":0" />}} 
|
|{{IPA link|ʔ}}
|-
!<small>[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
|{{IPA link|b}}
|{{IPA link|d}}{{efn|{{IPA|/d/}} is pronounced {{IPAblink|tˤ}} word finally (e.g. {{IPA|/ˈsɛrɛd/ [ˈsɛrɛtˤ]}} "a grown-up kid").<ref name=":0" />}}
|
| colspan="2" |{{IPA link|ɡ}}{{efn|name=pal}} 
|
|
|-
!<small>[[Emphatic consonant|emphatic]]</small>
|
|{{IPA link|tˤ}}
|
|
|{{IPA link|kʼ}}
|
|
|-
! rowspan="3" |[[Fricative]]
!<small>[[voiceless consonant|voiceless]]</small>
|{{IPA link|f}}
|{{IPA link|s}}
|{{IPA link|ɬ}}
|{{IPA link|ʃ}}
|{{IPA link|x}}{{efn|name=velar|Native {{IPA|/x/}} and {{IPA|/ɣ/}} merged with {{IPA|/ħ/}} and {{IPA|/ʕ/}} in the Central-Eastern Dialects while they were preserved in the Western Dialects. {{IPA|/x/}} and {{IPA|/ɣ/}} were reintroduced in the Central-Eastern Dialects through Arabic loanwords like {{IPA|/ˈxalfe/}} "window" and {{IPA|/ˈɣali/}} "expensive" (compare Arabic {{IPA|/ɣaːliː/}} "expensive").<ref name=":0" />}}
|{{IPA link|ħ}}
|{{IPA link|h}}
|-
!<small>[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
|
|{{IPA link|z}}
|
|{{IPA link|ʒ}}
|{{IPA link|ɣ}}{{efn|name=velar}}
|{{IPA link|ʕ}}{{efn|{{IPA|/ʕ/}} is pronounced {{IPAblink|ˀħ}} word finally (e.g. {{IPA|/ˈkʼalˠaʕ/ [ˈkʼalˠaˀħ]}} "he threw").<ref name=":0" /> This sound also sporadically attested in word-medially in nouns and adjectives, compare {{IPA|[ˈmiˀħo]}} "small intestines" with its dual form {{IPA|[ˈmiʕi]}}, It seems that in most cases a combination of ʕ + “parasitic h” is underlying, so that can be reanalyzed as {{IPA|/ˈmiʕho/}} and {{IPA|/ˈmiʕi/}}.<ref name=":0" />}}
|
|-
!<small>[[Emphatic consonant|emphatic]]</small>
|
|{{IPA link|sˤ}}{{efn|{{IPA|/sˤ/}} is partially voiced {{IPAblink|s̬ˤ}}.<ref name=":0" />}}
|{{IPA link|ɮˤ}}
|{{IPA link|ʃˤ}}
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
|
|{{IPA link|r}}{{efn|{{IPA|/r/}} is sporadically but not infrequently palatalized {{IPAblink|rʲ}} (e.g. {{IPA|/ˈrabaħ/ [ˈrʲabaħ]}}).<ref name=":0" />}}
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Approximant]]
|{{IPA link|w}}
|
|{{IPA link|l}} {{ns}} {{IPA link|lˠ}}
|{{IPA link|j}} {{ns}} {{IPA link|jʰ}}
|
|
|
|}
{{notelist}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+Soqotri vowels
!
![[Front vowel|Front]]
![[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
![[Close vowel|Close]]
|{{IPA link|i}}{{efn|{{IPA|/i/}} is pronounced {{IPAblink|ɨʲ}} after emphatics ({{IPA|/tˤ sˤ ʃˤ ɮˤ kʼ lˠ/}}) in open syllables and {{IPAblink|ɨ}} in closed syllables (e.g. {{IPA|/ʕaˈlˠiti/ [ʕa'lˠɨʲti]}} "two teeth", {{IPA|/sˤiˈtˤoʕo/ [sˤɨʲˈtˤoʕo]}} "she was hungry", {{IPA|/ˈmasˤil/ [ˈmasˤɨl]}} "he collected the gum of the dragon-blood tree").<ref name=":0" />}}
