Professor Janet Watson

Mehri is an unwritten language spoken by minority populations in eastern Yemen and western Oman, and migrant workers who have travelled from these areas to Kuwait. Over the last 1,400 years Arabic has become the dominant language in the region and Mehri is at risk of disappearing within the next few generations.

Professor of Arabic Linguistics, Janet Watson, has spent the last four years researching Mehri, travelling to Yemen and Oman to interview native speakers and language consultants. She also lived with Mehri-speaking families in both countries to gain a unique understanding of how the language is used.

Professor Watson explains some of the reasons why Mehri is in decline: "Only around 135,000 people still speak the language, and Mehri traditions are being lost as people move away from desert and rural areas to towns. Children are taught to read and write in Arabic and speakers are losing competence in Mehri in some semantic fields."

Her research has helped Mehri speakers to develop written forms of the language, encouraged them to communicate in writing and raised awareness of the importance of their language and culture.

She has just completed The Structure of Mehri which compares the grammar of two main Mehri dialects spoken in eastern Yemen and western Oman, and a Mehri language workshop was held at Salford in May. Native speaker Mohammad bar Ngema al-Mahri spent five weeks in Salford assisting with the preparations for the book and participating in the workshop.

Professor Watson said: "Many ethnic Mehris no longer speak the language, especially in eastern Yemen. I hope my work helps to halt the decline and keep the Mehri language alive."

The Structure of Mehri will be published by Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden in 2012.