|{{IPA link|u}}{{efn|{{IPA|/u/}} is usually pronounced {{IPA|[ou]}} in free variation with the rarer pronunciation {{IPAblink|u}}, but {{IPA|[u]}} is preferred in certain positions, notably in the vicinity of {{IPA|/ʔ/}} and {{IPA|/ʕ/}}, and after {{IPA|/n/}}.<ref name=":0" />}}
|-
![[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
|{{IPA link|e}}{{efn|{{IPA|/e/}} is usually pronounced {{IPAblink|ɨ}} when unstressed, and sometimes when stressed (e.g. {{IPA|/ʔeˈk’anem/ [ʔɨ'k’anɨm]}} "I feed", {{IPA|/ˈsejjod/ ['sɨjjotˤ]}}).<ref name=":0" /> After {{IPA|/ɬ ɮˤ j jʰ k g/}} it is usually pronounced {{IPAblink|i}} ({{IPA|/ˈdeker/ ['dekʲir], /ˈjefoɬ/ ['jifoɬ]}}).<ref name=":0" /> An unstressed [e~ɨ] ([a] after /ħ/) is optionally inserted to break initial /CC-/ clusters and mandatorily after initial /CCC-/ clusters (e.g. /ʃbaħ/ [ʃ(e)ˈbaħ] "he stretched", /tħlˠɛf/ [tħaˈlˠɛf] "may she replace").<ref name=":0" />}}{{ns}}{{IPA link|ø}}{{efn|[ø] is usually a labialized allophone of /e/, typically occurring under stress before a labial (/m b f w/) or emphatic (/tˤ sˤ ʃˤ ɮˤ kʼ lˠ/) consonant if /o/ is present in the following syllable (e.g. /ˈfelˠho/ [ˈfølˠho] "calves", /ˈtebod/ [ˈtøbod] "she lies").<ref name=":0" /> It can also appear as an allophone of /o/ after /ɬ ɮˤ j jʰ k g/ (e.g. /gobk/ [gʲøbk] "I suspected", /ˈɬoʔom/ ['ɬøʔom] "he sold") and in the passive form of suffix conjugation from roots IIIw/y (e.g. /beˈnøwe/ "it was built").<ref name=":0" /> It does appear to have minimal pairs with /e/ in some verbal patterns, compare /ˈkʼøbor/ "he buried" and /ˈføsˤar/ "he squashed" with /ˈkʼeber/ "they buried" and /ˈfesˤar/ "it got squashed".<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Kogan |first1=Leonid |last2=Naumkin |first2=Vitaly |date=2014 |title=The vowels of Soqotri as a phonemic system |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43782851 |journal=Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies |volume=44 |pages=57–79 |jstor=43782851 |issn=0308-8421}}</ref>}}
|{{IPA link|o}}
|-
![[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]
|{{IPA link|ɛ}}
|({{IPA link|ɔ}}){{efn|[ɔ] could be evaluated as a positional allophone of /o/, appearing usually but not exclusively in the neighborhood of the nasal (e.g. /fɔnɬ/ "breath", /geˈmɔhɔlˠ/ "she-camel"). But there are minimal pairs like /ho/ "I" and /hɔ/ [a form of address].}}
|-
![[Open vowel|Open]]
| colspan="2" |{{IPA link|a}}{{efn|In the verbal paradigm [a] acts like a positional allophone of /ɛ/ around pharyngeals. But in nouns and adjectives there are minimal pairs (e.g. /bar/ "strength", /bɛr/ "open place", /ˈnɛfaʕ/ "word", /ˈnafaʕ/ "he worked").<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />}}
|-
![[Nasal vowel|Nasal]]
| colspan="2" |{{IPA link|ã}}{{ns}}{{IPA link|ẽ}}{{efn|The nasal vowels only appear in one word each, /ʕãj/ (< /ʕan/) and /kẽj/ (< /ken/) both mean "from him".<ref name=":0" />}}
|}
{{notelist}}

The isolation of the island of Socotra has led to the Soqotri language independently developing certain phonetic characteristics absent in even the closely related languages of the mainland. Soqotri lost interdentals ''θ'', ''ð'', and ''θʼ'' and merged them with ''t'', ''d'' and ''tˤ'': e.g. Soqotri has ''dor'' "blood" where [[Shehri language|Shehri]] has ''ðɔhr'' and [[Mehri language|Mehri]] has ''ðōrə''; Soqotri has ''tˤarb'' (a piece of wood), where [[Shehri language|Shehri]] and [[Mehri language|Mehri]] have ''θʼarb''; Soqotri ''tri/trɔ'' (two) where [[Shehri language|Shehri]] has ''θroh'' and [[Mehri language|Mehri]] has ''θərō''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kogan |first=Leonid |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781614515494/html?lang=en |title=Genealogical Classification of Semitic |date=2015-05-19 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=978-1-61451-549-4 |pages=575 |language=en |doi=10.1515/9781614515494}}</ref>

Soqotri emphatics (except /lˠ/) used to be [[ejective consonant]]s. However, ejectives have largely become [[Pharyngealization|pharyngealized consonants]] as in [[Arabic]], with the exception of /kʼ/.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Huehnergard |first1=John |last2=Pat-El |first2=Na'ama |date=2019-01-01 |title=The Semitic Languages |edition=2nd |pages=282–288 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9780367731564}}</ref>

== Writing system ==
{{see also|Mehri language#Writing system}}

A writing system for the Soqotri language was developed in 2014 by a Russian team led by Dr. [[Vitaly Naumkin]] following five years of work. This writing system can be read in his book Corpus of Soqotri Oral Literature. The script is Arabic-based and transcriptions of the text appear in translated English and Arabic. This Arabic based orthography has helped passive narrators of oral lore collaborate with researchers in order to compose literature truthful to its origins.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Naumkin |first1=V. V. |title=Corpus of Soqotri oral literature |last2=Kogan |first2=Leonid Efimovich |date=2014-01-01 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004278400 |language=en}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
!Romanization
!IPA
!Additional / Modified Soqotri Letter
|-
| style="font-size:125%" | {{transliteration|sqt|ḷ}}
| style="font-size:125%" | {{IPA link |lˠ}}
| style="font-size:200%;line-height:normal" | {{Script/Arabic|[[ڸ]]}}
|-
| style="font-size:125%" | {{transliteration|sqt|ŝ}}
| style="font-size:125%" | {{IPA link |ɬ|ɬ}}
| style="font-size:200%" | {{Script/Arabic|[[ڛ]]}}
|-
| style="font-size:125%" | {{transliteration|sqt|ṣ̌}}
| style="font-size:125%" | {{IPA link |ʃ|ʃˤ}}
| style="font-size:200%" | {{Script/Arabic|[[ڞ]]}}
|-
| style="font-size:125%" | {{transliteration|sqt|ž}}
| style="font-size:125%" | {{IPA link |ʒ}}
| style="font-size:200%" | {{Script/Arabic|[[چ]]}}
|-
| style="font-size:125%" | {{transliteration|sqt|g}}
| style="font-size:125%" | {{IPA link |ɡ}}
| style="font-size:200%" | {{Script/Arabic|[[ﺝ]]}}
|}

== Grammar ==
Soqotri grammar and vocabulary is very poorly documented and distributed.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} There have been many proposals on the collection of linguistic data.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} This will allow a deeper understanding of the Soqotran scientific, literary, spiritual, and so on, culture native speakers. Preservation of the Soqotri language will give future generations access to this education as well.

=== Morphology ===

==== Independent pronouns ====
Independent personal pronouns for the 2nd person singular, ē (m.) and ī (f.), are more widespread than ''het'' and ''hit.'' In research done by Marie-Claude Simeone-Senelle, ''het'' and ''hit'' actually specific to some of the dialects spoken in Diksam, and the far-western areas of Qalansiya, Qafiz. She found that in other places, the 2nd singular m. and f., are ē and ī. In the latest system, the subject pronouns are the full form.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}

==== Connective particle ====
Another linguistic uniqueness in the far-western dialect of Qafiz is the possessive construction. This dialect, like all other Soqotri dialects, is based in the connective ''d-'', followed by a pronoun. However, in this dialect, the connective is variable (like the relative pronoun): ''d-'' with a singular, and ''l-'' with a plural:

dihet férham/ girl>'your (msg.) girl', ''des'' 'her'..., but ''lḥan'', 'our', ''ltan'' 'your (pl.)', ''lyihan'' 'their (m.)', ''lisan'' 'their (f.)'.

This variation highlights the link between connective, deictic and relative pronoun. In other dialects, a grammaticalization process took place and the singular form was frozen as a connecting invariable particle ''d-''.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}

=== Syntax ===

==== Agreement ====
In some dialects, the relative pronoun does not agree with plural:

{{interlinear |lang=sqt |indent=2
|le-ēfœ d- izeˤem b-fídəhɔn
|DEI(PL)-people/ REL(SG)-that sit/ in-mountain
|'this people that stay in the mountain' (Rujed).}}

In remote places, old people use the verbal, nominal and pronominal dual:

{{interlinear |lang=sqt |indent=2
|eṭahérö ho w-d-ho ḳaḳa ḳalansíye
|we {go (1DU)/I-and-of-me/} younger brother/ Qalansiya
|'I and my younger brother, we two go to Qalansiya'}}

but many native speakers (young people or people in contact with Arabic) do not use verbal dual regularly:

{{interlinear |lang=sqt |indent=2
|ˤeğébö təṭhár |c1= (for ''təṭhárö'')
|{they want (3DU)} {go (SUBJ.3F.SG)}
|'They (both) want to go'}}

and they use plural pronouns instead of the dual form:

''tten férhem'' <of-your (pl.)/girl>'your girl' for /tti férhem/ 'your girl' (to you both).

Many people in contact with Arabic tend to use plural in all cases (verb or pronoun).{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} Only the nominal dual occurs regularly.

==== Negation ====
''Cf.'' above, about the phono-morphological explanation for the two forms of negation. In many dialects, the verbal negation is the same with indicative and prohibitive.

== Vocabulary ==
Lieutenant Wellstedt, who was part of a surveying mission in 1835, was the first to collect toponyms, tribe names, plant names, figures, and in total was able to put together a list of 236 Soqotri words. The words have no characteristics of the Western dialects and 41 words out of the 236 were noted as Arabic loans by Wellstedt. Some are really Arabic as ''beïdh'' (''bayḍ'') 'eggs' (ḳ''ehélihen'' in Soqotri) or ''ˤajúz'' 'old woman' (Soqotri ś''íbīb''), ''thob'' (t''ob'') 'a shirt' (with interdental, absent from the Soqotri consonant system; ''tob'' in Soqotri means 'cloth'); many words belong to the old common Semitic vocabulary and are attested in both Arabic and Soqotri: {{lang|sqt|edahn}} 'ears' (exactly ''ˤídəhen''), ''ˤaṣábi'' 'fingers' (''ˤəṣābe'') etc. Religious poems show influence of Arabic with borrowings from classical Arabic vocabulary and Quranic expressions.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}

== Sample texts ==
The following examples are couplets, which is the basic building block of Soqotri poetry and song. This is a straightforward humorous piece about a stingy fisherman with easy language usage that anyone on the island could easily understand.<ref name="Miranda Morris" />
# {{lang|sqt|ber tībeb di-ģašonten|italic=no}} / {{lang|sqt|Abdullah di-halēhn|italic=no}}
# {{lang|sqt|d-iķor di-hi sode|italic=no}} / {{lang|sqt|af teķolemen ٚeyh il-ārhen|italic=no}}
Translation:
# Everyone knows for certain that Abdullah is quite idiotic, walking here and there:
# He's concealed his fish for so long that the bluebottles are swarming all around him!

The next example is a line that most Soqotrans would not find too difficult to understand either:
# {{lang|sqt|selleman enhe we-mātA|italic=no}} / {{lang|sqt|le-ha le-di-ol yahtite|italic=no}}
# {{lang|sqt|di-ol ināsah ki-yiķtīni|italic=no}} / {{lang|sqt|lot erehon ki-gizol šeber|italic=no}}

Literal translation:
# Greet on my behalf and make certain my greetings reach the one over there who is quite without shame.
# Who does not wipe his face clean when he has eaten, just like goats when they are feeding on the šeber plants

In order to understand this piece however, the listener has to know of the significance of the šeber plants. These plants, part of the Euphorbia plant group, survive long months of dry seasons and have a milky latex which goats often feed on in times of shortage. There is no nutritious benefit to it but, it helps rid of the goats' thirst. However, when goats feed on the latex from damaged plants, it stains their muzzles and causes sores in and around the mouth. The lines were made by a woman who had found out that her lover was bragging to others of his victories (he is being compared to the feeding goats). She is calling this out and warning other women to be careful of men of his like.<ref name="Miranda Morris" />

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120213140333/http://t724626.multiply.com/photos/album/8/Militarev#3 Alexander Militarev Semitic Language Tree with Soqotri modern classification (above)]
* [[Wolf Leslau]], ''Lexique Soqotri (sudarabique moderne) avec comparaisons et explications étymologiques''. Paris: Klincksieck 1938
* Dr. Maximilian Bittner: ''Charakteristik der Sprache der Insel Soqotra'' Anzeiger der philosophisch-historischen Klasse der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien. Wien, Jahrgang 1918, Nr. VIII
* Müller D.H. (1902), ''Die Mehri - und Soqotri - Sprache. Volume I: Texte.'' Südarabische Expedition, Band IV. Kaiserliche Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien. Wien: Alfred Hölder 1902
* Müller D.H. (1905), ''Die Mehri - und Soqotri - Sprache. Volume II: Soqotri Texte.'' Südarabische Expedition, Band VI. Kaiserliche Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien. Wien: Alfred Hölder 1905
* Müller D.H. (1907), ''Die Mehri - und Soqotri - Sprache. Volume II: Shauri Texte.'' Südarabische Expedition, Band VII. Kaiserliche Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien. Wien: Alfred Hölder 1907
* Wagner, E.(1953). Syntax der Mehri-Sprache unter Berucksichtigung auch der anderen neusudara bischen Sprachen. Akademie-Verlag(Berlin).
* Wagner, E. (1959). Der Dialect von Abd-al-Kuri. Anthropus 54: 475–486.
* Agafonov, Vladimir. Temethel as the Brightest Element of Soqotran Folk Poetry. Folia Orientalia, vol. 42/43, 2006/07, pp.&nbsp;241–249.
* RBGE Soqotra Bibliography: at RBGE and [http://www.friendsofsoqotra.org/index.html Friends of Soqotra Org.] websites.
* [http://www.semarch.uni-hd.de/tondokumente.php4?&GR_ID=&ORT_ID=153&DOK_ID=1651 Soqotri spoken Mehazelo (Cinderella) tale fragment with Latin transcription - MP3]
* [https://archive.today/20130106053450/http://www.semarch.uni-hd.de/tondokumente.php4?&GR_ID=4&ORT_ID=160&DOK_ID=1686&lang=de Soqotri spoken Two Brothers tale fragment with Latin transcription - MP3]
* [https://archive.today/20121212015628/http://hss.fullerton.edu/linguistics/cln/spring06.htm] and [https://archive.today/20121210073638/http://hss.fullerton.edu/linguistics/cln/winter07.htm] Soqotri folk tale text publication in CLN.
* {{cite book |last1=Aloufi |first1=Amani |date=2016 |title=A Grammatical Sketch of Soqotri with Special Consideration of Negative Polarity |pages=12–19}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Elie |first1=S. |year=2012 |title=Cultural Accommodation to State Incorporation in Yemen: Language Replacement on Soqotra Island |journal=[[Journal of Arabian Studies]] |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=39–57 |doi=10.1080/21534764.2012.686235 |s2cid=144803493}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Elie |first1=S. |year=2006 |title=Soqotra: South Arabia's Strategic Gateway and Symbolic Playground |journal=[[British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies]] |volume=33 |issue=2 |pages=131–160 |doi=10.1080/13530190600953278 |s2cid=129912477}}
* {{cite book |last1=Simeone-Senelle |first1=Marie-Claude |date=2011 |chapter=The Modern South Arabian Languages |editor-first=Stefan |editor-last=Weninger |title=The Semitic Languages: An International Handbook |pages=1073–1113 |location=Berlin |publisher=[[De Gruyter|De Gruyter Mouton]]}} 
* {{cite journal |last1=Simeone-Senelle |first1=Marie-Claude |year=2003 |title=Soqotri dialectology and the evaluation of the language endangerment |journal=The Developing Strategy of Soqotra Archipelago and the Other Yemeni Islands |volume=14–16 |pages=1–13}}
* {{cite book |last1=Shibatani |first1=Masayoshi |last2=Makhashen |first2=Khaled Awadh Bin |date=2009 |chapter=Nominalization in Soqotri, a South Arabian language of Yemen |editor-first=W. Leo |editor-last=Wetzels |title=Endangered languages: Contributions to Morphology and Morpho-syntax |pages=9–31}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Porkhomovsky |first1=Victor |year=1997 |title=Modern South Arabian languages from a Semitic and Hamito-Semitic perspective |journal=Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies |volume=27 |pages=219–223}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Leslau |first1=W. |year=1943 |title=South-East Semitic (Ethiopic and South-Arabic) |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=63 |issue=1 |pages=4–14 |doi=10.2307/594146 |jstor=594146}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Johnstone |first1=T. |year=1968 |title=The non-occurrence of a t- prefix in certain Socotri verbal forms |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |volume=31 |issue=3 |page=515 |doi=10.1017/s0041977x00125534|s2cid=122550742 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Naumkin |first1=V. |last2=Porkhomovsky |first2=V. |year=2003 |title=Oral poetry in the Soqotran socio-cultural context. The case of the ritual song "The girl and the jinn" |journal=Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies |volume=33 |pages=315–318}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=M. |year=2013 |title=The use of 'veiled language' in Soqoṭri poetry |journal=Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies |volume=43 |pages=239–244}}
* Morris, Miranda J. ''The oral art of Soqoṭra: a collection of island voices'', 3 volumes Brill, 2021.
* {{cite journal |last1=Naumkin |first1=V. |last2=Kogan |first2=L. |last3=Cherkashin |first3=D. |last4=al-Daʿrhī |first4=A. |year=2012 |title=Towards an annotated corpus of Soqotri oral literature: the 2010 fieldwork season |journal=Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies |volume=42 |pages=261–275}}

== External links ==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071026061845/http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/soqotra/bibliography/page01.html A Bibliography with a list on Soqotri language] at [https://web.archive.org/web/20060505092024/http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/Soqotra/home/page01.html the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh website]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071202123009/http://www.friendsofsoqotra.org/Biblio/page01.html The RBGE upgraded Soqotra Bibliography up to 2009 with more language references]
{{incubator|sqt}}
{{Languages of Yemen}}
{{Eastern South Semitic}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Languages of Yemen]]
[[Category:Socotra]]
[[Category:Modern South Arabian languages]]
[[Category:Endangered Afroasiatic languages]]